Piotroski 8/9 Quality List: Kotak, ITC, NTPC

The screen that doesn't care about price Three Indian blue chips just landed on the same screen. [Kotak Mahindra Bank](/stock/KOTAKBANK) scores 8 out of 9 on the Piotroski 8/9 Quality List. So do [ITC](/stock/ITC) and [NTPC](/stock/NTPC). That's a high bar. Joseph Piotroski built the score from nine filing-based tests. It checks profitability. It checks balance-sheet strength. It checks operating efficiency. The screen doesn't ask IR teams what they think. It reads the filings. What the score leaves out is the price. That's where the P/E ratios come in. NSE: KOTAKBANK trades at 19.16 times trailing earnings. NSE: ITC at 17.57. NSE: NTPC at 10.39. ITC's return on equity is 49.8%. NTPC's is 12.9%. The market is paying a premium for Kotak's private-bank franchise. It is paying less for NTPC's regulated power cash flows. Quality has no single price. What the filings actually show ITC's 49.8% ROE deserves a second look. It's not a data error. The company generates high returns because it carries little debt and produces cash from cigarettes and FMCG. The F-Score likes operating cash flow that exceeds net income. It likes improving gross margins. It dislikes more borrowed money. ITC passes those tests. The tobacco business carries regulatory risk, but that's a policy overhang, not an accounting red flag. [Kotak Mahindra Bank](/stock/KOTAKBANK) passes the same discipline. Investors should watch deposit costs. An 8/9 F-Score doesn't measure loan growth. It doesn't measure net interest margins. A bank can have clean filings and still face a competitive deposit market. At NSE: KOTAKBANK's 19.16 P/E, the market already gives credit for stability. That leaves less room for a valuation surprise. [NTPC](/stock/NTPC) is the value name in the group. A 10.39 P/E paired with a 12.9% ROE and an 8/9 F-Score tells you the utility's balance sheet and operating cash flow are not deteriorating. Power generation is not a high-growth business. It is a cash flow business. If NTPC keeps ...