Piotroski 8/9 Stocks: Low P/E Banks, ITC, NTPC

What the screen found A simple screen can be more revealing than a complicated model. The latest Piotroski 8/9 stocks check adds a low P/E filter and throws up eight NSE names. Joseph Piotroski's nine-point test checks net income, operating cash flow, return on assets, debt levels and efficiency. A score of 8 or 9 means a company passed nearly all of it. The list includes [HDFC Bank](/stock/HDFCBANK) (NSE: HDFCBANK), [State Bank of India](/stock/SBIN) (NSE: SBIN), [TCS](/stock/TCS) (NSE: TCS), [Infosys](/stock/INFY) (NSE: INFY), [Kotak Mahindra Bank](/stock/KOTAKBANK) (NSE: KOTAKBANK), [Axis Bank](/stock/AXISBANK) (NSE: AXISBANK), [ITC](/stock/ITC) (NSE: ITC) and [NTPC](/stock/NTPC) (NSE: NTPC). That is a rare mix of quality and a modest price tag. But a high F-Score does not guarantee upside. It's a starting list, not a buy order. The market often knows something the checklist cannot capture. Your job is to figure out whether the discount is justified. Why low P/E quality stocks deserve a closer look The screen combines two ideas. First, a Piotroski 8/9 score is a fundamental health check. Second, a low P/E means the market is not paying a premium for that health. When both appear together, it can mean the market has overestimated a problem. Or it can mean the problem is still unfolding. TCS shows this tension. The stock carries a FairStock Score of 85, a trailing P/E of 17.15 and ROE of 47.7%. That P/E is not expensive by the company's own history. Yet IT services demand is uncertain, with clients delaying discretionary projects. [TCS](/stock/TCS) is fundamentally strong and reasonably priced at the same time. The market is still cautious because near-term revenue visibility is weaker than the balance sheet. ITC is another case. The FairStock Score sits at 81 and ROE at 49.8%. The tobacco-to-FMCG group generates steady cash, but investors apply a conglomerate discount and some funds exclude tobacco. That disconnect is exactly what this screen tries to captur...