HDFC Life Insurance shares experienced a decline in early trading on Friday following the company’s fourth-quarter results, which revealed a Value of New Business (VNB) margin miss. The stock fell by 3.37 percent to ₹610.20 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) at 10:05 am, reaching an intraday low of ₹606.20.
Opening at ₹618.95 compared to the previous close of ₹631.50, the stock has traded 30.14 lakh shares to date, with a total traded value of ₹184 crore. This year, the shares have dropped 18.69 percent, significantly lagging behind the Nifty 50 index, which has seen a decline of 7.24 percent in the same period. HDFC Life is trading well below its 52-week high of ₹820.75, reached in June 2025, yet remains above the recent 52-week low of ₹555.10 from April 2.
Buy orders have slightly outstripped sell orders, with 57.94 percent in favor of buying against 42.06 percent, indicating some interest in the stock at lower price levels.
Brokerage firms have adjusted their forecasts while maintaining an overall positive outlook. Motilal Oswal reiterated a Buy rating, reducing its target price to ₹760 and cutting VNB margin estimates by 150 basis points for FY27, due to the 4QFY26 margin results. JM Financial kept an Add rating, raising its target price modestly to ₹670 from ₹644, pointing out that the stock trades at 1.8 times and 1.6 times the embedded value per share for March 2027 and March 2028, respectively, which is considerably lower than historical averages.
In its fourth-quarter fiscal report, HDFC Life disclosed a VNB margin of 24 percent, slightly trailing analysts’ expectations of around 24.8 percent, impacted by a GST transition of approximately 110 basis points and increased fixed cost absorption. For the full fiscal year FY26, the company reported an 8 percent growth in Annual Premium Equivalent (APE) to ₹16,640 crore, while VNB saw a modest increase of 2 percent to ₹4,030 crore. The company’s Embedded Value rose 12 percent year-on-year to ₹62,140 crore. Additionally, the board proposed a final dividend of ₹2.10 per share, with a record date set for June 19, 2026.
Management has projected that VNB growth will surpass APE growth in FY27, with expectations that the GST impact will stabilize during the first half of the year.
