Indian stock markets recovered on Thursday after starting the day lower, as investors looked ahead to the Union Budget scheduled for this weekend.
At the time of writing, the BSE Sensex was trading 260 points higher at 82,587. Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty was 77 points higher at 25,420.
While the overall market sentiments remained positive, National Securities Depositary Ltd (NSDL) turned out to be a notable loser.
NSDL is one of the largest depositories in the world. It has established a state-of-the-art infrastructure that handles most of the securities held and settled in dematerialized form in the Indian capital market.
Today, its share price is down 3%, attracting investors attention.
What caused this sudden drop?
Shares of NSDL declined 3% today, and Q3 FY26 results explain why.
Revenue from operations declined 10% to Rs 3,600 million (m) compared to Rs 4,000 m in the previous quarter Q2 FY26.
The company has estimated the financial implications of new labour code and has made additional provision of Rs 60.83 lakhs towards gratuity in the financial results for the quarter and nine months ended 31 December 2025.
NSDL reported a net profit of Rs 858 m, down 18.8%, compared to Rs 1,100 reported in Q2 FY26.
This could be the main reason for the share price to decline,
Moving forward, the company plans to improve its margin pledge process by automating the invocation and early pay-in of securities for Margin, MTF, and CUSPA transactions. This change will help reduce turnaround time.
Demat services will become more user-friendly with additional improvements to the Basic Services Demat Account (BSDA), making it easier for customers to do business.
The NSDL Speed-e App will give investors a single, clear view of their entire portfolio, including equities, mutual funds, AIFs, and more. This feature will help them make smarter and more informed investment decisions.
Additionally, NSDL has introduced an API-based conversion to demat form, allowing for a smooth transfer of mutual fund units from physical to dematerialised format.
NSDL mainly benefits from its stability, recurring fees from custody, issuer fees, and transaction charges. It also has subsidiaries like NSDL Payments Bank and NSDL Database Management Ltd, which help diversify its income.
Looking ahead, increased trading activity and higher settlement volumes in the securities market are expected to boost growth in transactions handled by NSDL. This growth should support higher earnings from transaction fees, custody charges, and related services.
NSDL shares have fallen 7% over the past month.
The stock touched its 52-week high of Rs 1,425 on 11 August 2025 and its 52-week low of Rs 880 on 6 August 2025.
NSDL is one of the largest depositories in the world. It has established a state-of-the-art infrastructure that handles most of the securities held and settled in dematerialized form in the Indian capital market.
NSDL aims at ensuring the safety and soundness of Indian marketplaces by developing settlement solutions that increase efficiency, minimize risk and reduce costs.
The company plays a central role in developing products and services that will continue to nurture the growing needs of the financial services industry.
It provides bouquet of services to investors, stockbrokers, custodians, issuer companies etc. through its nationwide network of depository partners.
For more details, see the National Securities Depository Ltd company fact sheet and quarterly results.
You can also compare NSDL with its peers on our website.
To know what's moving the Indian stock markets today, check out the most recent share market updates here.
Investors should evaluate the company's fundamentals, corporate governance, and valuations of the stock as key factors when conducting due diligence before making investment decisions.
Disclaimer: This article is for information purposes only. It is not a stock recommendation and should not be treated as such. Learn more about our recommendation services here...
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