NSE Q2 FY27: PAT ₹2,578 Cr, +23% YoY headline but adjusted growth ~9%

National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) reported consolidated net profit of ₹2,577.62 Cr for Q2 FY27 (quarter ended September 30, 2026), up 22.8% year-on-year from ₹2,098.47 Cr and down 17.4% sequentially from ₹3,120.08 Cr in Q1 FY27. Consolidated revenue from operations was ₹4,066.80 Cr, up 10.6% YoY but down 10.8% QoQ as transaction income eased after a stronger June quarter. The headline YoY profit jump is not a clean read: the year-ago quarter carried two large one-offs working in opposite directions — a ₹1,200.94 Cr pre-tax exceptional gain on the partial sale of NSE's NSDL stake, and an estimated ~₹1,297 Cr SEBI Dark Fibre/Colocation settlement provision booked within regular other expenses rather than flagged as exceptional in that filing. Strip both out and this quarter's pre-tax profit of ₹3,424.52 Cr compares with a normalised base of roughly ₹3,138 Cr a year ago — adjusted growth of about +9%, broadly tracking the 10.6% revenue growth rather than the eye-catching 22.8% headline. Margins tell the same story. Reported net margin expanded to 56.6% of total income from 50.4% a year ago, but on an adjusted basis (stripping the SEBI provision from the year-ago expense base) operating profit margin was effectively flat at roughly 74.5% of total income in both periods. Total expenses of ₹1,161.35 Cr this quarter sit in line with ₹1,172.03 Cr in Q1 FY27, confirming the year-ago quarter's ₹2,353.69 Cr expense figure — nearly double the current run-rate — was the anomaly, not this quarter's cost base. The effective tax rate on continuing operations was 24.8% (₹848.63 Cr tax on ₹3,424.52 Cr PBT) versus 31.0% a year ago, when the blended rate was skewed by the tax treatment of the one-off gain. Standalone PAT of ₹2,163.58 Cr grew a slower 16.5% YoY (from ₹1,857.87 Cr); the wider gap versus consolidated's 22.8% stems from the year-ago standalone exceptional gain (₹1,362.57 Cr) being larger than the consolidated figure before minority/associate adjustments — a basis divergence worth flagging, though consolidated remains the primary read. NSE carries no formal management guidance on revenue or profit in its filings or in our records, and no quarter-specific Street consensus for this print surfaced in search — both angles are unresolved by disclosure rather than settled as a beat or miss. By segment, Trading Services remained the core driver at ₹3,603.99 Cr of segment revenue (+9.3% YoY from ₹3,296.12 Cr), with Clearing Services at ₹464.88 Cr and Others (data, index and terminal services) at ₹211.95 Cr. Management's own press commentary on this specific result was not available at the time of this extraction, so this read rests on the filing's disclosures rather than company framing. Alongside the results, the Board approved divestment of up to a 40% stake in National Coal Exchange of India Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary, via secondary sale in one or more tranches, with terms yet to be finalised per the disclosure. This continues NSE's pattern of periodically monetising stakes in group entities — it sold a 9% NSDL stake the previous year and trimmed its Indian Gas Exchange holding this half to meet regulatory shareholding caps, booking a ₹20.27 Cr gain in Q1 FY27. Separately, NSE received a SEBI no-objection to launch Corporate Bond Index Futures, and director Dinesh Pant resigned on October 9, 2026. Heading into Q3 FY27, the markers to watch are whether transaction volumes recover from this quarter's sequential dip back toward Q1 FY27 levels, and the terms eventually set for the Coal Exchange stake sale.