The shares of five heavyweight private lenders including HDFC Bank, Yes Bank, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Axis Bank reacted strongly to their Q1 earnings on Monday, with brokerages highlighting which bank stock investors should consider buying now.HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Yes Bank shares crashed 2-5% after their June quarter earnings failed to impress the market on Monday. India’s largest private lender, HDFC Bank, on Saturday reported a 5% year-on-year (YoY) rise in net profit to Rs 19,060 crore for Q1 FY27, while NII rose 7% YoY to Rs 33,534 crore.Axis Bank’s net profit and NII rose 23% and 8% respectively, while those of Kotak Mahindra Bank climbed 26% and 9% during the quarter under review. Yes Bank meanwhile reported a 34% YoY surge in net profit, while NII grew 18%.ICICI Bank shares however bucked the trend to rise over 1% on Monday. This came after the lender reported a 16% YoY increase in standalone net profit to Rs 14,805 crore for the June quarter, while NII rose nearly 13%.Which stock should you buy now?ICICI Bank’s every metric, including profitability, asset quality, growth, margins moved in the right direction simultaneously and that does not happen by accident, Vaqarjaved Khan, Senior Fundamental analyst at Angel One, said as he noted that this reflects sustained execution.ICICI Bank posted the cleanest result in the private banking space this quarter, Khan said, while advising investors to avoid Yes Bank shares as reconstruction-era constraints, sub-5% ROE, and a weak deposit franchise makes it a speculation, not an investment. “The strong stock reaction is noise. The fundamentals are not yet signal. One bank earned its rally today. Four others just participated in it,” Khan said.Dnyanada Vaidya, Research Analyst on BFSI at Axis Direct, also noted that ICICI Bank reported a stellar quarter, while ticking all the right boxes. The bank has consistently demonstrated its ability to outperform peers even during periods of heightened uncertainty, reinforcing the strength of its franchise and its execution capabilities, he said, adding that he believes the bank continues to deserve its premium valuations as against its peers. Khan called ICICI Bank a preferred pick amongst the large private banks. “We also like Kotak Mahindra Bank amongst the larger private banks for its ability to deliver a consistent RoA of 2%+ over the medium term supported by improving operating leverage, healthy fee income traction and multiple levers to sustain margins through granular liability mobilisation and a gradual recovery in unsecured lending. However, we remain watchful regarding the appointment of the MD & CEO. We believe valuations remain attractive and recommend a BUY on Kotak Mahindra Bank,” he said.For HDFC Bank, the analyst from Angel One noted that the lender posted an in-line quarter, although NIM performance was disappointing. “While we see multiple levers to improve margins, we believe this improvement would be gradual and a multi-quarter journey. At current valuations, we believe the risk-reward remains favourable, although a meaningful re-rating is likely to hinge on sustained improvement in core NIMs and greater clarity on the MD & CEO extension,” he said.Also read |HDFC Bank shares crash 5%, wipe off Rs 70,000 cr from investor wealth. Why Jefferies, Nomura, others see up to 28% upside?Harshal Dasani, Business Head at INVasset PMS, meanwhile laid out which stock appears best for which investor. The framework places ICICI Bank for fresh positioning on earnings quality, Axis Bank for those willing to underwrite the margin-bottom thesis, and HDFC Bank for patient capital awaiting the post-merger earnings acceleration. “Kotak calls for patience until core NII growth and the margin trajectory visibly stabilise, because provisions-led beats do not repeat. Yes Bank has earned an upgrade from avoid to watch, but position sizing should still reflect turnaround risk rather than core-holding status,” he said.Technical viewAmong the four stocks, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank continue to exhibit relatively stronger technical setups, while Kotak Mahindra Bank remains the weakest on the charts, said Sudeep Shah, Head of Technical and Derivatives Research at SBI Securities.He added that Axis Bank is showing signs of recovery but still lacks confirmation of a sustained uptrend.Also read | Why Bernstein and 4 other brokerages see up to 32% upside in ICICI Bank's share price?(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)