On 30 July 2026, India's largest stock exchange did two things on the same day.
It reported a quarterly profit of ₹3,120 crore.
And it quietly ended a fight that had been running for almost a decade.
Both matter. And in the unlisted market, where NSE shares are currently changing hands at around ₹2,000, both are already in the price. The question is what else is in there. Let's get into it.
Here's NSE's consolidated Q1 FY27 (quarter ended 30 June 2026) scorecard:
Particulars (₹ crore) | Q1 FY27 | Q1 FY26 | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue from operations | 4,560.41 | 4,032.24 | +13.1% |
| Other income | 691.76 | 766.21 | -9.7% |
| Total income | 5,252.17 | 4,798.45 | +9.5% |
| Total expenses | 1,172.03 | 1,052.64 | +11.3% |
| Profit before tax | 4,169.48 | 3,775.99 | +10.4% |
| Net profit | 3,120.08 | 2,923.85 | +6.7% |
| EPS (not annualised) | ₹12.61 | ₹11.81 | — |
Now, the headline profit growth of 6.7% looks underwhelming. But that's an apples-to-oranges comparison.
Last year's June quarter had a ₹112 crore one-off from selling the TalentSprint stake, sitting in discontinued operations. Strip that out and look at profit from continuing operations, ₹3,121.88 crore versus ₹2,811.81 crore. That's 11% growth. Much healthier.
And here's the thing about NSE that never stops being absurd: it converted ₹4,560 crore of operating revenue into ₹3,120 crore of net profit. That's a 68% net margin on operating revenue. Software companies dream about these numbers. NSE gets them for running plumbing.
The expense line is worth a glance too. Employee costs jumped 23% YoY to ₹242.59 crore, NSE is hiring and paying up ahead of listing. Regulatory fees rose 11%, depreciation 8%.
The segment breakup tells you the real story:
Trading services: ₹4,103.33 crore, up 12.8%. Still ~86% of segment revenue. Margin: 72%.
Clearing services: ₹493.75 crore, up 9%. Margin: 64%.
Others (data, index licensing, terminals): ₹197.78 crore, up 32.5%. Margin: 54%.
That "Others" bucket is the interesting one. It's small, barely 4% of revenue, but it's the fastest growing. NSE Indices licensing every Nifty ETF on the planet, data feeds, terminal services. It's the closest thing NSE has to a business that doesn't depend on how much India feels like trading options this month.
Because that dependence is the risk. Roughly 80% of NSE's revenue is tied to derivatives. And SEBI has spent the last two years tightening the screws on that market. Sequentially, revenue actually fell 8% from ₹4,967.59 crore in Q4 FY26.
One quarter is noise. But it's the number to watch.
Here's the sequence, compressed.
Between 2015 and 2016, some brokers allegedly got preferential access to NSE's colocation servers — logging in early, getting data microseconds ahead of everyone else. Separately, there was the "dark fibre" matter around unauthorised connectivity.
SEBI issued show-cause notices in 2017 and 2018. In April 2019, its Whole-Time Member ordered NSE to disgorge ₹624.89 crore plus 12% interest going back to 2014, and barred it from raising money in the securities market for six months.
That last bit is what killed the IPO. For seven years.
Then came the appeals, SAT, Supreme Court, back and forth. In June 2025, NSE gave up fighting and filed for settlement: ₹1,387.39 crore. In March 2026, it revised that up to ₹1,491.21 crore.
And in the notes to these results, the closing line:
SEBI, via email dated 30 July 2026, has in principle agreed to accept the terms of the settlement and has made a demand of ₹714.74 crore, in addition to the ₹776.47 crore already deposited. The Board, in its meeting on 30 July 2026, approved the payment.
₹776.47 crore + ₹714.74 crore = ₹1,491.21 crore. The maths closes. The case closes.
Crucially, NSE already took the pain. It booked a ₹1,391.21 crore provision in FY26, on top of ₹100 crore provided back in FY23. So the ₹714.74 crore cheque is a cash outflow against a liability that already exists on the balance sheet, not a fresh expense.
Which means Q1 FY27's ₹3,120 crore profit is clean. No settlement drag.
What NSE bought for ₹1,491 crore was the largest settlement in SEBI's history — and the removal of the single biggest roadblock to its IPO. It filed its DRHP on 17 June 2026. Investor roadshows reportedly began in July.
Tucked into the exceptional items is a small, oddly specific transaction.
NSE Investments Limited (NIL) sold its stake in Indian Gas Exchange (IGX) in two tranches:
Date | Stake sold | Shares | Consideration | Price/share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 Apr 2026 | 0.61% | 4,57,500 | ₹15.56 cr | ₹340.11 |
| 30 Jun 2026 | 0.25% | 1,87,500 | ₹6.38 cr | ₹340.27 |
Both tranches went to Prabhudas Lilladher Wealth Managers at essentially the same price — about ₹340 per share.
Do the arithmetic. 0.61% for ₹15.56 crore implies IGX is worth roughly ₹2,551 crore. The second tranche implies ₹2,552 crore. Remarkably consistent — this wasn't a fire sale, it was a priced, deliberate transaction.
Right, the part you scrolled down for.
As of end-July 2026, NSE unlisted shares are quoting in a band of roughly ₹1,940 to ₹2,090 across pre-IPO platforms, depending on the dealer, the lot size and the day. Call it a round ₹2,000. That's what the pre-IPO market is actually paying today.
And here's a detail most people miss. Those quotes are below where they were a year ago, 52-week highs sat somewhere in the ₹2,270-₹2,350 region depending on whose screen you look at. So over the last twelve months, the share price has gone sideways-to-down.
Step 1: Market capitalisation
Paid-up equity capital is ₹247.50 crore at a face value of ₹1. So there are 247.50 crore shares outstanding.
247.50 crore × ₹2,000 = ₹4,95,000 crore (₹4.95 lakh crore, or roughly $57 billion)
Step 2: Annualise Q1 profit
₹3,120.08 crore × 4 = ₹12,480 crore
Or via EPS: ₹12.61 × 4 = ₹50.44 annualised EPS.
Step 3: The P/E
₹4,95,000 crore ÷ ₹12,480 crore = ~39.7x
So at ₹2,000, you're paying roughly 40 times annualised Q1 FY27 earnings.
Depends entirely on what you compare it to.
BSE has traded at premium multiples through this cycle. Global exchange operators — CME, ICE, Deutsche Börse, HKEX — typically sit in the 20-35x band. On that basis, 40x for NSE isn't cheap.
But NSE isn't quite a normal exchange. It has near-monopoly share in equity derivatives, a 68% net margin, negligible capital intensity, an enormous treasury throwing off ₹2,000+ crore of other income annually, and a portfolio of associate stakes carried well below fair value.
Against that, the bear case is short and sharp: regulatory concentration risk. One SEBI circular on weekly expiries or lot sizes can reset the revenue base. And its equity options market share has reportedly slipped in recent months.
Also worth remembering, annualising one quarter is a blunt instrument. Q1 for NSE has historically been a strong quarter. Volumes are seasonal. Treat 40x as a directional estimate, not a precise valuation.
Three things happened this quarter.
The business grew — double digits on operations, with the data and index segment quietly outrunning everything else.
The decade-old regulatory overhang got a closing date, already paid for out of last year's P&L.
And a small stake sale in a gas exchange reminded everyone that NSE's balance sheet holds assets nobody is really marking to market.
At today's ₹2,000, the unlisted market is paying about 40x annualised earnings for all of it — pricing in a clean IPO, continued derivatives dominance, and no nasty regulatory surprises.
Two of those three are now looking a lot more likely than they did a year ago.
The third one is still SEBI's call.
This article is for informational purposes only and is not investment advice. Unlisted share prices are indicative, illiquid and vary by platform and counterparty. All financial figures are taken from NSE's audited consolidated and standalone results for the quarter ended 30 June 2026, filed on 30 July 2026. Please consult a SEBI-registered investment adviser before investing.