India’s retail broking market is buzzing. Two of the industry’s largest digital-first players, Billionbrains-Garage Ventures (Groww) and Angel One have together crossed 100 crore orders in Q4FY26, with Billionbrains Garage Ventures (Groww) reporting 58.74 crore orders and Angel One reporting 43.07 crore orders.
Both firms hit multi-quarter highs in trading activity. However, the Q4FY26 results indicated a widening gap in profitability alongside a parallel push into high-yield credit and wealth management products.
Despite the strong momentum in volumes and earnings, the April 18 conference calls indicated a common direction for both firms. Core broking income remained dependent on trading activity, even as both companies increased investments in wealth management, asset management, and lending businesses to build more stable revenue streams and sustain margins beyond transaction-led growth.
Angel One vs Groww: Derivatives drive order volumes
Trading activity expanded significantly during the quarter ended March 31, 2026. Groww executed 58.74 crore orders in Q4 FY26, increasing from 47.42 crore orders in the quarter ended December 31, 2025. Angel One executed 43.07 crore orders in Q4 FY26, rising from 38.03 crore orders in the previous quarter.
The derivatives segment remained central to this growth.
Ambarish Kenghe, Group Chief Executive Officer at Angel One, said, “Turning to the broking business, engagement rebounded meaningfully over the past year. Average daily orders scaled from 5 million in February ’25 to 7.4 million in March ’26, thus taking the aggregate order count to 431 million for the quarter, marking a six-quarter high.” Kenghe added that the firm sustained a 20.4% share of overall retail equity turnover.
On Groww’s side, Ishan Bansal, Co-founder at Billionbrains Garage Ventures, said, “One, the new customers that are coming to the derivatives market, there is some benefits that we are driving from some of the new initiatives that we are taking, including 9/15. But a large part of this is again coming on Groww itself.” Bansal also said that F&O penetration declined to approximately 10% in Q4 FY26 from 18% earlier, while other segments supported revenue per user.
Angel One vs Groww: Revenue trajectory
Groww reported total income of Rs 1,535 crore in Q4 FY26, increasing from Rs 1,259 crore in the quarter ended December 31, 2025. Sequentially, total income increased 22% from Q3 FY26.
Angel One reported revenue growth in Q4 FY26 driven by higher order volumes and improved revenue per order, with derivatives and commodities continuing to contribute a significant portion.
For Groww, 87–88% of revenue in Q4 FY26 came from broking, margin trading facility, and float income. Angel One also remained heavily dependent on trading-linked income streams.
The data for the quarter ended March 31, 2026, showed that revenue growth for both firms continued to be volume-led, with higher participation driving income.
Angel One vs Groww: Profit as operating leverage improves
Groww reported EBITDA of Rs 938.7 crore in Q4 FY26, increasing from Rs 390 crore in Q4 FY25. Profit after tax rose to Rs 686.4 crore in Q4 FY26 from Rs 310 crore in Q4 FY25 and from Rs 546.9 crore in Q3 FY26.
Angel One reported profit after tax of Rs 320 crore in Q4 FY26, rising from Rs 268.7 crore in Q3 FY26, with EBITDA margin stood at 41.7% compared with 39.4% in the previous quarter.
Vineet Agrawal, Chief Financial Officer at Angel One, said “Importantly, adjusting for one-time items and IPL-related spends, normalized EBDAT margin improved by 498 basis points sequentially to 44.4%, reinforcing the scalability and operating leverage embedded in the platform.”
The figures for Q4 FY26 indicated that both firms recorded profit growth supported by scale and higher activity levels.
Angel One vs Groww: Margins absorb IPL spend, volatility costs
Angel One reported an EBDAT margin of 41.7% in Q4 FY26, increasing from 39.4% in Q3 FY26. The margin included one-time expenses of Rs 11.5 crore related to IPL spending and Rs 19.2 crore in client reimbursements due to a technical issue.
Groww reported an EBITDA margin of 62.3% for its core platform in Q4 FY26, increasing from 59.1% in FY26. Total expenses rose to Rs 599.2 crore in Q4 FY26 from Rs 515.6 crore in Q3 FY26.
Ishan Bansal said “The growth was attributable to (a) risk related costs because of the higher volatility in Q4, and (b) higher G&A spends, largely towards CSR as well as M&A transactions’ related expenses.” Bansal also said that Groww’s marketing-driven cost to grow remains between Rs 450 crore and Rs 500 crore annually, adding that margins are linked to revenue growth exceeding 15%.
Angel One indicated that margins may moderate by 2.5–3% in future periods due to continued investments.
Angel One vs Groww: Wealth and AMC expansion continues
Angel One infused Rs 150 crore into its wealth management business during the quarter ended March 31, 2026.
Groww’s wealth arm, Fisdom, reported an operating loss of Rs 10.2 crore in Q4 FY26. The company expects this segment to reach breakeven by FY28. Groww’s AMC AUM reached Rs 4,000 crore as of March 31, 2026.
Saurabh Agarwal, Chief Business Officer at Angel One, said “Our belief is our wealth business, for instance, is going to achieve a breakeven in about three, three and a half years is something that we have already indicated to the Street.”
Lalit Keshre, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer at Billionbrains Garage Ventures, said “We forayed into wealth management with Fisdom acquisition, and this helped us launch three more products on the platform, which is like Fisdom, which is the bank partnership product; W, which is wealth management for affluent and HNI customers on Groww; and Prime, which is more for mass affluent customers on Groww.”
Angel One vs Groww: Credit books expansion
Groww’s margin trading facility book expanded to Rs 2,810 crore as of March 31, 2026, increasing from Rs 2,310 crore in the previous quarter.
Angel One reported cumulative credit disbursements of Rs 2,710 crore as of March 31, 2026, with Rs 610 crore disbursed during Q4 FY26.
Agarwal said “We have a lot of customers who have asset in our securities in our demat and they should have the ability to raise credit at a lower cost than personal loans and which is why we are starting loan against securities business on our own balance sheet.”
Bansal said “MTF has shown strong growth. It is not being used as an acquisition tool but is primarily adopted by existing customers, who are shifting from intraday trading to longer holds.”
Angel One vs Groww: AI integration expands across engineering and customer platforms
Angel One reported that approximately 25% of its committed code in Q4 FY26 was generated using artificial intelligence tools, with more than 50% of engineering work augmented by AI. The firm upgraded its “Ask Angel” platform into a conversational assistant.
Ambarish Kenghe said “A defining pillar of this transformation is our shift towards becoming an AI native platform. We are moving decisively from isolated AI use cases to platform-level AI integration, re-architecting both client experiences and internal workflows.”
Groww indicated that its cost to operate remains largely tied to employee expenses, which are expected to stabilise after a one-time increase in Q1 FY27.
Ishan Bansal said “On the productivity side where our internal teams are kind of shipping much faster, shipping better and so on. And lastly, as we keep doing, like we continue finding new gaps, new products to launch, finding smaller S-curves, so we’ll continue doing that.”
Angel One vs Groww: Brokerage views
Brokerage reports following Q4 FY26 results provided clear rating actions, target prices, and implied return expectations for both Billionbrains Garage Ventures and Angel One.
According to JM Financial, Groww is currently rated ‘Sell’, with a revised target price of Rs 150, increased from Rs 144 earlier. The brokerage valued the company at 22x FY28E EPS of Rs 6.8, while noting that the stock is already trading at elevated multiples of 38x FY27E and 29x FY28E earnings.
In contrast, Motilal Oswal maintained a ‘Buy’ rating on Groww with a target price of Rs 235, implying an approximate 20% upside.
For Angel One, JM Financial assigned an ‘Add’ rating with a target price of Rs 350, revised from Rs 333 earlier. The brokerage indicated that the stock has already risen 40% since September 2025 and reflects near-term earnings growth.
Conclusion
The Q4 FY26 results underscore a maturing duopoly in the Indian discount broking space. While Groww has scaled its user base and earnings growth, Angel One continues to maintain strong profitability and trading activity.
The next fiscal year will depend on how both firms scale their wealth, asset management, and credit businesses alongside their core broking operations.
Conclusion
The Q4 FY26 results underscore a maturing duopoly in the Indian discount broking space. While Groww has successfully converted its massive user base into a high-growth, high-valuation profit machine, Angel One remains the preferred choice for aggressive traders, maintaining deep liquidity in the derivatives segment. The next fiscal year will be a test of their diversification strategies, as both firms race to turn their “Wealth” and “Asset Management” units from cost centers into significant profit contributors by FY28.
Disclaimer: Investment in securities markets are subject to market risks. Please read all the related documents carefully before investing. The analysis provided is based on quarterly earnings and conference call disclosures for informational purposes and does not constitute a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any specific stock or derivative instrument. Given the high volatility associated with equity derivatives and the growing scale of digital broking platforms, investors are advised to consult with a SEBI-registered investment advisor to assess their risk appetite before making any financial decisions.
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