Two ways to ask the question
The Nifty 50 closed on 7 October 2026 at a P/E of 19.34. The Nifty 500's was 21.75 and the Nifty Midcap 150's 28.36. Those are index figures: total market value over total earnings.
Ask a different question, what the typical stock trades at, and the answer changes. Across the 935 stocks in WealthTicker's data with a positive P/E, the median is 30.6.
The data covers 1,266 Indian-listed stocks with a market capitalisation and the per-stock P/E from BSE, as of 7 October 2026. Ranks below are by market cap within that set.
By size
| Market-cap band | Stocks | Zero or negative P/E | Median P/E | P/E 50 or more | P/E under 15 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top 100 (₹1,07,406 crore and above) | 100 | 10 | 28.7 | 23 | 24 |
| 101 to 250 (₹34,792 crore and above) | 150 | 17 | 40.8 | 41 | 15 |
| 251 to 500 (₹13,278 crore and above) | 250 | 57 | 35.7 | 70 | 20 |
| Rest (766 stocks, from ₹32 crore) | 766 | 243 | 26.8 | 109 | 114 |
| All | 1,266 | 327 | 30.6 | 243 | 173 |
Four things stand out.
The middle of the market is the dearest. Stocks ranked 101 to 250 have the highest median, 40.8, well above the top 100's 28.7 and the smallest stocks' 26.8. That fits the way the indices line up: the Midcap 150 at 28.36 sits well above the Nifty 100 at 19.11.
The smallest stocks are mixed. The "rest" band has the lowest median, 26.8, but also 114 stocks under 15 times earnings and 109 over 50. It is a wide spread, not a cheap bucket.
Loss-makers pile up at the bottom of the size ladder. Ten of the top 100 have a zero or negative P/E. Among the 766 smallest, 243 do, which is 31.7%.
Few stocks are cheap on this measure. Only 286 stocks, 22.6% of the 1,266, have a positive P/E under 20, and 173 of those are under 15.
Why the median and the index differ
An index P/E adds up every company's market value and divides by the sum of their earnings. Companies with large profits and big index weights dominate the result. A large earner at a low multiple pulls the index figure down, whether or not it is typical of the rest.
A median does the opposite. It lines the stocks up by P/E and takes the middle one, giving the smallest company the same say as the largest. That is why the two numbers can sit 10 points apart without either being wrong. For the index figures, see the Nifty 50 P/E and the Nifty 500 P/E.
The expensive tail
Of the 935 stocks with a positive P/E, 243 trade at 50 or more, and 78 at 100 or more. A high P/E can mean the market expects fast growth, or earnings that are temporarily depressed, or one-off items. The ratio on its own cannot say which.
By band, the share of profitable stocks at 50 times or more is 25.6% in the top 100, 31.1% in ranks 101 to 250, 36.3% in ranks 251 to 500 and 21.0% among the rest.
What this does not tell you
It is a trailing ratio. Prices today divided by earnings already reported. A company whose profit is about to jump looks dear; one whose profit is about to fall looks cheap.
Medians skip the loss-makers. The 327 stocks without a positive P/E are left out of every median above, so the typical profitable company is what is measured.
Bands are by our data's market caps. They will not match an exchange's or SEBI's official lists exactly.
The universe is not every listed company. There are many thousands of listed companies, and the 1,266 here are those with a market cap and ratios in our data.
None of this says any stock or segment is a good or bad buy. P/E, P/B and ROE explains what the ratios do and do not mean.
Frequently asked questions
What is the median P/E of Indian stocks?
Across the 935 of 1,266 stocks in WealthTicker's data that have a positive P/E, the median on 7 October 2026 was 30.6. The 100 largest by market cap had a median of 28.7, the next 150 had 40.8 and the 766 smallest 26.8.
Why is the median stock's P/E higher than the Nifty 50's 19.34?
An index P/E divides the index's total market value by its total earnings, so the biggest earners dominate it. A median treats every company equally, and many mid-sized and small companies trade at higher multiples than the heavyweights. The two measure different things.
How many Indian stocks are loss-making?
In this data 327 of 1,266 stocks, 25.8%, have a zero or negative P/E, which means trailing earnings were zero or negative. The share rises as companies get smaller: 10% in the top 100 by market cap and 31.7% outside the top 500.
This is commentary on published data, not investment advice. WealthTicker is not a SEBI-registered adviser or distributor. Figures are WealthTicker’s own calculations from public data — AMFI’s fund NAVs and disclosures, NSE’s index and FII/DII files, and the fund houses’ monthly portfolios (how we calculate). They are as of the dates stated and can be revised by their source.
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