Stocks to watch tomorrow (October 16): Wipro, Persistent, IRFC and more

Earnings, insurance numbers, railway financing and a big defence deal will steer several stocks when the market opens tomorrow, October 16. Wipro, Persistent Systems and Tech Mahindra have posted their September-quarter results. HDFC Life and IRFC reported profit growth. Bharat Dynamics landed fresh orders.

Wipro’s net profit fell 1.9% year-on-year to Rs 3,200 crore in Q2 FY27. It also dropped 4.6% from Rs 3,356.3 crore in the June quarter.

Revenue from operations rose 9% to Rs 24,752.7 crore, up from Rs 22,697.3 crore a year ago. Sequentially, it grew 1.1% from Rs 24,478.6 crore. IT services revenue was Rs 24,667 crore, roughly 1% higher year-on-year.

Persistent’s headline profit took a hit. Reported PAT fell 25.4% to Rs 351.51 crore. The reason, a one-time expense of Rs 185.34 crore tied to its proposed Nagarro acquisition.

Strip that out, and PAT rose 5% to Rs 495.15 crore.

Revenue was the standout. It jumped 30.3% year-on-year to Rs 4,663.9 crore. In constant currency, growth was 20.8%.

In US dollar terms, revenue rose 20% to $487.6 million. Sequentially, it grew 8.4% in rupee terms. This marks the company’s 26th straight quarter of revenue growth.

Tech Mahindra posted a PAT of Rs 1,586 crore on revenue of Rs 16,180.2 crore. EBIT rose 5.4% to Rs 2,387 crore. The EBIT margin came in at 14.8%.

HDFC Life’s net profit rose 13.6% to Rs 508 crore in the July-September quarter, from Rs 447 crore a year earlier. Net premium income grew 15.7% to Rs 21,727 crore.

For H1 FY27, net profit climbed 12.7% to Rs 1,119 crore. Net premium income rose to Rs 38,275 crore from Rs 33,243 crore.

IRFC’s net profit grew 10.2% to Rs 1,958.5 crore in Q2 FY27. Net interest income surged 30.2% to Rs 1,949 crore. NPAs remain at zero.

The board declared an interim dividend of Rs 1.50 per share. The record date is October 23, 2026.

Bharat Dynamics (BDL) will be in focus after the Ministry of Defence signed two contracts worth a combined Rs 4,106 crore. The agreements cover indigenous Varunastra heavyweight torpedoes for the Indian Navy and the acquisition of the GSAT-7C communication satellite through NewSpace India Limited.

Together, they aim to boost anti-submarine warfare and military communications.