TCS shares rise ahead of Q2 results; Mphasis, Coforge, Infosys also gain; here's why - BusinessToday
TCS views on discretionary spending, deal conversions and margins are likely to carry greater weight than the headline numbers in determining whether the IT sector can provide support to the broader indices.
Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS) saw its shares rising over 2 per cent in Thursday's trade ahead of its September quarter results later in the day. Anticipations around the earnings season, which kicks start today, also lifted other IT names including Mphasis, Coforge Ltd, Infosys Ltd and HCL Technologies Ltd, among others. All 10 Nifty IT index were trading at least 1 per cent higher.
TCS shares climbed 3 per cent to hit a high of Rs 2,141.50. The market expects TCS to log revenue growth of about 0.5 per cent sequentially and 2.8 per cent YoY, broadly stable margins versus Q1, and deal wins of $10–11 billion, said Devarsh Vakil, Head of Prime Research at HDFC Securities.
The focus, he said, is on whether growth stabilises and how quickly margins can move toward the 25 per cent-plus exit target.
TCS' commentary on discretionary spending, deal conversions and margins likely to carry greater weight than the headline numbers in determining whether the IT sector can provide support to the broader indices, said Hariselvan Radhakrishnan, Founder & CEO of HST Wealth, a SEBI-registered research analyst firm.
"TCS (up 6.9 per cent YoY) and Infosys (up 7.9 per cent) may grow in single digit, while HCL Technologies (15.3 per cent), Tech Mahindra (up 40 per cent) and Coforge (up 76.5 per cent) may outpace them. With the rupee only 1 per cent weaker QoQ on an average, the currency would add little to the quarter's numbers," Elara Securities said.
On Wednedday, Mphasis added 2.28 per cent to Rs 2,341.10. Coforge advanced 2.13 per cent to Rs 1,861. HCL Tech, Infosys and LTM gained 1.5-1.8 per cent. Tech Mahindra, Persistent Systems and Wipro also rose over 1 per cent each.
Q2 is normally a strong quarter for Indian IT companies. This time, it may not be the case, said IDBI Capital. Among IT names, it said TCS is the better value call, with growth remaining modest but AI-led services supporting demand and margins rebuilding as wage-cost pressures fade.
At about 13.8 times FY27E earnings, TCS offers better upside potential among large caps, although the valuation leaves little room for error. Key risks include softness in mega deals and higher AI-related investments, the brokerage said.
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