Information technology (IT) stocks were in focus on Thursday with the Nifty IT index rising 2 percent on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) in intraday trade. The rise comes after the chairman of the US Federal Reserve indicated that the central bank may slow the pace of interest rate hikes.
The US market ended higher overnight, led by gains in technology stocks. The Nasdaq Composite jumped 4.4 percent on Wednesday.
At home, shares of Coforge and L&T Technology Services rose 3 percent, while Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosis, HCL Technologies, Wipro, Persistent Systems, Tech Mahindra and Larsen & Toubro Infotech gained 2 percent each on the NSE. At 09:24, the Nifti IT index was up 2 percent compared to a 0.60 percent rise in the Nifti 50 index.
LTM (last twelve month) drawdowns for all companies, except TCS and LTI, eased in the July-September quarter (Q2FI23), while all companies indicated that drawdowns would further decrease in the second half of the year.
Q2 2023 saw continued growth momentum from IT companies due to strong execution based on healthy order wins in earlier quarters. The demand environment remains strong with stable TCV (total contract value) reported by most companies in Q2.
“The companies maintained their FY23 revenue guidance, which takes into account the holidays in the third quarter and some impact from slower client-side decision making throughout the second half of the year.” Clients want to spend on both revenue maximization and cost optimization programs with IT companies looking to capture both growth points. “Clients feel that technology will be the last area to be affected by weak macros,” analysts at ICICI Securities said in a second-quarter earnings report.
Meanwhile, analysts at Anand Rathi Research are bullish on Infosys, a leader in next-generation digital services and consulting.
“Although the company sees some caution due to the mortgage issue in financial services, caution in high-tech and telecommunications, but continues to gain market share in the cloud and digital business, a decrease in the rate of employee departure from the last 3 quarters and big wins,” the brokerage firm said in the second quarter results update.
As for TCS, analysts at Emkai Global Financial Services believe the company is well-positioned to navigate the challenging demand environment, given its well-diversified offering and healthy mix of growth and transformation, as well as cost-cutting and efficiency projects.