Nifty IT index surges 13% in April; TCS soars 25% in 16 trading days

Shares of information technology (IT) companies were in focus with the Nifty IT index hitting new high on Monday, after the sector giant Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) reported a better than expected March quarter (Q4FY18) results.

Nifty IT index, the largest gainer among sectoral indices, was up 1.7% at 14,141, as compared to 0.39% rise in the Nifty 50 index. The index hit a new high of 14,245 in intra-day trade today, has outperformed the market by surging 13% thus far in the month of April. On comparison, the benchmark index was up 5% thus far in the current month.

TCS, HCL Technologies, Hexaware Technologies, KPIT Technologies, Mindtree, NIIT Technologies, Sasken Technologies and Tata Elxsi have hit their respective all-time highs.

TCS hit a new high of Rs 3,558 today, has rallied 12% in past two trading days on the National Stock Exchange (NSE), post Q4 results.

The stock soared 25% thus far in the current month, set to report its sharpest monthly gain in past more than eight years. Earlier, in July 2009, TCS market value had appreciated by 35% in single month.

TCS, the country’s largest IT services provider, on Thursday announced a strong set of numbers in Q4 as well as for 2017-18 (FY18), backed by all-round growth in key verticals and geographies, and digital services and solutions.

The Mumbai-headquartered company posted double-digit revenue growth in dollar terms in Q4 for the first time in the last 12 quarters. The management was confident of sustaining this growth rate in the coming quarters. CLICK HERE TO READ FULL REPORT.

At 12:09 pm; TCS was trading at Rs 3,509, a well above the brokerage target price in the range of Rs 3,050- Rs 3,470.

“TCS reported a strong Q4FY18 on the revenue and deal momentum front. The management commentary on its key vertical such as BFSI and retails also indicate a pick-up in revenue growth in FY19E. However, the acceleration in revenue growth seems to be priced in current valuation (20.5x FY20E EPS). Hence, we maintain our HOLD rating on the stock with a revised target price of Rs 3,260,” analysts at ICICI Securities said in result update.

“We maintain ADD as we see limited upside to TCS’ stock price since the premium valuations (+20% premium to Infosys) are already justified by its sector-leading returns and robust capital allocation policy (+50% pay-out since FY09). Hence, we maintain ADD with 12-mth target price of Rs 3,050, implying limited upside potential,” analysts at IIFL Institutional Equities said in Q4FY18 result review.

COMPANY	LATEST	PREV CLOSE	GAIN(%)
SASKEN TECHNOL.	877.05	753.50	16.40
L & T INFOTECH	1544.20	1402.35	10.12
NIIT TECH.	1064.10	992.45	7.22
NUCLEUS SOFT.	469.50	446.05	5.26
DATAMATICS GLOB.	137.50	131.25	4.76
BLS INTERNAT.	161.10	154.70	4.14
ZENSAR TECH.	1058.50	1016.85	4.10
TATA ELXSI	1188.65	1142.50	4.04
SONATA SOFTWARE	359.60	346.25	3.86
MINDTREE	1013.85	977.45	3.72
MPHASIS	935.00	902.75	3.57
ROLTA INDIA	67.40	65.25	3.30
TRIGYN TECHNO.	158.70	153.70	3.25
HCL TECHNOLOGIES	1096.50	1062.90	3.16
ACCELYA KALE	1399.25	1358.50	3.00
PERSISTENT SYS	752.10	731.45	2.82
KPIT TECH.	249.50	242.70	2.80
TECH MAHINDRA	720.35	700.85	2.78
TCS	3500.80	3406.40	2.77