HCLTech CEO signals opportunities despite expected tariff consequences

HCLTech, India's third-largest IT services company, posted slightly lower-than-estimated fourth-quarter revenue on Tuesday, but projected growth opportunities to emerge from the global macro overhang.

The company expects "large opportunities" as clients use generative AI and other technologies to reduce costs in the tariff-driven environment, CEO C Vijayakumar said in a post-earnings conference.

"As I look beyond the uncertain short-term, I strongly believe there will be strong growth opportunities emerging out of the market," he said.

However, HCLTech expects the tariff-led turmoil to impact retail and manufacturing verticals and spill over to the other segments after fully kicking in.

The company's consolidated revenue rose 6.1 per cent to 302.46 billion rupees ($3.6 billion) in the fourth fiscal quarter. Analysts on average expected revenue of 302.75 billion rupees, according to data compiled by LSEG.

It expects revenue growth to be in the range of 2 per cent to 5 per cent for fiscal 2026 that started on April 1.

"The street expectations on HCLTech's guidance were really low after Infosys' tepid number last week. HCLTech has delivered guidance (that) looks the best among peers in a conservative environment overall," said Piyush Pandey, lead IT analyst at Centrum Broking.

Industry leader Tata Consultancy Services missed its quarterly earnings estimates and warned about clients delaying decision-making in discretionary projects. Larger peer Infosys has forecast flat to 3 per cent revenue growth for fiscal year 2026.

HCLTech's quarterly net profit rose 8.1 per cent to 43.07 billion rupees, compared with analysts' mean estimate of 43.56 billion rupees.

Deal wins for the quarter stood at $3 billion, compared with $2.1 billion a year ago.

Four of the company's seven segments grew during the quarter, with the telecom and media vertical expanding by 24.3 per cent.

HCLTech shares closed 0.1 per cent lower on Tuesday while the sub-index of IT stocks that ended 0.57 per cent lower that day.