IT stocks rally; Wipro, TCS, MindTree crosses share buyback price

Wipro, TCS, HCL Technologies, Tech Mahindra and Infosys from the Nifty IT index were up in the range of 2% to 4% on NSE.

Shares of information technology (IT) companies were in focus in other wise subdued market with most of the frontline stocks trading higher by up to 4% on the National Stock Exchange (NSE).

Wipro, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), HCL Technologies, Tech Mahindra and Infosys from the Nifty IT index were up in the range of 2% to 4% on NSE.

At 10:53 AM; Nifty IT index, the largest gainer among sectoral indices, was up 2.8% at 12,324, as compared to 0.25% decline in the benchmark index Nifty 50 index. IT index hit a fresh 52-week high of 12,339 in intra-day trade. The index is 4.6% away from its all-time high of 12,908 touched on March 4, 2015 in intra-day deal.

TCS, Wipro, MindTree, Nucleus Software and MphasiS were trading above their buyback price, while Infosys and HCL Technologies quoting close to buyback price.

	Price in Rs
Company	Share buyback	Intra-day high	% chg
Infosys	1150	1108.00	-3.7
Wipro	320	329.25	2.9
Mindtree	625	635.45	1.7
HCL Technologies	1000	942.20	-5.8
TCS	2850	2853.65	0.1
Intra-day high on NSE at 10:53 AM
Stocks from Nifty IT index
Source: CapitalinePlus

Among the individual stocks, Wipro was up 4% to Rs 329 on NSE, crossing its share buyback price of Rs 320 per share.

The board of directors of Wipro will held on January 18-19 to consider December 2017 quarter (Q3FY18) results. The board will also consider interim dividend for the financial year 2017-18.

Edelweiss Securities expects Wipro to post USD revenue and cc revenue growth of 1.4% in Q3FY18 on quarter on quarter (QoQ).

We believe absence of wage hike and marginal appreciation of INR will lead to mere 20bps QoQ margin expansion, as quarter will be impacted due to seasonal furloughs. Demand outlook in energy & utilities vertical, traction in BPM, demand from India & MEA geographies, and deal contours of Cooper acquisition are key monitorables, the brokerage firm said in Q3FY18 results preview.

Infosys hit a fresh 52-week high of Rs 1,108, up 2.6% on NSE in intra-day trade, extending its past 7% gain in past six trading days.

Analysts KRChoksey Shares and Securities recommend an ‘accumulative’ rating on the stock with target price of Rs 1,187.

The company has witnessed a significant deal wins in the quarter that would provide incremental revenues inflows in the subsequent years especially in the retail, insurance and manufacturing sectors. The company remained positive in improving its profitability despite the overall industry’s been shifting from traditional IT services to a more business-driven coupled with ongoing political state of affairs.

We believe that the newly appointed CEO would identify the opportunities in the highly emerging market and outline the defined roadmap for addressing the growing demand from its clients, the brokerage firm said in result update.

“Infosys has been able to manage the transition in the board and CEO without any disruption to the business. FY18 CC revenue growth at midpoint of guidance will be almost similar to TCS' FY18E at 6.5%. From a demand outlook perspective Infosys is sounding much more comfortable on CY18/ FY19 than TCS. Commentary on demand outlook, in particular BFSI is heartening,” said analysts at Antique Stock Broking in result review. The brokerage firm retains ‘buy’ rating on the stock with a target price of Rs 1,190.

COMPANY	LATEST	ONE-MONTH BEFORE	GAIN(%)
SONATA SOFTWARE	300.00	231.25	29.7
INTELLECT DESIGN	185.70	145.65	27.5
KPIT TECH.	202.20	167.55	20.7
ECLERX SERVICES	1538.60	1282.70	20.0
VAKRANGEE	441.45	372.73	18.4
NIIT TECH.	719.20	613.90	17.2
PERSISTENT SYS	752.70	648.65	16.0
POLARIS CONSULTA	412.95	358.80	15.1
TATA ELXSI	1053.35	924.75	13.9
WIPRO	326.05	289.70	12.6
FIRSTSOUR.SOLU.	44.00	39.25	12.1
TECH MAHINDRA	560.00	500.75	11.8
TCS	2841.60	2545.60	11.6
HEXAWARE TECH.	357.00	320.40	11.4
ZENSAR TECH.	906.00	814.10	11.3
MINDTREE	624.35	566.55	10.2
RAMCO SYSTEMS	539.40	489.60	10.2
INFOSYS	1102.20	1022.90	7.8
L & T INFOTECH	1117.05	1039.55	7.5
TAKE SOLUTIONS	165.50	156.35	5.9