Margin headwinds may cap upsides for HCL Tech despite strong top line show

What works in favour are strong revenue growth, deal wins and attractive valuations

A muted margin outlook and cut in earnings estimates of IT major HCL Technologies led to a 5.9 per cent fall in its stock price, the highest drop among Sensex constituents. The company had declared its December quarter results after market hours on Friday. 
 
While the company did not disappoint on the growth front with a 7.6 per cent constant currency jump, which was at a 74-quarter high and best among the tier-1 companies thus far, the operational performance suffered. Margins at 19 per cent were flat on a sequential basis and missed estimates by 40-70 basis points (bps).