Shares of Infosys rose over 1% in intraday trade on Friday, while HCL Technologies dropped up to 3% after releasing their third quarter earnings. Wipro shares were also reeling under selling pressure ahead of its December quarter results slated to be released today.
Infosys share price opened a tad higher at ₹1,489.95 against the previous closing price of ₹1,480.55 on the BSE. In the first two hours of trade so far, the stock of the IT heavyweight declined as much as 0.85% to ₹1,468. The stock, however, rebounded 2.2% from day’s low to touch an intraday high of ₹1,501.60. The stock touched a 52-week high of ₹1,953.70 on January 17, 2022, while it touched a 52-week low of ₹1,355.50 on September 26, 2022.
Similarly, HCL Technologies shares fell as much as 2.8% to hit a low of ₹1,042 as compared to the previous closing price of ₹1,071.90 on the BSE. There was a surge in selling as 0.9 lakh shares changed hands over the counter against two-week average volume of 0.52 lakh stocks, while the market capitalisation dipped to ₹2.86 lakh crore. It hit a 52-week high and low of ₹1,359 and ₹875.65, respectively, on January 13, 2022, and August 29, 2022, respectively.
Overall, the BSE Information Technology (IT) index fell nearly 1%, led by L&T Technology Services, LTIMindtree, RateGain Travel Technologies, Brightcom Group, and MphasiS, which shed up to 6%. Among heavyweights, Wipro, TCS, and Tech Mahindra also slipped nearly 2% in early trade.
Meanwhile, the BSE benchmark Sensex was trading 186 points lower at 59,772 levels.
Shares of Infosys, the country’s second largest software exporter, saw some buying after it reported better-than-expected third quarter earnings. The Bengaluru-based IT giant reported 13.4% year-on-year growth in net profit at ₹6,586 crore, while revenue rose 20% YoY to ₹38,318 crore during the quarter under review. The software services giant also revised upward its revenue guidance for FY23 to 16%-16.5% from 15-16% estimated earlier. During the quarter under review, the operating margin stood at 21.5% compared with 23.5% in Q3 FY22. Infosys won deals worth $3.3 billion in Q3, the strongest in the last eight quarters.
HCL Technologies shares were hit as investors' sentiments were spooked after the Noida-based company lowered its revenue guidance for the March quarter (Q4FY23). The company has cut revenue guidance by 50 bps to 13.5%-14%, from the earlier estimates of 13.5%-14.5% due to seasonal weakness projected in the next quarter. The country’s third-largest IT services firm has posted 18.8% growth in net profit at ₹4,096 crore in Q3 FY23, compared with the same period last year. The net consolidated revenue of the company grew 19.6% to ₹26,700 crore, compared to ₹22,331 crore a year ago.
Earlier this week, TCS, the country’s largest IT company by market cap, kicked off earnings season by releasing its results on Monday. IT major Wipro is slated to release its earnings report later today.
