Cognizant has tripled its lead over Infosys in terms of employee headcount in the last six quarters. The difference between the two companies’ headcounts increased by 8,530 to 17,836 during the September quarter.In the June quarter, the difference was at 9,306, against 6,114 in the corresponding quarter last year.
Cognizant saw degrowth in its headcount for two quarters, but Infosys has seen degrowth for three quarters. Last fiscal, some analysts had estimated that Infosys would pip Cognizant to become the second largest IT service company. Cognizant has been posting slightly higher revenue than Infosys for the last six quarters. The difference between the revenue of the two companies has fallen to around $179 million as of September 2023. In the June quarter of 2022, the difference was around $462 million, while in the September quarter that year, the difference fell to $302 million.
While Cognizant has an edge over Infosys in terms of sales, the latter has been pipping Cognizant in terms of net profit for the last six quarters. The difference between the two was $112 million in the June quarter of last year, increasing to around $119 million in the following quarter. Thanks to better margins, Infosys’ net profit currently is around $226 million more than that of Cognizant.
Pareekh Jain, founder, Pareekh Consulting, said that with Ravi Kumar taking over the reins, “Cognizant has got back the mojo”. That might delay Infosys overtaking Cognizant in terms of revenue.Jain added however, that Infosys’ revised guidance for FY24 of 1%-2.5% is higher than Cognizant’s full-year 2023 guidance of – 0.7% to flat. Both companies are facing macro uncertainties and are in a tight race as far as revenue is concerned.
