Infosys and HCL Tech appear to have performed much better than peers, Wipro and Tech Mahindra in the September 2025 quarter. And while Infosys, Wipro and HCL Tech have marginally improved their growth forecast, investors on Dalal Street are looking for more concrete signs of a revival in the performance of leading IT services companies. It’s no surprise that IT stocks have been hovering above their 52-week lows reached in the first week of April 2025.
A clear divide: How the top four fared
Infosys, the second largest of the Indian IT services companies, after the close of Thursday trading, reported a 2.2% quarter-on-quarter constant currency growth to Rs 44,490 crore in the September 2025 quarter.
And while the key financial services segment was 27.7 % of total revenues in Q2 FY26 vis-à-vis 27.9 % in the June 2025 quarter, Infosys benefited from an improved performance in segments like manufacturing and hi-tech.
Wipro also reported its results after the close of Thursday trading, and its IT services revenue grew a lackluster 0.3% q-o-q in constant currency terms to Rs 22,640.5 crore in the September 2025 quarter.
And while Wipro’s key BFSI (banking, financial services and insurance) accounted for 34.3% of total revenues in the September 2025 vis-à-vis 33.6% in the June 2025 quarter, however, in other sectors it faced problems.
For instance, consumer segment accounted for 18.2 % of total revenues in the September 2025 quarter vis-à-vis 18.6% in the June 2025 quarter. Also, its energy, manufacturing and resources accounted for 17.4% of revenues in the September 2025 quarter vis-à-vis 17.7% in the June 2025 quarter.
Earlier, Tech Mahindra, reported a 1.6% quarter-on-quarter growth in revenues in constant currency terms to Rs 13,949.9 crore in the September 2025 quarter.
In the case of Tech Mahindra, its key communications vertical was sluggish, it was 32.7% of revenues in the September 2025 quarter, a decline of 2% q-o-q.
And HCL Tech has highlighted that its revenue was up 2.4 % quarter-on-quarter in constant currency terms in the September 2025 quarter to Rs 31,942 crore.
HCL Tech in the September 2025 quarter benefited from a pick-up in the public services vertical, which includes energy and utilities, logistics and government. This segment accounted for 8.9% of its revenues in the September 2025 quarter vis-à-vis 8.5% in the June 2025 quarter.
The Noida-based company benefited also from a pick-up in the life sciences and healthcare segment coupled with the Rest of the World segment – business generated outside US, Europe and India.
The margin story: Cost control pays off
Meanwhile, Infosys’ core operating profit margin improved 20 basis points q-o-q to 23.7 % in the September 2025 quarter. Infosys benefited from its employee expenses, which came in at 52.7% of revenues in Q2FY26 vis-à-vis 54% in the June 2025 quarter.
Wipro’s core operating profit margin meanwhile also improved 60 basis points q-o-q to 20% in the September 2025 quarter.
Wipro’s margin expansion was helped by lower employee expenses as a percentage of revenues. It was 60% in the September 2025 quarter vis-à-vis 60.7% in the June 2025 quarter.
Earlier, Tech Mahindra’s core operating profit margin also improved 100 basis points q-o-q to 15.5 % in the September 2025 quarter.
Similarly, HCL Tech’s core operating profit margin rose 60 points q-o-q to 20.5% in the September 2025 quarter.
Margin improvement for HCL Tech was helped by employee expenses as a percentage of revenues at 57.3% in the September 2025 quarter vis-à-vis 58% in the June 2025 quarter.
At Tech Mahindra also employee expenses as a percentage of revenues was 54.5 % in the September 2025 quarter vis-à-vis 56.2% in the June 2025 quarter.
The pattern is clear. Leading IT companies are optimizing employee costs to deliver margin gains.
Variance in net profit
Meanwhile, Infosys net profit rose 6.5 % q-o-q to Rs 7,375 crore in the September 2025 quarter.
In contrast, Wipro’s net profit fell nearly 2.2% quarter-on- quarter to Rs 3,262.4 crore in the September 2025 quarter.
Earlier, HCL Tech net profit rose 10.2% q-o-q to Rs 4,236 crore in the second quarter of FY26. And Tech Mahindra’s net profit rose 6.5 % y-o-y o Rs 1201.7 crore in the September 2025 quarter.
Reading the tea leaves: Deal wins signal future trajectories
With regard to future growth opportunities, TCV (new deal wins) for Infosys it was $ 3.1 billion in the September 2025 quarter vis-à-vis $ 3.8 billion at the end of the June 2025 quarter.
Similarly, TCV (new deal wins) for Wipro was $ 4.68 billion in the September 2025 quarter vis-a-vis $ 4.97 billion in the June 2025 quarter.
For Tech Mahindra TCV (new deal wins) was $ 816 million in the September 2025 vis-à-vis $ 809 million in the June 2025 quarter.
And HCL Tech TCV (new deal wins) was at $2.57 billion in the September 2025 quarter, up 41.8% q-o-q.
The Street will be keeping a close eye on these new deal wins how quickly they will translate into revenue for IT companies over the next few quarters.
The talent war: Contrasting headcount trajectories
Employee Headcount
Infosys has highlighted its software professionals were 314,500 at the end of the September 2025 quarter vis-à-vis 306,706 at the end of the June 2025 quarter.
Similarly, Wipro’s total head count was 235,492 at the end of the September 2025 quarter vis-à-vis 233,232 at the end of the June 2025 quarter.
HCL Tech’s head count at the end of the September 2025 quarter was 226, 640 vis-à-vis 223,151 at the end of the June 2025 quarter.
However, Tech Mahindra’s IT head count at the end of the September 2025 quarter was 78,528 employees vis-à-vis 79,987 at the end of the June 2025 quarter.
AI-related
Infosys andWipro have not specifically provided data on their AI-related revenues in the September 2025 quarter.
HCL Tech Advanced AI quarterly revenue crossed $ 100 million (nearly Rs 880) crore in the September 2025 quarter. (not given the corresponding figure for June 2025 quarter)
Tech Mahindra has highlighted that it had 300+ AI Agents at Scale – TechM’s Agentic AI portfolio powers hybrid workforces across industries via-a-vis 200+ AI Agents at Scale at the end of the June 2025 quarter.
Globally, AI is driving growth in the IT sector and Indian investors will also be monitoring AI-revenue growth for Indian IT service companies.
Guidance divergence: A glimpse into FY26
Growth outlook
Infosys has provided for a marginally better guidance – its revenue growth guidance of 2-3 % in constant currency for FY 26 vis-à-vis its earlier guidance of 1-3% at the end of the June 2025 quarter.
Similarly, Wipro has marginally improved its guidance – it has provided for a sequential guidance of -0.5% to 1.5% in constant currency terms in the December 2025 quarter, with IT Services revenue to be in the range of $2.59 to $2.64 billion (excluding the recently announced acquisition of Harman Digital Transformation Solutions).
At the end of the June 2025 quarter, Wipro had guided for sequential guidance of -1% to 1% in constant currency terms.
HCL Tech has also marginally raised its growth guidance – it expects its services revenue growth to be between 4-5 % y-o-y in constant currency during FY26 vis-à-vis its forecast at the end of the June 2025 quarter of 3-5 % in constant currency terms for FY26.
Tech Mahindra has not provided a specific growth outlook.
Valuations and Investors on Dalal Street
Infosys ended flat at Rs 1,472.8 on Thursday and hovering above its 52-week low of Rs 1,307 that was reached on 7 April 2025. Infosys trades at a P/E of 21 times estimated consolidated FY26 earnings.
Wipro ended 1.4% higher at Rs 253.7 on Thursday, and hovering above its 52-week low of Rs 225 that was reached on 7 April 2025. Wipro trades at a P/E of 19 times estimated consolidated FY26 earnings.
Meanwhile, Tech Mahindra trades at a P/E of 28 times estimated consolidated FY 26 earnings and HCL Tech trades at a P/E of 24 times estimated consolidated FY 26 earnings.
Investors on Dalal Street are still waiting for clearer signs of a sustained strong pick-up in IT spending, given the cuts in interest rates by the Federal Reserve. However, the current US government shutdown and tariff war of the Trump administration has made that difficult to predict.
Amriteshwar Mathur is a financial journalist with over 20 years of experience.
The writer and his family have no shareholding in any of the stocks mentioned in the article.
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