• by Stocktry Expert
• 04th Mar 2021

TCS, Infosys, IT shares are on Rise; Buy for up to 70% Gains

Given the accelerating technology spends across the globe TCS, Infosys, Wipro, HCL Technologies, Tech Mahindra and other bluechip IT shares are aiding revenue growth and margin expansion for the industry.

The upside in information technology stocks has not yet peaked, even after the strong bull run in these shares for almost a year now, Edelweiss Securities said. The global IT industry could be staring at a $1 trillion opportunity in cloud sales, of which $175 billion could flow into Indian IT firms, the brokerage firm said a recent research note. “We believe based on our several interactions with global technologists/hyper scaler experts that cloud sales of hyper scalers can lead to 3 times services revenues spread over next 5-6 years,” Edelweiss said.

“We don’t have a negative view or ‘REDUCE’ on any stock in Indian IT under our coverage, and strongly believe that each company in the sector stands to gain from the powerful tailwind that continues to strengthen,” the note said. The IT industry is estimated to grow 16-17% CAGR over the next few years.

Here are Edelweiss’ calls on most popular IT stocks to buy:

• Tata Consultancy Services: Target Rs 4,176; Upside 36%
• Infosys: Target Rs 2,124; Upside 59%
• Wipro: Target Rs 550; Upside 27%
• HCL Technologies: Target Rs 1,616; Upside 67%

Tech Mahindra, LTI, LTTS, and Mindtree are also among Edelweiss’ top picks.

Client spends are increasing, owing to higher cloud adoption across industries and geographies. “Also, most CTOs have shown extreme urgency to make the first move to the cloud, reflected in hyper scalers’ revenues,” Edelweiss said citing interaction with the IT industry. However, the second wave of the coronavirus has kept implementation slow.

With the improvement in client spends, margins for leading companies in the space are pegged to improve by 250-350 basis points in the next three years over the previous fiscal levels. “This reality-consensus mismatch again raises the odds of a big outperformance in the fourth quarter (barring the currency risk), akin to the preceding three quarters and of 10-15% quick potential returns by IT stocks over and above their roaring gains since May,” it said.

Margin improvement is expected to be helped by sustained moderation in subcontractor costs, stable wages, and lower skilling costs. “We reiterate — again enthused by emerging and reassuring evidence — that the mega technology upcycle has just gotten underway. IT companies across the board have started acknowledging that margin improvement is more structural than they anticipated earlier,” the report said.

The global outsourcing market is worth $200-250 billion and the Indian IT services sector has been consistently gaining market share by 1-2% over the last several years, with its share now standing at nearly 70%.