HCLTECH

HCL Technologies Ltd shares fell nearly 3 percent in early trade on Tuesday, giving up a part of the previous session's gains after brokerages adopted a cautious stance despite the company's stronger-than-expected June quarter earnings. Citi downgraded the stock to 'Sell', citing valuation concerns even as HCLTech beat estimates and maintained its full-year guidance. The stock dropped 2.7 percent to Rs 1,188 in early deals, emerging as the biggest loser on the Nifty 50. On Monday, HCLTech had rallied 5.15 percent ahead of the earnings announcement. For the April-June quarter, HCLTech reported earnings that exceeded Street expectations and retained its FY27 constant currency revenue growth guidance of 1-4 percent. The company also announced plans to invest Rs 3,500 crore in an AI data centre and reported net new deal wins worth $2.4 billion during the quarter, excluding the recently announced $1.14 billion AI infrastructure contract with Mercedes-Benz. Despite the strong quarterly performance, brokerages remained cautious, arguing that HCLTech's valuation continues to command a premium over other large-cap IT peers despite a relatively moderate growth outlook. Analysts also warned that the company could trim the upper end of its FY27 revenue growth guidance later this year, citing slower software business growth and persistent macroeconomic uncertainty as potential headwinds.