For anyone tracking Indian IT this earnings season, Tuesday’s trading session delivered a clear signal: the sector’s biggest money is flowing toward the companies that are making artificial intelligence pay. HCLTech led that charge today after reporting a 21 percent jump in quarterly profit and announcing a marquee partnership with AI company Anthropic, sending its shares soaring and dragging the entire Nifty IT index higher.
The numbers, announced after market hours on Monday, beat what analysts on Dalal Street had pencilled in. And on Tuesday, investors rewarded the company in style. By the closing bell, HCLTech had surged more than 8 percent, the top gainer on the Nifty, while the Sensex itself closed 1,109 points higher and the Nifty added 1.6 percent.
Profit up 21 percent, revenue beats estimates
For the quarter ended September 2026, HCLTech posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 5,132 crore. That is a 21.2 percent rise over the Rs 4,235 crore it earned in the same quarter last year, and an 11 percent increase over the June quarter. Revenue from operations came in at Rs 35,620 crore, up 11.5 percent year on year and ahead of Bloomberg’s consensus estimate of Rs 35,547 crore.
The profit figure also cleared estimates comfortably. Analysts had expected around Rs 4,875 crore, which means the company outperformed by more than 5 percent. Operating margins told a similar story of discipline: EBIT margin expanded 131 basis points sequentially to 18.2 percent, up 71 basis points from a year ago.
Chief executive C Vijayakumar told reporters after the announcement that the quarter’s new deal wins of $3.3 billion, up 27 percent from last year, were the second highest in the company’s history. He described it as the strongest first half in any financial year for the firm. The pipeline, he said, remains strong, with healthy demand returning toward the end of the quarter, though he cautioned that the environment stays fluid as client decisions continue to be influenced by several factors.
The AI numbers are doing the talking
Buried inside the results is the line investors are watching most closely. HCLTech’s Advanced AI revenue hit $219 million in the quarter, growing 78 percent year on year in constant currency and 28.4 percent over the previous quarter. In plain terms, the company’s AI-led business is expanding at a pace the rest of the portfolio cannot match.
Vijayakumar put it directly: the company’s AI propositions are resonating well with clients, and the firm is able to offset AI-related deflation while growing market share in existing services. That is a meaningful statement in an industry where automation has been squeezing prices on legacy contracts.
- Financial services: grew 7.1 percent year on year, the strongest vertical
- Technology and services: up 5.9 percent
- Manufacturing: up 3.9 percent
- Deal wins: $3.3 billion in the quarter, up 27 percent
Anthropic partnership puts governance front and centre
The bigger headline for the long term may be the deal announced alongside the results. HCLTech has signed a global premier partnership with Anthropic, the American AI research company, aimed at accelerating enterprise adoption of agentic AI with a focus on safety, cybersecurity and governance.
Under the agreement, HCLTech will set up a dedicated Anthropic Business Unit with a Centre of Excellence to build agentic AI solutions. Its services teams will develop industry offerings powered by Claude, Cowork and Claude Code, while HCLSoftware, as an Anthropic ISV partner, will embed the technology into select enterprise products. The company will also provide secure sandbox environments so large organisations can deploy Claude in their most sensitive workflows.
Anthropic’s co-founder and president, Daniela Amodei, said the partnership reflects a shared belief that AI is only as useful as it is trustworthy, and pointed to HCLTech’s experience running systems for banks, hospitals, telecom firms and manufacturers as the reason the two sides fit.
Guidance raised, dividend declared
Confidence shows up in guidance. The company raised the lower end of its FY27 revenue growth forecast to 2.5 to 4 percent in constant currency, up from 1 to 4 percent earlier. For the services business, it expects 3 to 4 percent growth, and it held the EBIT margin guidance at 17.5 to 18.5 percent.
The board also declared a second interim dividend of Rs 12 per equity share of Rs 2 face value. The record date is October 16, 2026, and the payout will land on October 26, 2026.
Markets vote with their feet
The reaction on Tuesday was swift. HCLTech climbed to Rs 1,314, a gain of more than 8 percent, making it the standout performer of the session. TCS followed with a 6.59 percent rise, Tech Mahindra gained 4.90 percent and Infosys added 4.44 percent, pushing the Nifty IT index up over 5 percent. The rally came despite broader market breadth being negative, a reminder that this was an earnings-driven move concentrated in the IT pack.
For investors, the message from Noida is clear. The company is converting its AI push into real revenue, landing large deals, and telling shareholders it expects more. The rest of the IT earnings season now has a bar to clear.
FAQs
How much did HCLTech’s profit grow in Q2 FY27?
Consolidated net profit rose 21.2 percent year on year to Rs 5,132 crore, up 11 percent sequentially.
What is the HCLTech-Anthropic partnership about?
A global premier partnership to build and deploy governed agentic AI for enterprises, centred on Claude and Claude Code, with a dedicated business unit and Centre of Excellence.
What is HCLTech’s FY27 revenue guidance now?
The company raised the lower end to 2.5 to 4 percent growth in constant currency, from 1 to 4 percent earlier. EBIT margin guidance stays at 17.5 to 18.5 percent.
What dividend did HCLTech declare?
A second interim dividend of Rs 12 per share, with October 16, 2026 as the record date and payment on October 26, 2026.
Why did HCLTech shares rally on October 13?
The stock surged over 8 percent after Q2 results beat estimates, guidance was raised, and the Anthropic partnership was announced, leading the day’s IT rally.
That is the day’s biggest business story from the earnings season so far. For more updates as results roll in, keep reading Informeia.
