HCL share price today: Shares of HCL Technologies came under heavy selling pressure, plunging over 10% to Rs 1,289 on the NSE on Wednesday. The sharp fall followed a series of brokerage downgrades and cuts in target prices after the company’s quarterly earnings report disappointed on multiple fronts, including revenue, margins and forward guidance.Alongside its Q4 earnings announcement, the company projected FY27 revenue growth of 1–4% year-on-year in constant currency terms. This came after it fell short of its own FY26 growth guidance of 4.0–4.5%, reporting just 3.9%. Additionally, its outlook for services growth at 1.5–4.5% was weaker than the 4.8% constant currency growth achieved in the services segment during FY26.The fall in HCL Technologies’ stock price wiped out around Rs 38,000 crore in market value and brought its total market capitalisation down to about Rs 3,53,000 crore, according to an ET report.For the March quarter, revenue stood at $3.7 billion, marking a 3.3% sequential decline in constant currency terms and coming in below market expectations. The management attributed the softness to a mix of factors, including sharp cuts in discretionary IT spending by two major US telecom clients, cancellation of two SAP-related projects, and client-specific challenges in the retail and manufacturing segments, which are expected to weigh on services growth in FY27 by about 50 basis points. It also pointed to a weaker outlook in Europe due to geopolitical uncertainties, along with a 200–300 basis point deflationary impact from artificial intelligence on traditional IT services.
HCL Tech Share Price Crash: Brokerages outlook
Among brokerages, Jefferies took the most aggressive stance, downgrading HCL Technologies to “Underperform” and slashing its target price to Rs 1,165, one of the lowest estimates on the Street.The firm said it expects the company’s organic revenue growth in FY27 to come in at 2.4%, which would be the weakest since FY23. It also reduced the valuation multiple from 18 times to 16 times earnings, citing softer growth prospects. Jefferies pointed out that the stock currently trades at a 16% premium to TCS despite having a similar growth outlook. It trimmed its earnings per share estimates for FY27–28 by 1–2% and now projects a recurring EPS compound annual growth rate of 8% over FY26–29.The cautious stance was echoed across other brokerages, with most lowering either their price targets or ratings. Citi retained a “Neutral” view but reduced its target price to Rs 1,385, describing the fourth quarter as weak across revenue, deal wins and outlook. It flagged sluggish forward indicators, including a marginal 1% year-on-year rise in trailing twelve-month deal TCV and a modest 1.7% increase in headcount. Citi also highlighted management commentary on reduced discretionary spending in telecom and the cancellation of two SAP programmes, while cutting its FY27–28 EPS estimates by 1–2% and warning that weak guidance could weigh on the stock in the near term.JPMorgan maintained its “Neutral” rating but lowered its target price to Rs 1,370 from Rs 1,419, noting that overall revenue came in 2% below consensus expectations, with services revenue also trailing its own estimates. It added that plans to reinvest foreign exchange gains into sales and generative AI capabilities may limit any margin expansion in FY27. The brokerage also cautioned that weakness in the telecom segment and SAP-related cancellations could continue to impact performance.HSBC kept its “Hold” rating but cut its target price to Rs 1,480 from Rs 1,560, calling the quarterly performance a significant miss and indicating that both earnings growth and stock returns may not deliver double-digit expansion.Meanwhile, Nomura revised down its FY27–28 earnings forecasts by 5–7% and reduced its target price to Rs 1,600 from Rs 1,700, while maintaining its valuation benchmark at 20 times FY28 earnings.CLSA remained positive on the stock, maintaining its outperform stance with a target price of Rs 1,519, even as it conceded that the quarterly performance was “disappointing” across key metrics such as revenue, EBIT margins, order inflows and FY27 guidance. It also pointed to “limited visibility regarding offsetting the potential AI deflation to revenues through incremental volumes.”Motilal Oswal, however, emerged as the most optimistic among brokerages. It reiterated a Buy rating while revising its target price to Rs 1,650, valuing the stock at 20 times FY28 earnings. The firm now projects a revenue CAGR of about 4% in dollar terms over FY25–28, along with an EBIT margin of 17.9%. At the same time, it lowered its FY27 and FY28 estimates by 2.5% and 4.2%, respectively. While acknowledging that the company’s near-term growth edge over large-cap peers may narrow, the brokerage maintained that its diversified and infrastructure-heavy business mix remains a long-term strength.(Disclaimer: Recommendations and views on the stock market, other asset classes or personal finance management tips given by experts are their own. These opinions do not represent the views of The Times of India)