HCLTech Q4 net profit up 4% to Rs 4,488 crore

Bengaluru: Amid uncertainty and geopolitical headwinds, IT services firm HCLTech on Tuesday posted a 4.2% increase in its consolidated net profit for the quarter ended March 2026 at Rs 4,488 crore compared to Rs 4,307 crore in the year-ago period. For the full fiscal year, the company's net profit stood at Rs 16,642 crore, a 4.30% decline compared to Rs 17,390 crore in FY25.

The company's revenue from operations in the fourth quarter stood at Rs 33,981 crore, up 12.34% compared to Rs 30,246 crore in the year-ago period. For the full fiscal year 2026, the company's revenue from operations stood at Rs 1,30,144 crore, up 11% compared to Rs 1,17,055 crore in FY25. In Q4, the company's EBIT margin excluding restructuring stood at 17.7%.

The company expects revenue growth guidance to be between 1% and 4% y-o-y in constant currency (CC) in FY27, and services revenue growth is expected to be between 1.5% and 4.5% y-o-y in CC. It expects EBIT margin to be between 17.5% and 18.5% in FY27.

Speaking at the post-earnings press conference, C Vijayakumar, CEO & Managing Director, HCLTech, said the momentum around AI remains strong. He stated that client behaviour was focused on cost optimisation along with accelerated adoption of AI-driven productivity. "Our ambition is to be the best AI solutions company," he said.

Talking about West Asia's impact on business, the CEO said the company's exposure to West Asia is small and that they did see some impact in the software business in the quarter and did not see any impact in the services business.

The third-largest IT services firm's total contract value (new deal wins) in the fourth quarter stood at $1,936 million, and its advanced AI revenue stood at $155 million, up 6.1% sequentially.

During the quarter, the company's performance came below expectations due to softness in certain parts of its business, due to lower discretionary spend and delayed decision-making.

Calling recent concerns (related to the Nashik incident) unfortunate, HCLTech Chief People Officer Ram Sundararajan highlighted a robust POSH framework and ACE (Adequacy, Compliance and Effectiveness) audits, stressing the need for the right policies and getting them independently audited.

The company added 802 employees in Q4, and its total headcount stood at 2,27,181. It added 1,712 freshers in Q4 and 11,744 freshers in FY26. For FY26, the company added 3,761 people, and its LTM attrition stood at 12.5%. Given the current environment, the company said it will look at a similar number in FY27.

Commenting on HCLTech earnings, Shubham Rathore, Principal Analyst, Gartner, said, "HCLTech’s Q4FY26 performance reflects a period of resilient but muted 2.4% year-over-year constant currency growth amidst ongoing global macroeconomic headwinds. This stability is underpinned by the company's robust $1.9 billion deal pipeline and focused execution in its Advanced AI segment."

Like the broader industry, HCLTech faces challenges such as software revenue declines and margin pressures driven by restructuring and cautious discretionary IT spending. Looking to FY27, while economic uncertainty may persist, organisations embedding AI and digital transformation into their core strategies will likely maintain a competitive edge in an evolving market, he added.