HCLTech misses estimates, flags lower spend by clients

Bengaluru: IT major HCLTech on Tuesday posted a revenue of Rs 30,246 crore for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2025 (FY25), up 6% on a year-on-year basis, a narrow miss on estimates due to seasonality in the software business. Analysts, on average, were expecting a revenue of Rs 30,275 crore. Meanwhile the Noida-headquartered company’s net profit rose 8% to Rs 4,307 crore from the same quarter last year. 

HCL’s earnings mirrors that of peers like Infosys and Wipro in what has been a tepid quarter for IT majors. The company flagged worsening discretionary spending and deterioration in deal closures. The management said that while it has not seen any impact from tariffs so far, the ‘dynamic situation’ is being closely monitored. “If tariffs play foul, no industry would be left untouched,” said C Vijayakumar, CEO and Managing Director.

HCL lowered its revenue growth guidance in the range of 2-5% for FY26, compared to FY25’s full year guidance of 4.5-5%. The company also announced a dividend of Rs 18 per share.

While businesses were expecting an uptick in the business environment with the new Trump regime, the macroeconomic environment has instead turned upside down with uncertainty and tariffs clouding growth opportunities.  

India’s third-largest IT services company’s headcount increased by 2,665 employees in the March quarter, taking the total headcount to 2.23 lakh, however, down 4,061 employees year-on-year. 

The company had planned to hire 10,000 freshers in FY25 but fell short of the target, hiring only 7,829. Instead of giving an annual projection of the hiring estimates, the company will now give quarterly updates. "It's more prudent in the current environment. Aiming for 2,000-3,000 freshers every month, definitely will be higher than FY25,” said Ramachandran Sundararajan, Chief People Officer.

“Attrition rose slightly to 13% during the quarter, a trend that requires close attention to ensure consistent service quality,” warned Biswaji Maity, Senior Principal Analyst at Gartner.

The deal wins for the quarter stood at $3 billion as compared to $2.1 billion, a year ago. The quantity of large deals for IT services companies have been reducing overtime as clients are being selective on opportunities and demands, as previously reported by DH. 

Investments in artificial intelligence (AI) and digital transformation remain central to its growth plans. The management is betting on AI-led efficiency as the biggest theme especially as generative AI and AI have become integral components in almost every other deal.