Biggest fall in HCL Tech shares in 11 years
For those investing in the stock market, today brought a very worrying news from the IT sector giant HCL Technologies. There has been a huge fall of more than 10 percent in the company’s shares, which is the biggest intra-day crash after October 2015 i.e. in the last 11 years. The main reason behind this selloff is the company’s disappointing March quarter results and weak guidance issued for the future. Now the question arising in the minds of investors is whether the golden era of this IT giant is over, or is this an opportunity to buy at lower levels.
Break on profits for the first time in 16 years
The business figures that have come out for the March 2026 quarter have dashed the expectations of Dalal Street. On a constant currency basis, the company’s revenue declined by 3.3%, while analysts had estimated a decline of only 1%. Apart from this, the company’s margin also declined to 16.5%, which is much lower than the estimate of 17.6%. The most surprising thing is that this is the first time in the last 16 years that the company’s annual profit has declined in an entire financial year.
The company failed to meet its own revenue growth guidance (4% to 4.5%) and full year growth stuck at just 3.9%. Whereas earlier in the December quarter the company had increased its estimates. Revenue growth for the new financial year 2026-2027 has also been estimated between 1% to 4%, which is much below the market estimate of 3% to 6%.
Brokerage firms drastically cut target prices
After this weak performance, many leading brokerage firms have changed their view on HCLTech shares. InCred has downgraded its rating to ‘Reduce’ in view of the cautious attitude of the management, structural challenges and softening of bookings and brought down the target price directly to ₹1275 from ₹1616.
‘Nuvama’ has also changed the rating from buy to ‘hold’ and reduced the target from ₹ 1550 to ₹ 1400. ‘JP Morgan’ has maintained ‘Neutral’ rating but reduced the target from ₹ 1419 to ₹ 1370. JPMorgan believes that the impact of the weakness in the telecom sector and canceled SAP projects will be visible in the new financial year as well. Also, the scope for margin increase by investing foreign exchange profits in GenAI has been limited. ‘HSBC’ has also raised the target price to ₹1480, while ‘Nomura’ has cut its target price from ₹1700 to ₹1600 while maintaining ‘Buy’ rating and cut the EPS estimate by 5% to 7% for the next two years (FY27-28).
Shares near 52-week low
The share, which was at its one-year high of ₹ 1,770 on February 3, 2026, fell to the level of ₹ 1285.05 today. This is very close to its 52-week record low (₹1,275.70) made on March 16, 2026. Currently the stock is struggling around ₹1288.60 (fall of about 10.61%). Market analysts are also divided amid this huge turmoil. Of the 47 analysts covering the stock, 19 still recommend buying it, 15 say ‘hold’, while 13 believe it should be sold.
Also read – This defense share which was once worth ₹ 12 has given a return of 14,000%, now got a big order of ₹ 590 crore from the Defense Ministry.
Disclaimer: This article is for information only and should not be considered as investment advice in any way. TV9 Bharatvarsha advises its readers and viewers to consult their financial advisors before taking any money-related decisions.
