Infosys shares jump 8 pc after December quarter earnings; mcap climbs Rs 48,652.73 cr

New Delhi: Shares of Infosys jumped 8 per cent on Friday, adding Rs 48,652.73 crore to its market valuation after the company's December quarter earnings came in line with market expectations.

The stock rallied 7.84 per cent to settle at Rs 1,612.20 per piece on the BSE after a firm beginning. During the day, it zoomed 8 per cent to Rs 1,615.80.

On the NSE, it climbed 8 per cent to Rs 1,615 a share.

The market capitalisation (mcap) of the IT services firm jumped Rs 48,652.73 crore to Rs 6,69,135.15 crore.

In the equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 847.27 points or 1.18 per cent to settle at a new closing high of 72,568.45, and the Nifty climbed 247.35 points or 1.14 per cent to hit its lifetime closing high of 21,894.55.

Infosys was the biggest winner among the Sensex and Nifty firms.

In volume terms, 31.63 lakh shares of the company were traded on the BSE and over 2.67 crore shares on the NSE during the day.

The company's earnings came in post-market hours on Thursday.

The country's second-largest IT services firm Infosys on Thursday reported a 7.3 per cent fall in net profit in the December quarter on sluggish demand from clients and cut its annual sales forecast.

The company posted a net profit (attributable to shareholders) of Rs 6,106 crore compared to Rs 6,586 crore in the year-ago period, Infosys said in a regulatory filing.

"Infosys reported broadly in-line performance for the quarter. The revenue growth was above estimates; while EBIT margin was in line with expectation," according to a report by YES Securities.

The rally in Infosys also fuelled optimism in other IT stocks. The BSE Information Technology jumped 5.06 per cent to 37,120.45.

Santosh Meena, Head of Research at Swastika Investment Ltd, said Infosys results are mostly in-line, without any major surprises.

The company's consolidated revenue from operations increased 1.3 per cent to Rs 38,821 crore during the third quarter of the ongoing fiscal from Rs 38,318 crore a year ago.

Infosys bagged deals worth USD 3.2 billion, including a mega deal during the quarter, which included 71 per cent net new wins.

"Our performance in the third quarter was resilient. Large deal wins were strong at USD 3.2 billion, with 71 per cent of this as net new, reflecting the relevance and strength of our portfolio of offerings ranging from generative AI, digital and cloud to cost, efficiency, and automation. This is the highest deal win in the nine quarters that the company has ever had," Infosys CEO and MD Salil Parekh said.

According to a report by Emkay Global Financial Services, Infosys reported a tad better-than-expected operating performance for Q3.

"Infosys shares rose 8 per cent recording its biggest single-day gain since July 2020 after the company reported better-than-expected results for Q3 FY24," Avdhut Bagkar, Technical and Derivatives Analyst at StoxBox, said.

Infosys' revenue will increase 1.5-2 per cent in the fiscal year through March 2024 as against the 1-2.5 per cent guidance it had given in October.