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Informist, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026

By Arya S. Biju

MUMBAI – Higher deal transition costs, an uptick in pass-through revenues coupled with the impact of wage hikes, lower utilisation, and furloughs are expected to keep LTIMindtree Ltd.'s bottom line for the December quarter under pressure, with expectations of a low-single digit sequential rise. Growth in the company's top line is also expected to moderate in the reporting quarter amid weakness in its largest segments, banking, financial services and insurance, and technology, according to brokerages.

The technology consulting and digital solutions company's consolidated net profit for the December quarter is expected to rise just over 1% sequentially to INR 14.21 billion, according to the average of estimates from 17 brokerages. This will mark the slowest sequential rise in the company's bottom line in eight quarters. However, on a year-on-year basis, the company is expected to report a 31% rise in its net profit for the quarter, marking the highest rise in 11 quarters.

The company's consolidated revenue for the quarter is expected to rise over 3% sequentially to INR 107.25 billion, the average of 17 estimates showed. This is, however, lower than the near 6% sequential rise in revenue reported by the company in the trailing quarter. On a year-on-year basis, the company's revenue for the quarter is seen rising 11%, the highest in 10 quarters.

The highest estimate for the company's consolidated net profit for the quarter is INR 14.61 billion by HDFC Securities Ltd. and the lowest is INR 13.42 billion by YES Securities (India) Ltd. Estimates for the company's top line for the reporting quarter range from a high of INR 108 billion by Prabhudas Lilladher Pvt. Ltd. to a low of INR 106.10 billion by Nirmal Bang Equities Pvt. Ltd. 

In constant currency terms, the company's revenue is expected to grow 1.1–2.5% sequentially, estimates from 12 brokerages showed. Ramping up of existing large deals, including the Permanent Account Number 2.0 project awarded by the Central Board of Direct Taxes and strong growth across its consumer and healthcare verticals, are expected to drive the company's top line for the reporting quarter, according to broking firms.

The company's top line for the December quarter is expected to be primarily driven by growth in its manufacturing and resources vertical. Revenue from this segment is expected to be supported by seasonal strength in the pass-through India business and healthy growth in its business in developed markets, ICICI Securities said in a note. "Manufacturing should hold up beyond seasonal pass-throughs and retail CPG (Consumer Packaged Goods) should grow, aided by the ramp-up of a recently announced chemical sector deal," Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd. said. In the September quarter, revenue from the manufacturing and consumer business segments contributed 20% and 16% to the company's total sales, respectively. 

On the other hand, the company's sales from its banking, financial services and insurance, and hi-tech verticals for the quarter are expected to be impacted due to seasonal furloughs and artificial intelligence-related productivity pass through to clients. Further, "LTIM is facing headwinds in its top BFSI client due to reprioritisation of spends by this client," ICICI Securities said in a note. In the September quarter, revenue from the banking, financial services and insurance segment contributed over 36% to total sales and that from the technology vertical contributed around 23% to total sales.

Most brokerages expect the company's earnings before interest and tax margin to remain largely flat in the reporting quarter with the impact of wage hikes, lesser working days, furloughs, and transition costs related to ramping up of large deals expected to be offset by the depreciation of the rupee against the dollar and benefits from its cost optimisation and operational efficiency initiative 'Fit4Future'. Estimates for the company's EBIT margin range from 15.8–16.3%, estimates from 13 brokerages showed. In the September quarter, the company's EBIT margin expanded 160 basis points sequentially to 15.9%.

The technology company is expected to report a total deal contract value of $1.4 billion to $1.6 billion for the December quarter, estimates from seven brokerages showed. In the trailing quarter, the company had reported an order inflow worth $1.59 billion.

 
LTIMindtree will announce its December quarter earnings Monday. Market participants will watch out for management commentary on 2026 technology budgets by US-based clients, client conversations amid elevated macroeconomic uncertainties, and on any possibility of a recovery in discretionary spending on technology. Updates on deal intake and pipeline will also be monitored by the Street.

 
Updates on the likely impact of the implementation of the new labor code on the company's margin will also be tracked by the Street. Most of the company's peers have reported an increase in provisions for employee benefits, prompted by the new law. Under the new code, which came into effect on Nov. 21, basic pay must account for at least 50% of an employee's total cost to the company. As a result, pay outs tied to statutory contributions such as gratuity and leave-related benefits are set to increase for companies.

Updates on the company's H-1B visa dependency and steps planned to mitigate potential impact from fee increase and change in the H-1B visa allocation process will be tracked by the Street, Emkay Global said. Management commentary on hiring plans and attrition trends will also be monitored.

Friday, shares of LTIMindtree closed around 5% higher at INR 6,308 on the National Stock Exchange. The stock has risen 12% since it announced its September quarter earnings on Oct. 16. However, the stock is around 17% lower from its all-time high of INR 7,588.8 hit on Jan. 4, 2022.

Of the 14 research reports on the company available with Informist, nine have a 'buy' or equivalent recommendation on the stock with an average target price of INR 6,627, which is around 5% higher than the stock's closing price Friday. Of the remaining five, three have a 'hold' or equivalent recommendation and two have a 'sell' or equivalent call on the stock.

Following are the December quarter earnings estimates for LTIMindtree from 17 brokerage firms in descending order of the estimate of net profit in INR million:
 

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US$1 = INR 90.86

Edited by Ashish Shirke

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