Chasing new areas of client spending, see strong growth momentum, says HCL Tech
This story was originally published at 23:14 IST on 12 January 2026
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--HCL Tech: Deal pipeline diversified across markets, verticals
--CONTEXT: HCL Tech management's comments at post-earnings press conference
--HCL Tech: On course to deliver 17-18?IT margin
--HCL Tech: Employed 10,032 freshers in Apr-Dec FY26
--HCL Tech: Employed 10,032 freshers in Apr-Dec FY26
--HCL Tech: Acquisitions to be largely domain, geography capability led
--HCL Tech: Aim high-growth early-stage software firms acquisitions
--HCL Tech: Labour code implementation one-time cost is $109 mln
--HCL Tech: To complete Wobby BV acquisition by end of Q4 or early Q1 FY27
--HCL Tech: Will add freshers in Q4 as per plans
--HCL Tech: Not waiting for discretionary spends to return to earlier levels
--HCL Tech: Wage hikes had 90 bps impact in Q3, 40-50 bps from furloughs
NEW DELHI/KOLKATA – HCL Technologies Ltd. is no longer waiting for discretionary spending of clients to return to earlier levels but focusing on new areas where investment is in the works, the company's management said in a post-earnings press conference Monday.
"We're really focusing our energy to see where the spend is really happening. So, it is not happening in the traditional discretionary areas... but it is happening in a lot of what I call as Day minus 1 work for AI, like there is so much capex investments going into data centres...similarly on robotics, physical AI, so these are the areas, and semiconductors, silicon for edge inferencing...those are the areas which are all enablers to AI.. really the foundational blocks for AI. That's where we see a significant spend. So, we're really chasing where money is getting invested and there we see a very strong growth momentum", the company's Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director C. Vijayakumar said.
In the December quarter, the company's revenue from advanced artificial intelligence surged almost 20% on quarter in constant currency terms to $146 million.
On acquisitions, the management said they will be for capability building, in specific domains or geographies where the company wants to enhance its presence. "...in the software business, we are constantly looking for a very high growth, early stage startup kind of firms," the management said.
HCL Technologies expects to complete the acquisition of Belgian AI startup Wobby BV and the telco solutions business from Hewlett Packard Enterprise by the end of the ongoing quarter or early next quarter.
FRESHER HIRING
The company management said it will add to its fresher tally in the ongoing quarter as per plan, without disclosing a number. In the beginning of the year, the management had said HCL Technologies will hire "significantly higher" number of freshers in the ongoing financial year compared to 2024-25 (Apr-Mar).
In the nine months ended Dec. 31, HCL Technologies hired 10,032 freshers. In FY25, the company hired a total of 7,829 freshers.
HCL Technologies is also hiring specialised talent globally, as per the management.
At the end of the December quarter, HCL Technologies' employee strength stood at 226,379, slightly lower than 226,640 as of Sept. 30.
On the new labour codes, the company said the impact stands at $109 million as a one-time cost arising from obligations mandated under the codes. "We see very minimal ongoing costs. It will be in the range of 10 to 20 basis points impact," the management said. During the December quarter, the company also saw around 90-basis-point impact from wage hikes and 40-50 bps impact on account of furloughs in the engineering and research and development services segment, according to the management.
The company is on track to deliver its guided earnings before interest and tax margin of 17-18% for FY26, according to the management. "Our pipeline continues to demonstrate strength and sustain growth. It is strategically diversified across business segments, verticals, and geographic regions with AI, Gen AI, physical AI, and agentic technologies now integral to virtually every transaction," the management said.
In the December quarter, the company's consolidated revenue rose 6% sequentially to INR 338.72 billion, however, its net profit was down 3.8% on quarter at INR 40.76 billion.
The tech major announced its December quarter results after market hours. Monday, its shares closed 0.4% higher at INR 1,667.60 apiece on the National Stock Exchange. End
US$1 = INR 90.15
IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT
Reported by Shakshi Jain and Avishek Rakshit
Edited by Deepshikha Bhardwaj
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