HCLTech shares found strong buying interest on Friday after the IT services company announced a large strategic deal worth $1.14 billion with a Europe-headquartered Fortune Global 50 company.
The stock rose as much as 6% during the session to touch an intraday high of Rs 1,139 on the BSE, as investors reacted to the size of the contract and its potential contribution to the company’s long-term revenue visibility.
The client has not been officially named by HCLTech. The Economic Times reported, citing sources, that the company is likely Mercedes-Benz. The same report said HCLTech will manage the client’s digital workplace and network operations, a contract that was earlier handled by Infosys.
For HCLTech, the important part of the announcement is not only the value of the deal, but also its nature. The company said the agreement is entirely new business. That gives the deal greater significance at a time when large Indian IT services companies are trying to convert artificial intelligence demand into sizeable, multi-year contracts.
The initial term of the agreement will run from July 2026 to December 2031. It also carries an option for a further five-year extension. Under the partnership, HCLTech will build an AI-driven operating model to transform and manage the customer’s global digital workplace and enterprise networks.
The deal lands at a crucial moment for HCLTech. The company recently announced a Rs 1,427 crore investment, around $150 million, in Indian artificial intelligence startup Sarvam AI for a 10.46% stake. Through that partnership, HCLTech is expected to support Sarvam AI’s research and development work across frontier AI agentic models, coding models and cybersecurity applications.
That makes the latest contract part of a broader AI push by the company, rather than a standalone win. Investors appeared to read it as a sign that HCLTech is trying to strengthen both sides of its AI strategy, large enterprise services on one side and deeper AI capability-building on the other.
Still, the deal comes against a mixed financial backdrop. For FY26, HCLTech has guided for revenue growth of 1% to 4% year-on-year in constant currency terms. Services revenue is expected to grow between 1.5% and 4.5%, while EBIT margin is projected in the range of 17.5% to 18.5%.
In the March quarter, HCLTech reported a 4.2% year-on-year rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 4,488 crore, compared with Rs 4,307 crore in the same period last year. Revenue from operations stood at Rs 33,981 crore, up 12% from Rs 30,246 crore a year earlier.
Sequential growth was modest. Revenue rose 0.3% from Rs 33,872 crore in Q3FY26. In constant currency terms, revenue declined 3.3% quarter-on-quarter but grew 2.4% year-on-year. Dollar revenue stood at $3.68 billion, down 2.9% sequentially and up 5.3% from the year-ago period.
The company also missed its FY26 revenue growth guidance. Against an earlier projected range of 4% to 4.5%, full-year growth came in at 3.9%. Services revenue in constant currency declined 0.1% sequentially but grew 4.2% year-on-year.
One notable bright spot was advanced AI revenue, which stood at $155 million for the quarter, rising 6.1% sequentially in constant currency terms. That figure will likely be watched more closely now, especially after the new $1.14 billion AI-led operating model deal.
Despite Friday’s rally, HCLTech’s share price remains under pressure for the year. The stock is still down 34% since the beginning of the year, making the market’s response to the new deal important, but not enough on its own to erase broader investor concerns around growth momentum in the IT services sector.
For now, the contract gives HCLTech a major enterprise win at a time when clients are becoming more selective with technology spending. The market reaction suggests investors are willing to reward large, long-duration AI-linked deals, especially when they bring new business and improve visibility beyond the next few quarters.
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