Infosys stock closes higher post Q2 earnings show

The Infosys stock closed higher today after the firm reported a 10.3 per cent growth in its consolidated net profit at Rs 4,110 crore for the quarter ended September 2018. The stock was among the top Sensex gainers today, closing 1.16% or 8.10 points higher to 704.50 level on the BSE. Its market capitalisation rose to Rs 3,07,752.58 crore on the BSE.

The stock which opened at 707 level hit an intra day high of 721 and intra day low of 701.25 in today's trade.  

The stock has gained 51.27% during the last one year and 35.57% since the beginning of this year.

The Bengaluru-based software services firm had posted a net profit of Rs 3,726 crore in the year-ago period, Infosys said in a BSE filing.

Infosys' revenue rose 17.3 per cent to Rs 20,609 crore in the quarter under review as compared to Rs 17,567 crore in the same period of 2017-18, it added.

The firm on Tuesday retained FY revenue growth guidance with the CEO saying the demand for its services remained strong

Morgan Stanley analysts say the firm was starting to show similar vertical trends to those of Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS); strong deal win and net headcount addition, points to a strong demand environment

Citi believes 2018 will be marginally better than 2017 for Indian IT, prefers Infosys over TCS given better visibility post Q2.

Macquarie raised its price target to Rs 775, retained "outperform" rating, but said Infosys still remained a work in progress, and, hence, 20% valuation discount to TCS was warranted.

Jefferies raises target price on the US-listed stock to $11.40 from $11 giving a buy rating.

EBIT margin of 23.7% was 80 basis points below estimates and investments were likely to accelerate in H2 compared with H1 suggesting further margin pressure at least in the near-term, Jefferies added.

33 of 45 brokerages rate the stock buy or higher, nine hold and three sell or lower, according to analysts recommendations tracked by Reuters.