Indian IT companies, including TCS Ltd., Infosys Ltd., HCLTech Ltd., and others, faced their sixth consecutive day of declines on Thursday following the release of results by US consulting giant Accenture after market hours in India. Investor sentiment was further dampened by the sharp increase in US H-1B visa fees.
Over these six sessions, the Nifty IT index has fallen by as much as 7.4 percent. Meanwhile, in the last 5 sessions (till Thursday, September 25), the ten Nifty IT constituents collectively lost around ₹1.8 lakh crore in market capitalization.
IT Stocks Performance
All constituents of the Nifty IT index traded in the red. Wipro saw the steepest fall of 2 percent, followed by LTI Mindtree, Infosys, HCL Tech, Tech Mahindra, and Coforge, each down more than 1 percent. L&T Tech, Persistent Systems, and Mphasis declined over 0.5 percent each.
Meanwhile, over the past week, Coforge emerged as the top loser with a 12.6 percent drop, followed by Mphasis at 9.75 percent. Persistent Systems, Tech Mahindra, TCS, and Wipro lost over 7 percent, while HCL Tech, Infosys, and L&T Tech declined more than 4 percent.
Reasons Behind the Decline: Accenture Results
Accenture reported 1.5 percent revenue growth in the fourth quarter, beating consensus estimates and reaching the top end of its guidance. For fiscal 2026 (September to August), Accenture guided for 0.5–3.5 percent organic growth, slightly higher than the previous year’s 0–3 percent forecast, excluding a 1–1.5 percent impact from a slowdown in government consulting.
Brokerage Motilal Oswal noted that Indian IT services could mirror Accenture’s commentary, with the September quarter likely to be largely muted apart from seasonal gains. The firm added, “Valuations are now palatable, with top IT services stocks trading near their 10-year average P/E multiple and at a 13 percent discount to their five-year average. A structural re-rating depends on a new technology cycle and meaningful earnings upgrades.”
Yes Securities highlighted that Accenture delivered strong Q4 results, with 4.5 percent YoY revenue growth in constant currency, led by BFSI (12 percent YoY) and North America (5 percent YoY). While FY26 organic growth guidance of 1.5–4.5 percent suggests moderation from FY25’s 4 percent, cloud, security, and industry-specific solutions remain growth drivers. They added that cloud leaders like Infosys and cybersecurity specialists like Wipro are well-positioned to benefit.
H-1B Visa Fee Impact:
Indian IT stocks have been under pressure for the past 5 sessions due to the recent H-1B visa rules introduced by the Trump administration. On September 21, US President Donald Trump announced a one-time $100,000 fee for new H-1B visa petitions for workers outside the US, aimed at protecting American jobs. The fee will apply starting from the next-year visa lottery cycle, increasing costs for onsite staffing.
Experts note that while this introduces near-term cost pressures, companies with diversified delivery models and strong offshore operations are likely to absorb the impact without major disruptions.
Sumit Pokharna, VP of Fundamental Research at Kotak Securities, said, “The $100,000 one-time fee affects only new petitions and not renewals or current visa holders. The full impact may be seen in FY28. Companies may offset the costs through greater use of offshore and nearshore locations. In our bear case, onsite talent competition could cause 10 percent wage inflation, affecting margins by 100–200 bps and EPS by 7–14 percent in FY27E. In the base case, firms may replace expiring H-1Bs with subcontractors at 20–25 percent higher wages.”
Despite the recent slump, analysts remain confident that the long-term fundamentals of major Indian IT companies remain robust, supported by diversified operations, offshore capabilities, and emerging demand in cloud, cybersecurity, and industry-specific tech services.
