IT services firm Infosys on Thursday posted a 21 per cent rise in fourth-quarter profit (Q4 FY26), aided by margin expansion and steady large-deal wins, but flagged a cautious demand environment with a softer revenue growth outlook for the next fiscal year.
Consolidated net profit for the quarter ended 31 March 2026, rose to Rs 8,501 crore from Rs 7,033 crore a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing. Revenue from operations increased 13.4 per cent to Rs 46,402 crore.
Operating profit (EBIT) climbed 16.6 per cent quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) to Rs 9,743 crore, while the EBIT margin expanded sharply to 21 per cent from 18.4 per cent in the previous quarter, indicating cost controls and improved utilisation.
Large deal wins remained strong, with total contract value (TCV) at USD 3.2 billion in the March quarter. For the full year, Infosys signed deals worth USD 14.9 billion.
The Bengaluru-based company recommended a final dividend of Rs 25 per equity share for FY26, with 10 June 2026, set as the record date. The dividend will be paid on June 25.
For FY27, Infosys forecast revenue growth of 1.5 per cent to 3.5 per cent in constant currency terms and guided for an operating margin of 20 per cent to 22 per cent. The revenue outlook is a downgrade from its earlier FY27 expectation and points to near-term caution in client spending, even as pipelines remain intact.
Infosys CEO Salil Parekh said the company expects acceleration in financial services as well as energy, resources and services, adding that enterprise demand for AI-led transformation remains strong. “We delivered a resilient performance in FY26 with growth of 3.1 per cent and strong large deal wins of USD 14.9 billion, reflecting the robustness of our enterprise AI value proposition,” he said.
Basic earnings per share stood at Rs 21.01 in the quarter, compared with Rs 16.17 in the previous quarter.
The company’s headcount fell by about 8,400 sequentially, while rising by roughly 5,000 on a year-on-year basis. During the post-earnings press conference, CFO Jayesh Sanghrajka said Infosys hired about 20,000 freshers in FY26 and will hire a similar number of freshers in FY27.
“FY26 was a year of disciplined execution and financial resilience reflecting in 21 per cent adjusted operating margin and healthy free cash flow of USD 3.7 billion. Savings from Project Maximus enabled us to invest in strategic areas like talent, AI and sales & marketing,” said Sanghrajka.
“We remain focused on margins and cash generation as we navigate an evolving macro environment,” he added.
Ahead of the results, Infosys shares closed down 2.90 per cent at Rs 1,231 on the NSE.
Expert Commentary
Infosys’ cautious outlook is in line with commentary from industry peers Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), HCLTech and Wipro, which have also flagged steady deal pipelines but muted near-term demand visibility for FY27.
Commenting on the cautious outlook, Shubham Rathore, Principal Analyst at Gartner, said Infosys’ March-quarter performance pointed to steady execution despite an environment of subdued corporate technology spending.
“Infosys’s Q4 FY26 results, featuring 4.1 per cent year-on-year constant currency growth, demonstrates steady execution during a period of cautious corporate IT spending,” Rathore said, adding that sustained enterprise investments in artificial intelligence continued to underpin growth.
He said Gartner expects the AI services market to expand by 34 per cent through 2026, but warned that broader economic uncertainty has softened discretionary technology budgets.
“The industry outlook for FY27 remains tied to the successful deployment of enterprise-wide AI integrations,” Rathore said, adding that IT service providers offering end-to-end AI solutions and strategic consulting would be better positioned to drive growth despite ongoing market volatility.
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