Brokerages raise target price on TCS by up to 28%

INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Leading domestic and foreign brokerages have raised their target price on Tata Consultancy Services’ stock by up to 28 per cent as the
company’s March quarter earnings beat market expectations
The biggest target price increase came from Jefferies while JM Financial, Edelweiss, CLSA, HSBC and Kotak Institutional Equities increased
their target prices by 1-15 per cent. Shares of TCS soared on the back of the strong fourth quarter performance and hit a record high on
Friday
TCS’ shares posted their biggest single day gain since April 2012, ending up 7 per cent at Rs 3,412 on the BSE on Friday after hitting an
all-time high of Rs 3,421.25 intraday
At close, the company’s market cap was just shy of the $100 billion mark at $98.9 billion. However, the target price of many of the
brokerages were lower than the current market price of the stock
Several of them maintained their ‘hold’ ratings and said that the improved outlook was already in the price. “Management commentary of
strong growth in retail in FY19 and green shoots in BFSI (banking, financial services and insurance) support our view of an acceleration in
growth going forward — we build in 8.5-10 per cent constant currency growth over FY19-21 vs
6.7 per cent reported in FY18
However, most of the improved outlook is already priced into stock price,” said Jefferies. HSBC said that the potential upside to the
stock is limited due to the recent run-up in the stock price
Shares of TCS have gained 26 per cent so far in 2018, outperforming the BSE IT index which has gained 18 per cent
CLSA has maintained ‘buy’ rating on TCS and increased target price by nearly 14 per cent, citing consistent execution and improving
growth outlook
Antique Stock Broking has upgraded TCS to ‘buy’ on the improved outlook.