July 17 (Reuters) - Shares of Wipro fell up to 2.4% on Friday after the Indian IT services firm's quarterly earnings miss and sluggish outlook disappointed investors, reinforcing concerns over tepid client spending, delayed deal ramp-ups and AI-led disruption.
The stock was trading 1.5% lower at 175.12 rupees, as of 09:50 a.m. IST, making it the second-biggest laggard in the Nifty IT index and the top loser on benchmark Nifty 50.
The Bengaluru-based software services exporter missed analysts' estimates and forecast September-quarter revenue growth of between a 1.5% decline and a 0.5% increase in constant-currency terms.
The results from India's fourth-largest software-services exporter underscore persistent challenges for the country's $315 billion IT services sector, including subdued client spending, prolonged decision-making cycles AI-driven efficiency measures.
Fourteen brokerages cut their price targets on the stock after the results, according to LSEG-compiled data, dragging its median price target to 187 rupees from 210 rupees last month.
While rivals Tata Consultancy Services, HCLTech and Tech Mahindra have shown greater resilience, analysts said Wipro continues to struggle to convert large contract wins into revenue growth.
Total deal wins for Wipro fell to $3.37 billion from $5 billion a year earlier.
Investec cut its target price to 200 rupees from 240 rupees, calling the period "another quarter of disappointment" and warned that growth remained constrained by delayed client decisions and slow execution of large deals.
Citi also flagged those concerns, trimming its target price to 150 rupees from 160 rupees and cutting fiscal 2027 and 2028 earnings estimates by 5% to 7%.
Nomura lowered its target price to 190 rupees from 200 rupees, citing weaker-than-expected forecast and soft deal wins, while Ambit Capital said fiscal 2027 could mark Wipro's fourth consecutive year of organic revenue decline.
Weak bookings pointed to a likely fourth consecutive year of U.S.-dollar revenue contraction, BOB Capital Markets said, adding that an execution remains Wipro's biggest challenge.
Reporting by Kashish Tandon in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips
Source: Reuters