Infosys shares gain over 1% ahead of earnings

Infosys shares, after making a positive opening, achieved an intra-day high of Rs1,184, a gain of 1.87%
At 2.38pm, Infosys shares were trading at Rs1175.65, up 1.15% from previous close. Photo: Hemant Mishra/Mint
At 2.38pm, Infosys shares were trading at Rs1175.65, up 1.15% from previous close. Photo: Hemant Mishra/Mint

New Delhi: Shares of IT major Infosys Ltd rose by over 1% on Friday ahead of its Q4 results to be announced later in the day.

Infosys shares, after making a positive opening, achieved an intra-day high of Rs1,184, a gain of 1.87%. At 2.38pm, the scrip was trading at Rs1175.65, up 1.15% from previous close.

At NSE, Infosys shares were up by 1.26% to Rs1,177.20 at 2.38pm.

In terms of equity volume, 1.41 lakh shares of the company were traded on BSE, and over 43 lakh shares changed hands at NSE during the morning trade.

Infosys Ltd will share details of its new strategy on 23 April, when the Bengaluru-based outsourcing giant will host an analyst day. For this reason, chief executive officer (CEO) Salil Parekh may refrain from sharing too many specifics of the new strategy when Infosys declares its fourth-quarter and full-year earnings on Friday.

Parekh, and his team of other senior management, will apprise analysts over the company’s strategy over half-a-day on 23 April in Mumbai, according to two executives familiar with the development.

“(The management) will give the headlines of the strategy on Friday and will spell the details only on 23rd when it holds the analyst day,” said the first executive.

“We believe that Infosys could save most of the key strategy messages for its Analyst Day on April 23,” Keith Bachman, an analyst with BMO Capital Markets, wrote in a note dated 11 April. “Comments thus far suggest more tweaks to its existing strategy than substantial changes. Moreover, given our view of no major strategic shifts, we do not envision major changes in terms of FY2019 guidance. Absent any significant change in direction, we think the stock will likely be range-bound over the near term.”

However, analysts expect clarity on how the company is looking to fill in some of the top-level positions—which are vacant after a string of senior management exits over the past 12 months—as well as details on mergers and acquisitions and the $500-million Infosys Innovation Fund and the road map for the company’s products and platforms (Edgeverve) business.

Significantly, in the past, when Infosys was run by its founders, the company used to host an analyst day annually—a practice that got diluted when the first non-founder CEO Sikka took over in 2014. During Sikka’s three years, the management had one such analyst day event in Pune in 2016.