Infosys Hits Record High Post Q2; Analysts' Price Target Upgrades

Shares of Infosys Ltd rose as much as 4.3 percent to an all-time high of Rs 1,186 on Thursday, before paring gains. On the previous day, the IT giant reported a 20.5 percent gain in net profit at Rs 4,845 crore for the September-ended quarter when compared to Rs 4,019 crore in the same period a year ago.

The company provided an upward revenue growth guidance of 2-3 percet in constant currency terms, for the financial year 2020-21, from 0-2 percent earlier. The full-year operating margin guidance was also revised upward to 23-24 percent, against 21-23 percent earlier.

Consolidated revenue of the IT major grew 8.60 percent from the same period a year ago to Rs 24,570 crore.

Infosys has declared an interim dividend of Rs 12 per share.

The company said that it will resume handing out salary increments and promotions, that were halted on account of COVID-19 uncertainty, from 1 January 2021.

Brokerages have turned bullish on the stock. Jefferies maintained a "buy" rating on the stock with a target price of Rs 1,140 apiece, as results were higher than the brokerage's expectations. It also pointed out that Infosys' large deal total contract value during the second quarter at $3.15 billion was the highest ever.

JP Morgan maintained an "overweight" rating on Infosys with a raised price target of Rs 1,300 saying that the company emerged as the winner from accelerating adoption of cloud migration.

Macquarie has a "outperform" rating on the stock with a target price of Rs 1,410 from Rs 1,140 earlier.