Infosys, HCL Technologies, TCS, Tech Mahindra and other technology stocks witnessed strong performance in today's session. Banking stocks were also seen higher with Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and PNB closing positive. NSE Nifty touched all-time high at 26,104 during today's trading session but the market closed almost flat with NSE Nifty gaining just 20 points. Investor sentiment remains strong but as valuations are high, some correction would offer a good entry point for many stocks. TopNews Team has reviewed technical levels for buzzing stocks for short term traders.

Infosys: Promoter Confidence and AI Expansion Define Market Momentum

Infosys dominated corporate headlines this October, commanding investor attention through its ₹18,000 crore share buyback, improved quarterly results, and major AI collaborations that underscore a renewed conviction in the firm’s growth trajectory.

Promoter Opt-Out Sends Bullish Signal
Shares of Infosys surged nearly 5% to ₹1,543.90 on October 23 after founder-promoters including Nandan Nilekani, Rohan Murty, and Akshata Murty declared they would not participate in the buyback. Holding 13.05% of the company’s equity, their collective decision not to tender shares effectively increases their ownership proportion post-buyback — a symbolic statement of long-term confidence. Market commentators at Moneycontrol and Upstox interpreted this move as a firm signal of undervaluation, reinforcing retail and mutual fund optimism even as foreign institutional investors withdraw from Indian IT holdings.

Q2 FY26: Growth Resumes, Margins Strengthen
For the September quarter, Infosys reported revenue of ₹44,490 crore — up 8.6% year-on-year — and a net profit of ₹7,364 crore, a 13.2% rise. A net addition of 8,203 employees marked the fifth straight quarter of workforce expansion, aligning with expanding deal flow. CEO Salil Parekh highlighted a total contract value of $3.1 billion, 67% of which were new deals. Following the quarter, Infosys announced a $1.6 billion “mega-deal,” signaling a broad-based recovery phase.

Brokerages turned increasingly optimistic: HDFC Securities upgraded Infosys to “accumulate,” targeting ₹1,800 per share, while Goldman Sachs noted that both Infosys and HCL Tech face relatively lower exposure to AI-induced revenue pressures than peers like Tech Mahindra.

Capital Discipline Reinforces Shareholder Appeal
Infosys’ pledge to return 85% of free cash flow over five years through dividends and buybacks has solidified its reputation as one of the Nifty IT index’s highest-yielding counters. The board’s balanced approach to cash distribution has reassured investors who endured a 20% sector-wide correction earlier this year.

AI Collaborations Fuel Transformation Narrative
Infosys has doubled down on its “AI-first” agenda through several strategic initiatives:

Launch of Infosys Topaz Small Language Models leveraging the NVIDIA AI stack for process automation.

Expansion of Living Labs with the University of Cambridge to accelerate enterprise-centric AI innovation.

Establishment of a joint AI Center of Excellence with Meta, focusing on open-source generative AI capabilities.

Institutional holdings continue to diverge. While mutual funds boosted exposure by 1.87 percentage points to 22.73%, FIIs trimmed theirs by 1.84 points to 30.08%. As Jefferies cautioned that AI adoption could compress sectoral revenues by as much as 20% by 2030, Infosys’s strategic head start in AI integration appears to position it as one of the most defensively structured players in the long-term automation race.

HCL Technologies: Robust Execution and AI Partnerships Anchor Investor Confidence

HCL Technologies’ solid financial and strategic execution kept it on firm footing amid sectoral turbulence. Its strong Q2 FY26 earnings and a high-profile AI collaboration with Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) underscored the company’s ability to balance profitability with innovation.

Q2 FY26 Earnings Reflect Operational Strength
HCLTech posted consolidated revenue of ₹31,942 crore, up 10.7% year-over-year, with a net profit of ₹4,236 crore. Operating margins improved to 17.25% through enhanced cost efficiency. Notably, deal wins hit $2.57 billion — a 41.8% sequential jump — and the company added 3,489 employees, bolstering delivery capacity.

The interim dividend of ₹12 per share reiterated its consistency in shareholder returns, fortifying its appeal to income-focused investors.

Strategic Leap into AI Banking Platforms
The company’s landmark alliance with Dubai Islamic Bank aims to build next-generation AI-enabled banking systems, extending its “AI for Enterprise” vision. Added to existing partnerships with Zscaler and Google Cloud, this collaboration cements HCLTech’s transition from traditional IT services to intelligent digital enterprise solutions.

Management also disclosed that AI-related revenues surpassed $100 million in Q2 for the first time — a measurable step toward its FY27 goal of deriving 25% of revenue from AI-led offerings.

Market and Institutional Positioning
On October 22, HCLTech’s shares advanced 3.34%, contributing to a broader rally in Nifty IT. Yet, investor flows followed a now-familiar pattern: FIIs trimmed holdings by 1.92 percentage points to 16.64%, while mutual funds raised theirs modestly to 9.20%. Despite concerns about global tech spending slowdown, domestic investors remained buoyant on the firm’s innovation-driven growth model.

Maintaining steady guidance for FY26 constant currency growth, HCLTech displayed confidence in its enduring deal pipeline. HDFC Securities, upgrading the stock to “BUY” with a target of ₹1,740, cited the company’s strong deal visibility and superior margin resilience as leading indicators within the Tier-1 IT segment.

Tata Consultancy Services: Balancing Efficiency, Layoffs, and Strategic Diversification

TCS, India’s largest IT exporter, remains a barometer for the sector’s broader structural evolution. The firm’s latest results highlighted modest sequential growth, while its brand management and workforce optimization grappled with scrutiny amid a shifting global narrative.

Q2 FY26 Results and AI Strategy
On October 9, TCS reported steady cross-vertical growth, emphasizing its aim to become the world’s largest AI-led technology services entity. Revenues reflected a measured rebound supported by renewed traction in data, cloud, and analytics-based transformation deals.
The firm unveiled a new AI and Services Transformation Unit, centralizing all enterprise-facing generative AI initiatives to accelerate integration and consistency across solutions and geographies.

Layoff Controversy Clouds Sentiment
Media reports earlier this month suggested layoffs possibly touching 50,000 to 100,000 employees, though TCS maintained the real figure is nearer 2% of its workforce. The company attributed these cuts to efficiencies gained from AI automation. While analysts recognize shorter-term cost advantages, such restructuring poses potential reputational and morale risks, which could filter into investor sentiment and valuation assessments.

European Expansion and Policy Realignment
Seeking to mitigate dependency on the U.S., TCS announced plans to create 5,000 jobs in the UK over the next three years. The move aligns with its strategy to expand AI engineering hubs across Europe while circumventing the tighter visa policies implemented under the Trump administration.

Institutional behavior mirrors broader global caution: FIIs pared holdings by 1.15 percentage points to 10.33%, while mutual funds raised their stakes to 5.59%. Even after a 33% drawdown from its year-to-date high, the stock’s cash flow stability, dividend profile, and cost optimization have kept long-term investors engaged. During the October 23 rally, TCS rose 2.67%, signaling improving near-term sentiment.

Jefferies remains measured, suggesting potential revenue compression due to AI adoption, while Goldman Sachs analyst Manish Adukia contends TCS’s diversified model could drive outperformance once the AI cost cycle stabilizes.

Sector Context and Investor Perspective

October’s renewed rally in Indian IT was partly fueled by diplomatic progress between India and the U.S., including potential tariff reductions from roughly 50% to 15–16%, and greater clarity around the $100,000 H‑1B visa extension fee exemption. These developments materially improved sentiment — particularly for Infosys and TCS, both of which employ large U.S.-based workforces.

Mutual funds have countered FII pessimism through contrarian positions, seeing long-term value at what appears to be cyclical lows. DSP Mutual Fund’s Parth Shah highlighted that the Nifty IT sector now yields a healthy 3.2% dividend, offering investors meaningful downside protection amid global tech repricing.