IT major Infosys' third quarter profit for the October to December period was flat at Rs 2,369 crore, but the numbers are better than estimates of Rs 2,244 crore.
Infosys shares, which closed lower for the last three days, traded 15 per cent higher at Rs 2,668.55 on the BSE. Infosys has a large weightage on the benchmark indices and its outperformance sent the broader Sensex and Nifty higher.
The biggest positive for the stock was the upward revision announced in the full year dollar sales forecast. Infosys said FY13 revenue forecast is seen at $7.45 billion, which is better than $7.34 billion projected by the management earlier.
Earnings per share for the full fiscal are likely to be Rs 162.80, a 10.4 per cent jump over the year ago period.
"This is a very credible performance. Infosys has exceeded our estimates at the bottom line by 4-5 per cent and they have done this after 4-5 quarter... so, kudos to the management. The combine of a beat on actual Q3 numbers and upbeat guidance should reflect in our and most brokerage estimates going upwards," Saurabh Mukherjee of Ambit told NDTV Profit.
Infosys said sales rose 5.7 per cent to Rs 10,424 crore from Rs 9,858 crore in the previous quarter. On a year-on-year basis, sales jumped 12 per cent from Rs 9,300 crore a year earlier. An NDTV Profit poll had estimated revenues of Rs 10,149 crore.
Infosys, India's second biggest software services outsourcer has struggled to please the Street with its financial performance over the last few quarters, but December quarter performance is likely to get a thumbs up from investors, analysts said.
The Street closely tracks Infosys' numbers for signals if there has been an uptick in outsourcing business from the US and Europe - the key markets for India's $100 billion IT industry.
EBIT or operating margins declined to 25.69 per cent against 26.3 per cent in the September quarter, but that was estimated on account of wage hikes.
"We have done well in this quarter despite an uncertain environment," said S. D. Shibulal, CEO and managing director of Infosys. "We continue to gain confidence from a strong pipeline of large deals. However, the broader economic environment remains difficult. Even so, we remain cautiously optimistic about the January-March quarter", he added.
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