Wipro's turnaround likely to take some more time

After Tuesday's outlier performance by Infosys, if the market was expecting a similar show from its cross-town rival Wipro , it was belied. To be fair to Wipro, the numbers were not too bad. In fact, revenue was slightly above street estimates at around $1.8 billion and profit at $382 million was in-line with estimates. Even the management commentary for the next quarter was encouraging, with revenues projected between $1.82 billion and $1.85 billion indicating growth between 1.5 per cent and 3.5 per cent next quarter.

However if the current trend continues, Wipro might still end the financial year with revenue growth in dollar terms being in single digits. Just like other Indian IT services companies, Wipro is investing substantially in Digital, Automation and Artificial Intelligence (AI). T K Kurien, CEO, said that Wipro HOLMES, the company's AI platform continued to win deals. It also announced the acquisition of Designit, a design firm.

Several segments like energy and natural resources, telecom, healthcare and life sciences continue to be soft for the company. Lack of growth in Europe has also been a cause for concern.

While Wipro has turned in a steady performance, its annual growth is likely to be lower than industry average which Nasscom estimates between 13-14 per cent. Wipro's turnaround, it clearly seems, is still a work in progress.