Mindtree Stock Climbs Near Record High As Analysts Upgrade Targets Post Q3

Shares of Mindtree Ltd. are trading near their record high as analysts raised price targets after the mid-sized software services provider beat estimates in the quarter ended December.

The company’s dollar revenue rose 5% over the previous quarter to $274.1 million in the October-December period, according to an exchange filing. Revenue in rupee terms, too, increased by a similar quantum to Rs 2,023 crore—higher than the consensus forecast of Rs 1,994.7 crore.

Net profit rose 29% sequentially to Rs 326.5 crore. Analysts had pegged the bottom line at Rs 269.1 crore. While earnings before interest and tax rose 19% over the preceding three months to Rs 395.5 crore, margin expanded 230 basis points to 19.6%.

The company won deals worth $312 million during the reported quarter, taking its total deal wins in the nine months of FY21 past $1 billion.

Analysts were positively surprised by the company’s margin performance, and raised earnings estimates for at least the next two financial years, citing revenue acceleration, higher off-shoring and better utilisation.

Shares of Mindtree gained as much as 5.4% to Rs 1,753.9 apiece in early trade on Tuesday. Of the 36 analysts tracking the stock, 17 have a ‘buy’ rating, eight suggest a ‘hold’ and 11 recommend a ‘sell’. The stock trades 8.1% higher than its Bloomberg consensus 12-month price target of Rs 1,611.3 apiece.

Here’s what the analysts have to say...

Morgan Stanley

• Maintains ‘equal-weight’ rating; raises price target to Rs 1,645 apiece from Rs 1,440.
• Margins significantly better is a trend similar to the last few quarters.
• Margin benefits can be used to drive growth.
• Management expects broad-based growth momentum to continue, even as full recovery in travel can be some quarters away.
• Possibility of positive surprise on margins going forward.
• Raises FY21-23 EPS estimates by up to 12% owing to margin improvement.

Emkay

• Maintains ‘sell’ rating but hikes price target to Rs 1,580 apiece from Rs 1,490.
• Broad-based revenue growth, sharp margin expansion, healthy deal intake some key positives.
• Continued softness in BFSI disappointing.
• Management said it has sufficient levers to absorb salary hikes.
• Raises FY21, FY22 and FY23 EPS estimates by 17.6%, 15.1% and 6.2%, respectively, to factor better margin trajectory and improving demand outlook.
• Remains sellers due to dependency on top client, anticipated sub-par revenue growth, unsustainable margins and rich valuations.

Motilal Oswal

• Maintains ‘neutral’ rating; raises price target to Rs 1,765 apiece from Rs 1,610.
• Can continue to benefit from strong demand environment, given the high exposure to cloud.
• Raises FY22 Ebitda margin expectation to 21.1% despite near-term drag due to wage hikes and gradual resumption of travel.
• Raises FY22 and FY23 EPS estimates by 10% and 11%, respectively, to factor in the margin expansion.
• Risk-adjusted valuation remains unattractive.
• Sees limited upside as most positives as already captured.

Prabhudas Lilladher

• Maintains ‘buy’ rating; raises price target to Rs 1,940 apiece from Rs 1,792.
• Highlight of the quarter was the sequential beat on margin performance.
• Raises revenue growth estimates by an average 1.7% for FY22 and FY23.
• Upgrades FY22 and FY23 EPS estimates by 4.6% and 8.3%, respectively,
• Expects massive upgrade in EPS from consensus.