CLSA spots opportunity in Indian IT stocks' decline; picks Persistent, Coforge as top bets

Persistent Systems

11/02/2026 07:53

** The recent correction in India's information technology sector presents an added buying opportunity, according to brokerage CLSA

** Indian IT stocks .NIFTYIT lost 12.5% in 2025, emerging as the biggest drag in benchmark indexes, which underperformed Asian and emerging-market peers

** The decline was triggered by record foreign outflows of $8.5 billion from the sector, muted corporate earnings and persistent weakness in U.S. client spending, the sector's primary revenue engine

** The pressure has intensified in 2026, with the IT index down 7% so far, amid rising concerns that advances in artificial intelligence, including new tools from U.S.-based Anthropic, could sharply compress software development cycles

** CLSA, however, downplays near-term disruption risks, arguing that enterprise technology ecosystems often take years to meaningfully adapt to new waves of innovation

** While the sector has weathered multiple disruptive narratives in the past, earnings have rarely suffered lasting damage, according to the brokerage

** CLSA favours mid-tier players Persistent Systems PERS.NS and Coforge COFO.NS, saying their agility positions them to capture emerging profit pools in the next technology cycle

 (Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru)

 ((bharath.rajeswaran@thomsonreuters.com; +91 9769003463;))