Wipro announces ₹15,000 crore buyback amid revenue decline, weak outlook

Wipro Ltd on Thursday announced its biggest ever share buyback ₹15,000 crore despite India’s fourth-largest information technology (IT) services company limiting revenue decline for the third year in a row and a weak start to fiscal 2027 (FY27).

Bengaluru-based firm says it will buy back 600 million shares ₹250 each, 19% premium over Thursday’s closing price ₹210.2. The buyback came even as analysts noted short-term growth was weak despite a strong pipeline of deals.

Aparna Iyer, Wipro’s chief financial officer, said in a post-earnings media conference that the company actually returned excess cash on its balance sheet after making sure that the net cash available after the buyback could support large, strategic deals as well as merger and acquisition targets.

Previous share of the company buybacks took place in Fiscal Year 2017 ( ₹2,500 crore), FY18 ( ₹11,000 crore), FY21 ( ₹9,500 crore) and in FY24 ( ₹12,000 crore).

The company’s revenue decreased 0.32% year over year to $10.48 billion in fiscal 2026; Bloomberg Survey of 38 analysts. Net profit fell further, falling 8.6% to $1.4 billion.

Most of the revenue declines in FY26 came from consumer companies, which accounted for almost a fifth of its revenue. The company lost $80 million from these companies; That’s more than double the $33.4 million revenue decline.

In the January-March 2026 quarter, Wipro increased its revenue by 0.6% sequentially to $2.65 billion. Net profit increased by 7.14% to $375 million.

The company expects a weak start to FY27, expecting April-June revenue to be $2.6-2.65 billion; This means a sequential decline of up to 2% or, at best, flat growth. Management attributed this to delays in growing a large customer base and slower growth of an existing banking customer base. The company does not provide full-year guidance.

HDFC Securities vice president Amit Chandra said the buyback was positive but growth concerns could weigh on sentiment. “The company’s growth prospects, at least in the short term, are weak despite strong TCV (total contract value),” he said.

Shares of Wipro fell 4.6% to $2.17 on the New York Stock Exchange at 9.30 pm (IST) on Thursday after the results were announced.

Is a comeback in the works?

Expecting a better deal, the company’s management took a strong stance, but could not hide concerns about the return.

“I think the only thing that speaks for me is the numbers, right? You can infer from the numbers,” Srini Pallia, CEO of Wipro, said at a media briefing in response to a question on whether a turnaround was indeed taking shape at the company.

Of course, the company’s 0.32% decline in revenue in FY26 was an improvement over declines of 2.7% in FY25 and 3.8% in FY24.

For Wipro investors, the fundamental weakness is clear; the company added only 30 new customers during January-March 2026; that was the lowest number since it added 28 customers in the 90-day period ending in September 2024.

While Pallia expressed confidence in the company’s deal pipeline, he also cautioned about the broader macroeconomic environment.

“Geopolitical and political disruptions have become the new normal. And I’m sure you know this better than I do. Changing trade rules, stricter immigration policies and of course conflicts continue to create uncertainties for industries and economies,” Pallia said.

“Wipro’s management faces the challenge of steering the company through challenging market conditions,” said Thomas Reuner, principal consultant at Pierre Audoin Consultants, adding that clients are looking to achieve cost optimisation, supplier consolidation and, increasingly, AI-led transformation.

“Vendor consolidation may favor larger, more differentiated players,” Reuner said. “AI-led transformation tends to reward firms that can deliver consulting, industry models, engineering assets, and reusable platforms rather than just scaled delivery.”

Of course the other top Indian IT firms have also been affected by the uncertain macro environment and the rise in automation tools; market leader Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) also reported a 0.5% decline in revenues in FY26; This marked the first time that two of the top four companies had a full-year revenue decline.

Challenges have hit shares of the largest companies in the $297 billion IT sector; Shares of TCS, Wipro, Infosys and HCL Technologies have fallen by 27.41%, 20%, 13.66% and 5.15% respectively since April 1, 2025.

But one good point on its report card was its profitability. Wipro ended FY26 with an operating margin of 17.2%, up 10 basis points from FY25. The company attributed the margin increase to the depreciation of the rupee; this led to higher rupee realizations for the same dollar revenue. A base score is one hundredth of a percentile score.

In terms of the number of employees, the company finished the year with 8,810 employees, with a workforce of 242,156. Still, management has issued a warning about future hires, especially of newbies.

“We are not giving any target (for startups) in the next financial year, it totally depends on the demand. It is a very volatile environment right now, so we will play till the end of the year as the demand increases,” Saurabh Govil, Wipro’s chief human resources officer, said during the press conference. The company hired 7,500 new people in the last fiscal year.