LTM is the current name of the company formerly known as LTIMindtree Limited.

For Bull Run's underlying research, see HCLTech, LTM / legacy LTIMindtree stock page, How to Analyse IT Services Stocks and LTM vs Persistent Systems.

Q1 FY27 operating comparison

The biggest structural difference is HCLTech's two-engine business model

Most large Indian IT-services companies are overwhelmingly services businesses.

HCLTech is different.

It owns a meaningful enterprise-software portfolio.

That software mix can create:

• recurring licence and subscription economics,
• higher intellectual-property intensity,
• cross-selling into service relationships,
• different margin seasonality,
• less direct linkage between employee count and revenue.

How large is HCLSoftware?

FY26 HCLTech reported:

• total company revenue of ₹1,30,144 crore,
• services revenue of ₹1,18,158 crore,
• HCLSoftware revenue of ₹11,986 crore.

That means HCLSoftware represented approximately 9.2% of FY26 group revenue.

The services operation represented approximately 90.8%.

Those percentages are Bull Run calculations based on official FY26 numbers.

Why software ARR matters

Annual recurring revenue is not the same as quarterly software revenue.

It measures the recurring annualised value of the software base.

A stable or growing ARR gives HCLTech:

• renewal visibility,
• cross-selling opportunities,
• less labour-dependent revenue,
• a base for AI-enabled software upgrades.

LTM does not currently have a comparably large standalone software ARR engine.

HCLSoftware also creates seasonality

Software licence revenue can be more sensitive to renewal timing than conventional services revenue.

This is one reason HCLTech often provides separate:

• company revenue guidance, and
• services revenue guidance.

For FY27, HCLTech maintained:

• company CC revenue growth guidance of 1.0–4.0%,
• services CC revenue growth guidance of 1.5–4.5%,
• EBIT margin guidance of 17.5–18.5%.

Q1 services growth was stronger than total-company growth

HCLTech's total company revenue grew 2.6% year on year in constant currency.

IT and Business Services grew approximately 4.2% YoY CC.

This distinction matters because HCLSoftware can create volatility around the consolidated growth rate.

Investors should therefore avoid concluding that the entire services franchise grew only 2.6%.

LTM wins the headline growth comparison

LTM grew 6.4% YoY in constant currency.

HCLTech grew 2.6%.

LTM also edged HCLTech sequentially:

approximately +0.3% CC versus HCLTech at -0.5%.

This gives LTM the stronger current top-line momentum.

The smaller denominator gives LTM more runway

HCLTech generates roughly $14–15 billion of annualised revenue.

LTM is around a $5-billion annualised revenue company.

A new $200-million programme has a much greater growth impact on LTM.

That denominator effect helps explain why LTM can sustain faster percentage growth even while HCLTech wins more absolute TCV.

The margin comparison needs a restructuring bridge

HCLTech stated that Q1 EBIT margin included approximately 62 basis points of restructuring cost.

Excluding that cost, margin would have been approximately 17.5%.

That number sits exactly at the bottom of FY27's 17.5–18.5% guidance range.

LTM's margin is lower but improving faster

LTM reported a 15.5% EBIT margin.

That was:

• 40 basis points higher sequentially, and
• 120 basis points higher year on year.

LTM therefore has more margin-convergence potential.

HCLTech has the higher current margin.

The economic comparison is level versus slope

HCLTech's underlying 17.5% margin is stronger today.

LTM's 120-bps YoY improvement is the steeper slope.

A lower-margin business can produce faster EPS growth if margin expands while revenue grows.

The valuation question is how much of that future improvement investors are already paying for.

AI revenue is where the comparison becomes unusually interesting

The absolute numbers are strikingly close:

HCLTech $171 million versus LTM approximately $150 million.

Yet HCLTech's overall revenue is about three times larger.

This makes LTM's pure-AI revenue appear much denser relative to company scale.

But the 4.7% versus 12% comparison is not apples-to-apples

HCLTech defines its figure as Advanced AI revenue.

LTM's disclosed $150 million covers its pure-AI Creative, Business and Industrial AI categories.

LTM explicitly excludes some broader enterprise work where AI acts as an enabler.

Because the boundaries differ, the percentages should not be used as a clean technological scorecard.

HCLTech's Advanced AI revenue is growing extremely fast

Advanced AI revenue increased approximately:

• 10.6% sequentially in CC,
• 62.1% year on year in CC.

This is one of the strongest measurable AI-growth disclosures among Indian IT majors.

Q1 wins included:

• a more than $180-million incremental AI Factory scope with a global technology company,
• AI-enabled chip engineering for a semiconductor major,
• Physical AI and autonomous-navigation engineering for a European manufacturer.

HCLTech is also moving down the AI infrastructure stack

The company announced plans to invest up to ₹3,500 crore in AI data centres.

This is strategically unusual for an Indian IT-services company.

It can potentially connect:

• AI data-centre design,
• cloud operations,
• DevOps,
• AI software,
• enterprise services.

The opportunity is greater control over the AI value chain.

The risk is higher capital intensity.

The AI data-centre investment changes HCLTech's cash profile slightly

Traditional IT services is highly asset-light.

Data centres require real capital expenditure.

A ₹3,500-crore initial investment is manageable for HCLTech, but investors should still ask:

• what utilisation rates are required,
• who bears power and hardware risk,
• what returns on invested capital the assets generate,
• whether AI infrastructure strengthens service wins.

LTM is taking the asset-light AI path

LTM's AI strategy is more centred on:

• enterprise AI transformation,
• creative AI,
• business AI,
• industrial AI,
• outcome-based client engagements.

This allows LTM to pursue AI growth without committing comparable capital to data-centre infrastructure.

Deal wins favour HCLTech in absolute dollars

HCLTech reported record Q1 new-deal bookings of approximately $2.407 billion.

LTM reported approximately $1.68 billion of order inflow.

HCLTech's absolute number is larger.

But LTM's number is much larger relative to its revenue base.

Do not call the ratio a standardised book-to-bill

HCLTech's new-deal TCV and LTM's order inflow are company-defined measures.

Their methodologies can differ around:

• renewals,
• variable components,
• extensions,
• framework contracts.

It would therefore be misleading to calculate a precise sales-productivity ranking from TCV divided by quarterly revenue.

The conversion chain matters more than headline TCV

HCLTech's software portfolio adds a second cross-sell vector

An HCLTech services client can also buy or renew enterprise software.

A software client can create opportunities for:

• implementation,
• cloud migration,
• data modernisation,
• managed operations,
• AI integration.

LTM relies more heavily on service expansion alone.

Jaspersoft adds future software optionality, but not to Q1 results

HCLSoftware completed its acquisition of Jaspersoft on July 2, 2026.

Q1 FY27 ended June 30.

Therefore Jaspersoft should not be treated as part of HCLTech's Q1 revenue or profit.

It may influence subsequent software ARR and analytics capabilities.

HCLTech also has the stronger current cash-return profile

HCLTech reported:

• 99% FCF-to-net-income conversion on an LTM basis,
• 40.7% ROIC on an LTM basis,
• a ₹12 quarterly dividend.

Bull Run's August 25 stock snapshot also showed a dividend yield above 4%.

This is a significant part of the HCLTech investment case.

LTM remains a strong capital-efficient business

Bull Run's fresh June 2026 financial row for LTM showed:

• ROE around 21.5%,
• ROCE around 27.1%.

Those are healthy asset-light returns.

But the current stock-data migration has broken LTM's technical price fields after the name change.

Fresh external INR market data is therefore used for valuation instead.

HCLTech's Bull Run market data is clean

As of August 25, Bull Run showed approximately:

• price ₹1,315.80,
• P/E 18.19x,
• P/B 4.22x,
• ROE 22.98%,
• ROCE 28.37%,
• dividend yield 4.62%,
• Bull Run Score 65.8.

Fresh August 31 external valuation data placed trailing P/E closer to 19.6x as market and denominator data updated.

Valuation favours HCLTech

LTM traded at roughly a 35% earnings-multiple premium to HCLTech.

That premium reflects:

• faster CC growth,
• greater margin-convergence potential,
• high pure-AI revenue intensity,
• a smaller denominator.

HCLTech's lower P/E comes with a stronger current margin

This is the most interesting valuation feature.

HCLTech currently has:

• higher underlying EBIT margin,
• greater scale,
• a recurring software engine,
• slightly higher disclosed quarterly AI dollars,
• lower P/E.

LTM must therefore outperform on growth for a sustained period to justify its premium.

LTM's premium can still be rational

If LTM:

• maintains 6–8%+ CC growth,
• expands EBIT toward 17–18%,
• scales pure-AI revenue rapidly,
• deepens large clients,

earnings can compound faster than HCLTech.

The premium becomes harder to justify if growth converges before margins do.

Which has better current growth?

LTM.

6.4% YoY CC growth versus HCLTech at 2.6%.

Which has better current margin?

HCLTech.

Reported EBIT margin was 16.9%, or 17.5% excluding the 62-bps restructuring cost, versus LTM at 15.5%.

Which has more margin upside?

LTM.

Its lower current margin and 120-bps YoY improvement create greater convergence potential.

Which has the stronger software advantage?

HCLTech by definition.

HCLSoftware contributed roughly 9% of FY26 company revenue and generated around $1.06 billion of Q1 FY27 ARR.

Which has more AI revenue?

HCLTech slightly in disclosed quarterly dollars.

$171 million of Advanced AI revenue versus LTM's approximately $150 million pure-AI quarterly run-rate.

The definitions differ and should not be treated as exact equivalents.

Which has higher AI revenue intensity?

LTM appears higher under company disclosures, but no clean apples-to-apples ranking is possible.

Its $150-million pure-AI figure equates to roughly 12% of revenue, while HCLTech's $171 million is about 4.7% of quarterly revenue analytically.

The underlying definitions differ materially.

Which has the larger absolute deal engine?

HCLTech.

$2.407 billion new-deal TCV versus LTM's $1.68 billion order inflow.

Which is cheaper?

HCLTech.

Late-August trailing P/E was roughly 19–20x versus LTM around 26–27x.

HCLTech vs LTM: category-by-category

Which is stronger in 2026?

HCLTech currently has the stronger risk-adjusted business profile.

It offers:

• roughly three times LTM's revenue scale,
• higher underlying EBIT margin,
• a unique software revenue engine,
• $171 million of Advanced AI revenue,
• record $2.4-billion Q1 bookings,
• strong cash conversion and dividends,
• a lower earnings multiple.

LTM has the stronger pure growth setup.

It offers:

• 6.4% CC growth,
• 120-bps YoY margin expansion,
• $150 million of quarterly pure-AI revenue,
• strong order inflow,
• more room to move margins upward.

The current comparison is therefore:

HCLTech = diversified services-plus-software economics, higher current profitability and cheaper valuation.

LTM = faster services growth and higher apparent AI intensity, but at a premium that requires continued execution.

What to monitor next

• HCLTech Services growth: this gives a cleaner view than total company growth when software is seasonal.
• HCLSoftware ARR: watch whether $1.06 billion begins accelerating after portfolio additions.
• HCLTech Advanced AI revenue: 62.1% YoY growth is exceptionally high and needs continued confirmation.
• HCLTech AI data-centre returns: the ₹3,500-crore plan introduces more capital intensity.
• HCLTech restructuring costs: adjusted margin should converge toward the 17.5–18.5% guidance range.
• LTM CC growth: must stay materially above large-cap peers.
• LTM EBIT margin: the most important convergence variable.
• LTM pure-AI revenue: watch whether the $150-million quarterly run-rate compounds rapidly.
• LTM order inflow: strong bookings need to convert into revenue without margin pressure.
• LTM financial-services growth: broader vertical improvement would strengthen the growth quality.

Frequently asked questions