LTM (Formerly LTIMindtree) vs Persistent Systems (2026): Growth, AI, Deals & Which Is Better?
LTM, formerly LTIMindtree, and Persistent Systems are both beneficiaries of enterprise AI spending, but they reached the opportunity from very different starting points.
LTM is a roughly $5 billion annualised technology-services platform with 740 active clients, deep financial-services relationships and an increasingly measurable AI revenue stream.
Persistent is much smaller, but Q1 FY2027 marked its 25th consecutive quarter of sequential revenue growth.
Its revenue grew 16.5% in constant currency, TCV reached a record $1.15 billion and the company is attempting to transform its geographic scale through the proposed Nagarro combination.
The direct answer: Persistent is the stronger growth company, while LTM is the less demanding valuation
Persistent's growth advantage is not subtle.
Constant-currency revenue grew 16.5% year on year and 4.1% sequentially.
LTM grew 6.4% year on year and only 0.3% sequentially.
Persistent EBIT margin was also slightly higher at 16.0% versus LTM at 15.5%.
But valuation reverses the picture.
Late-August LTM traded around 26.5x-26.7x trailing earnings.
Persistent traded around the high-40s using fresh external market data.
The investor therefore pays a substantial premium for Persistent's superior growth.
LTM vs Persistent Systems: Q1 FY2027 scoreboard
| Metric | LTM, formerly LTIMindtree | Persistent Systems | Current Edge |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 USD revenue | $1.2235 Bn | $452.4 Mn | LTM |
| Q1 INR revenue | ₹11,608 Cr | ₹4,303 Cr | LTM |
| YoY CC growth | 6.4% | 16.5% | Persistent |
| QoQ CC growth | 0.3% | 4.1% | Persistent |
| EBIT margin | 15.5% | 16.0% | Persistent slightly |
| EBIT growth YoY | ~27.9% in INR | 32.7% | Persistent |
| Q1 PAT | ~₹1,469 Cr | ₹483 Cr | LTM on scale |
| PAT growth YoY | ~17.1% | 13.7% | LTM |
| Order inflow / TCV | $1.68 Bn order inflow | $1.146 Bn TCV | LTM absolute, definitions differ |
| Persistent ACV | Not directly comparable | $536.8 Mn | Persistent disclosure |
| Largest current disclosed deal | Large deals included in order flow | $650 Mn+ TCV strategic agreement | Persistent standout deal |
| Sequential revenue streak | Positive recent trajectory | 25 consecutive quarters | Persistent |
| Active clients | 740 | Large client base, disclosed differently | LTM scale |
| Employees | 87,886 | 28,640 | LTM scale |
| Disclosed AI revenue | ~$150 Mn quarterly run-rate across 3 AI categories | No single directly comparable standalone AI revenue figure | LTM transparency |
| North America revenue concentration | Material but diversified globally | 79.1% | LTM geographic diversification |
| Current corporate-action risk | Randstad technology acquisition | Much larger Nagarro takeover | LTM lower transaction complexity |
| Late-August P/E | ~26.5x-26.7x | ~46x-48x external current range | LTM |
| Late-August P/B | ~5.2x | ~11x-12x external current range | LTM |
Persistent's 25-quarter growth streak is the strongest part of its investment case
Q1 FY2027 marked the 25th consecutive quarter of sequential revenue growth.
That is more than six years without a quarter-on-quarter revenue decline.
The streak includes periods of pandemic disruption, cloud acceleration, post-pandemic normalisation, enterprise spending cuts and the emergence of generative AI.
Persistent's growth has therefore been less dependent on one unusually strong end-market cycle than many smaller digital-services peers.
Persistent accelerated again in Q1
Revenue increased 3.8% sequentially in reported dollars and 4.1% in constant currency.
Year-on-year constant-currency growth was 16.5%.
Revenue in rupees increased 29.1%.
EBIT increased 32.7%.
This is high-quality top-line growth because operating profit grew even faster than revenue.
LTM's Q1 was slower sequentially but still healthy year on year
Constant-currency revenue increased 6.4% year on year.
EBIT margin improved 120 basis points.
PAT increased around 17%.
Order inflow remained near $1.7 billion.
Financial Services and Technology & Services both grew sequentially.
LTM therefore is not a low-growth company in absolute terms. It simply looks slower when compared with Persistent's unusual mid-teens growth rate.
The scale difference is still enormous
LTM's quarterly revenue is approximately 2.7 times Persistent's.
LTM has almost 88,000 employees.
Persistent has around 28,600.
LTM serves 740 active clients and has more than 100 relationships generating at least $10 million annually.
Scale creates advantages in global delivery, procurement, training, large managed-services programs and the ability to absorb client-specific volatility.
Persistent's model is more concentrated by design
The company focuses on three main industry groups.
- Software, Hi-Tech and Emerging Industries: 40.7% of Q1 revenue.
- Banking, Financial Services and Insurance: 34.0%.
- Healthcare and Life Sciences: 25.3%.
All three grew at healthy double-digit rates in dollar terms.
This narrow focus allows Persistent to build deeper engineering and domain expertise instead of trying to cover every enterprise industry equally.
Software and Hi-Tech is Persistent's defining differentiator
More than 40% of revenue comes from software, technology and emerging-industry clients.
Those clients often buy product engineering, platform modernisation, cloud-native development, data engineering and AI capabilities.
This exposure behaves differently from traditional application-maintenance outsourcing.
When software companies adopt AI, they frequently need engineering partners to redesign products rather than simply reduce labour cost.
LTM has a broader enterprise-transformation mix
Financial Services is its largest category at approximately 34% of revenue.
Consumer represents about 26.6%.
Technology & Services is around 20%.
Production is approximately 19.4%.
This creates broader sector diversification than Persistent while maintaining substantial technology and financial-services exposure.
Persistent's geographical concentration is much greater
North America represented approximately 79.1% of Q1 revenue.
Europe contributed only about 8.5%.
India contributed 9.8%.
This is one of Persistent's clearest strategic weaknesses.
The company has built tremendous growth around North American technology, financial-services and healthcare clients, but a US-specific spending slowdown can affect a very large proportion of revenue.
The Nagarro transaction is designed partly to solve that problem
Persistent's proposed combination with Nagarro would increase European scale dramatically.
The companies describe the combined group as having approximately $2.9 billion of revenue run-rate.
Persistent's European revenue share could rise from roughly 9% to about 22% after the combination.
The combined group would have more than 46,000 employees across over 40 countries.
That would materially change Persistent's geographic and industry profile in one transaction.
Persistent's Nagarro acquisition is large enough to change the company
Persistent launched an all-cash takeover offer at €81 per Nagarro share.
It had already secured approximately 22% of Nagarro through a binding arrangement with the largest shareholder when the acceptance period opened.
The offer requires at least 50% plus one share acceptance, subject to the transaction terms.
Persistent intends to pursue delisting after completion when legally feasible.
This is not a bolt-on acquisition.
It is a strategic transformation.
The opportunity from Nagarro is obvious
The combination could add scale in Europe, automotive, ERP, customer experience and digital engineering.
It would also create:
- A much larger European client base.
- More than $500 million of combined scale in several major verticals.
- Deeper automotive exposure.
- Broader AI engineering talent.
- A global delivery footprint less dependent on North America.
Persistent expects the transaction to be cash-EPS accretive in the first year under its stated assumptions.
The risk is that Persistent is introducing leverage into a historically clean growth story
The transaction is being funded with committed external financing.
Persistent historically operated with negligible financial leverage.
A large all-cash acquisition changes that.
The company says leverage should remain conservative and can be meaningfully reduced within two years, but future interest costs and integration spending can affect near-term margins and free cash flow.
The acquisition also needs to integrate two engineering cultures without damaging Persistent's 25-quarter organic growth discipline.
LTM's acquisition risk is much smaller relative to its size
The proposed Randstad technology-services transaction has an enterprise valuation up to approximately €160 million.
That is strategically meaningful but far smaller relative to LTM's financial scale than Nagarro is to Persistent.
LTM can use the transaction to add European and Australian relationships without fundamentally changing its balance sheet.
Deal flow tells two different stories
LTM wins more total dollars. Persistent is increasingly winning deals that are enormous relative to its revenue base.
LTM Q1 order inflow was approximately $1.68 billion against quarterly revenue of $1.22 billion.
Persistent TCV was approximately $1.146 billion against quarterly revenue of only $452 million.
Persistent's booking-to-revenue relationship is therefore much more aggressive.
Again, the metrics are not defined identically, so the ratios should be treated as directional rather than exact.
Persistent's $650 million deal changes revenue visibility
The company signed a 6.5-year strategic agreement with a global technology leader carrying TCV above $650 million.
That single deal is larger than Persistent's entire Q1 revenue.
Its annualised contribution will be much smaller than TCV because the contract spans more than six years.
But the deal demonstrates Persistent's ability to compete for engagements that historically belonged mainly to much larger Indian IT companies.
Large deals create concentration risk too
A $650 million relationship can become strategically important enough that delivery performance, renewal and pricing matter at company level.
Persistent's challenge is to win more mega-deals without becoming dependent on a handful of them.
LTM already has a wider client pyramid and greater revenue scale, giving it more diversification across large contracts.
LTM's AI revenue is already measurable
Creative AI, Industrial AI and Business AI generated approximately $150 million of quarterly run-rate revenue.
That is more than one-third of Persistent's total quarterly revenue, although the comparison is not meant to imply the businesses overlap directly.
LTM's BlueVerse ecosystem combines agents, domain models, data, engineering and deployment capabilities across multiple enterprise use cases.
Persistent's AI thesis is more engineering-centric
Persistent describes itself as an AI-led, platform-driven digital engineering and enterprise-modernisation partner.
Its 3C framework focuses on Core, Context and Coordination.
The argument is that enterprises need proprietary business logic, data and organisational context around foundation models to make AI useful at scale.
Persistent therefore wants to own the engineering layer between generic models and production enterprise systems.
Persistent does not need to label every project as AI
Its strongest proof point is that product-engineering clients continue expanding while AI adoption accelerates.
Q1 wins included AI-led SaaS product engineering, cloud operations, enterprise application modernisation, data platforms and software-security work.
Rather than publishing one AI-revenue percentage, Persistent currently demonstrates AI demand through deal content and growth in the core engineering portfolio.
LTM's AI strategy is broader across industries
Its four-part AI framework covers Enterprise, Business, Industrial and Creative AI.
That lets LTM sell AI into banks, retailers, industrial companies, media firms and technology companies using different economic models.
LTM's wider client base gives it a larger cross-sell pool.
Persistent's narrower engineering focus gives it greater depth in product-heavy workloads.
The EBIT-margin comparison is much closer than the growth comparison
Persistent reported 16.0%. LTM reported 15.5%.
A 50-basis-point difference is not enough to call one structurally superior on profitability.
The direction is more informative.
Persistent EBIT increased 32.7% year on year.
LTM EBIT increased approximately 28% in rupee terms.
Both are currently growing operating profit faster than revenue.
Persistent's PAT growth lagged EBIT because of forex losses
Q1 PAT increased only 13.7% year on year and declined 8.7% sequentially.
Management attributed the sequential decline to foreign-exchange losses.
That creates an important distinction between operational performance and below-EBIT volatility.
Persistent's underlying EBIT story was substantially stronger than the PAT headline.
LTM's Q1 PAT was supported by other income too
The quarter included a fair-value gain relating to convertible instruments that were subsequently converted into equity.
This is another reason not to compare Q1 PAT margins mechanically.
For IT companies, constant-currency growth, EBIT margin and cash conversion provide cleaner operating comparisons.
Persistent's long-term growth record is exceptional
Bull Run's current five-year sales-growth field is approximately 28.6%.
Five-year profit growth is approximately 32.9%.
Those figures are far above most large Indian IT-services peers.
They help explain why the market assigns Persistent a premium valuation.
LTM also has a strong historical growth record, but database caution is required
The legacy Bull Run LTIM row still reflects older financial and technical dates because the company changed its NSE symbol to LTM.
The old row's historical growth values are therefore not used as the primary current comparison.
Current official FY2027 results and current LTM market data take precedence.
Persistent's current valuation is the biggest obstacle to a simple “growth wins” conclusion
Fresh late-August external market data places Persistent around the high-40s trailing P/E range.
Price-to-book is around 11x-12x.
That is a significant premium to LTM's approximately 26.5x P/E and 5.2x P/B.
Persistent therefore needs many more years of superior growth to compensate for the starting valuation gap.
Why Persistent can justify a premium
Premium valuations become rational when growth persists long enough and remains capital efficient.
Persistent offers:
- 25 consecutive quarters of sequential revenue growth.
- 16.5% Q1 CC growth.
- Record $1.15 billion TCV.
- A $650 million-plus strategic deal.
- High digital-engineering exposure.
- Strong five-year revenue and profit growth.
- Potential geographic transformation through Nagarro.
The market is effectively betting that these advantages remain durable after the company becomes much larger.
Why LTM can look more attractive without growing as fast
LTM does not need to match Persistent's 16% growth rate to create attractive earnings growth.
If it sustains mid-single-digit or better constant-currency growth, maintains a 15%-plus margin and expands AI and large-deal revenue, earnings can compound from a much lower valuation base.
The starting multiple gives LTM more room for ordinary execution.
Persistent's stock has already rerated with the deal cycle
| Persistent Market Metric | Late Aug 2026 |
|---|---|
| Price on 28 Aug | ~₹5,875 |
| Market capitalisation | ~₹92,300 Cr |
| Trailing P/E | ~48x |
| P/B | ~11.8x |
| 1-month return | ~+8% |
| 1-year return | ~+10% |
Persistent's share price strengthened after the $650 million deal, Q1 results and Nagarro transaction became visible.
The stock therefore no longer represents an undiscovered mid-cap growth story.
LTM remains well below its 52-week high
| LTM Market Metric | 28 Aug 2026 |
|---|---|
| Price | ₹4,675 |
| Market capitalisation | ~₹1.39 lakh Cr |
| Trailing P/E | ~26.5x-26.7x |
| P/B | ~5.2x |
| 1-month return | ~+5.3% |
| 1-year return | ~-10% |
| 52-week high | ~₹6,430 |
| 52-week low | ~₹3,530 |
The market currently assigns less growth optimism to LTM, creating the opposite setup from Persistent.
LTM: the scaled platform case
Scale
- $1.22 Bn quarterly revenue.
- 740 active clients.
- 87,886 employees.
- 104 $10 Mn+ clients.
- $1.68 Bn order inflow.
Economics
- 15.5% EBIT margin.
- ~17% PAT growth.
- 29.8% Q1 ROCE.
- ~$1.5 Bn cash and investments.
- ~26.5x current P/E.
Growth options
- $150 Mn AI quarterly run-rate across three categories.
- Randstad technology acquisition.
- Financial-services expansion.
- Technology & Services growth.
- Outcome-based AI pricing.
Persistent: the high-growth engineering case
Growth
- 16.5% YoY CC growth.
- 4.1% QoQ CC growth.
- 25 consecutive growth quarters.
- 32.7% EBIT growth.
- $1.146 Bn record TCV.
Differentiation
- 40.7% Software and Hi-Tech mix.
- AI-led digital engineering.
- $650 Mn+ strategic deal.
- Strong BFSI and healthcare franchises.
- High five-year growth.
Risks
- High-40s trailing P/E.
- 11x+ P/B.
- 79% North America concentration.
- Nagarro financing and integration.
- Large-deal concentration.
LTM vs Persistent: who currently wins each category?
Revenue scale: LTM.
Year-on-year CC growth: Persistent.
Sequential growth: Persistent.
EBIT margin: Persistent slightly.
EBIT growth: Persistent.
Absolute quarterly PAT: LTM.
PAT percentage growth: LTM in Q1.
Total reported Q1 order value: LTM, with definition caveat.
Largest disclosed individual strategic deal: Persistent.
Sequential growth consistency: Persistent.
Client scale: LTM.
Geographic diversification: LTM.
Digital-engineering intensity: Persistent.
Quantified AI revenue: LTM.
Five-year growth: Persistent.
Lower acquisition complexity: LTM currently.
Lower P/E: LTM by a wide margin.
Lower P/B: LTM by a wide margin.
Current growth optionality: Persistent.
LTM vs Persistent FAQs
Which company is larger?
LTM, with Q1 FY2027 revenue of approximately $1.22 billion versus Persistent at $452.4 million.
Which is growing faster?
Persistent by a wide margin, with Q1 constant-currency growth of 16.5% versus LTM at 6.4%.
Which has the higher EBIT margin?
Persistent slightly, at 16.0% versus LTM at 15.5%.
Which won more Q1 orders?
LTM reported $1.68 billion of order inflow, while Persistent reported $1.146 billion of TCV. The booking methodologies differ.
Which has the stronger long-term growth streak?
Persistent, which reported its 25th consecutive quarter of sequential revenue growth in Q1 FY2027.
Which has more visible AI revenue?
LTM currently provides a clearer standalone number, with approximately $150 million of quarterly run-rate revenue across Creative, Industrial and Business AI.
Which is cheaper on earnings?
LTM by a substantial margin, at roughly 26.5x-26.7x trailing earnings in late August versus Persistent around the high-40s.
What is Persistent's biggest current risk?
The scale and financing complexity of the proposed Nagarro acquisition combined with an already premium stock valuation.
Research sources
Disclaimer
This article is educational and informational only. LTM changed its legal name and NSE trading symbol during 2026, so current LTM market data is used instead of stale legacy LTIM observations. Persistent's fresh market valuation is also cross-checked against current external market data because valuation fields can differ by share-count and TTM-profit methodology. IT-services companies should be assessed using constant-currency growth, EBIT margin, deal quality, cash conversion, AI monetisation, client concentration, geographic mix and capital efficiency. LTM order inflow and Persistent TCV are different reporting measures and are not treated as perfectly interchangeable. The proposed Nagarro acquisition remains subject to completion conditions and should not be treated as already consolidated into Persistent's financial statements. Financial metrics, exchange rates and market prices change over time. Nothing here recommends buying, selling or holding LTM, Persistent Systems or any other security. Bull Run is not a SEBI-registered Research Analyst or Investment Adviser.