Which is expected to report better earnings for the September quarter; Infosys or TCS?

It is hard to compare because as a matter of policy, TCS does not give guidance while Infosys does give guidance. However, in the Jun quarter, Infosys had given a better quality earnings compared to TCS and that also showed up in the stock price in the last 3 months. That could repeat in the September quarter also. Here is why.

· While TCS still scores over Infosys in terms of operating efficiency, operating margins and attrition, the gap is reducing and Infosys is fast catching on.

· Infosys has shown good traction in the last couple of quarters on the digital business and also on expansion of the premium $100 million plus revenue clients.

· TCS is relatively more richly valued compared to Infosys and Infy continues to quote at marginally above its historical base valuations of the past 20 years.

· The guidance in June was robust and the company is expected to raise its full year guidance a little higher.

With Infosys fast catching up and TCS still at stretched valuations, the wind is clearly in favour of Infosys rather than TCS.