TCS beats Accenture to become world's No 1 IT company, albeit briefly

Tata Consultancy Services Ltd became the world’s most valuable information technology company on Thursday, albeit briefly. The Tata Group flagship surpassed Accenture for the first time in a year and at Thursday's close stood at $144.7 billion compared with Accenture’s $143.75 billion, according to Bloomberg data. But TCS failed to hold the top spot as its stock fell as much as 1.5% in Friday's early trade.

TCS' earnings rose in the quarter ended September and margin jump to the highest in two years, indicating initial signs of recovery from the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Accenture — that follows September-August fiscal — had missed estimates in the fourth quarter and expects two more quarters of low growth.

“We are at the start of the first phase of the multi-year transformation cycle. The strong order book, a very robust deal pipeline and continued market share gains give us confidence for the future,” Rajesh Gopinathan, chief executive officer and managing director at TCS, said in a post-earnings analyst call. “The company’s positioned very strongly to benefit from secular demand drivers. We also want to say we are in the midst of sustainable demand recovery and this recovery has some more legs to go.”