BIRLASOFT LIMITED — Q1 FY26
Birlasoft reported a challenging Q1 FY26 with revenue declining 1% QoQ to $150.7M, impacted by project rampdowns, insourcing, and macro uncertainty.
bearish
high
✓ Verified against BSE filing
Claim Ledger
Did management answer the analysts?
Every material analyst question, graded on whether management actually answered it — with the verbatim exchange and quantitative claims checked against filed numbers.
45%Questions answered4Evaded / deflected11Questions auditedMixedNumbers vs filing
Evasive
High priority
Will Q2 growth continue into Q3 and Q4?
Asked by Girish Pai, BB Capital Markets
Management refused to give a clear outlook beyond Q2, citing uncertainty.
no commitment beyond Q2deferred to order book dependency
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Question
you mentioned that 2Q is going to be a growth quarter on a QQ basis. Will that continue into 3Q and 4Q?
Anil Gupta (CEO & MD)
It's hard for me to say whether Q3 will really be a growth today because of the uncertainty that we are facing. But our job is going to be to focus on order book and deliver higher order book.
Partial answer
High priority
Progress on reducing discretionary exposure and margin impact?
Asked by Girish Pai, BB Capital Markets
Addressed margin impact but did not quantify progress on mix target.
no specific mix progress given
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Question
you've been saying that you would want to lower the exposure discretionary business from 70% to about a 50/50 mix. Where are they on that journey and is the new business coming at lower margins?
Anil Gupta (CEO & MD)
Our renewals will be at our current margin at the minimum. However, new deals in the range of about 30 to 50 million will definitely come at a lower margin.
Evasive
Medium priority
Timing and quantum of salary hikes?
Asked by Girish Pai, BB Capital Markets
Management deferred the decision and provided no specifics.
no decision takenno quantum or impact given
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Question
on salary hikes when will they happen and the quantum and the impact from a basis points perspective which particular quarter will it hit you?
Anil Gupta (CEO & MD) and Kamini (CFO)
We have not taken a decision on salary hikes just yet. Senior leadership salary hikes were done at the beginning of this year around January.
Evasive
Low priority
Impact of H1B visa process change on margins?
Asked by Girish Pai, BB Capital Markets
Management declined to provide any assessment, citing need to see regulations.
no commentdeferred to future
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Question
Should it change from a lottery process, would that be an additional margin pressure that the industry is going to see?
Anil Gupta (CEO & MD)
We'll have to wait and watch in terms of how it shapes up. Currently we don't have a comment on that because we'll have to see the new regulation.
Answered
Medium priority
Key learnings from past 12 months and corrective actions?
Asked by Priyanka, Valum Capital
Management provided specific learnings and actions without evasion.
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Question
I would want you to highlight few the key learnings that you have had in this last 12 months or four quarters which have been more challenging and any corrective action plans.
Anil Gupta (CEO & MD)
One of the biggest learnings is that our order book has not been very strong. The entire team is focused on driving order book. We also realize we need to be more domain oriented.
Evasive
High priority
Will FY26 end with single-digit growth and FY27 double-digit?
Asked by Priyanka, Valum Capital
Management declined to provide any full-year growth outlook.
no guidancerefused to commit
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Question
Should we consider that we would be ending somewhere around with single digit growth and then follow on for FY27 we should start accelerating to double digit growth.
Anil Gupta (CEO & MD)
I don't know whether the growth will be single digit or whatever. It's hard for me to now say. My entire focus is a quarter on quarter.
Answered
Medium priority
Consider acquisitions or better capital allocation?
Asked by Priyanka, Valum Capital
Management clearly stated no acquisitions in near term, focusing on organic growth.
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Question
Do we need to look into external to acquire better capabilities, diversify and build a much more sustainable organization?
Anil Gupta (CEO & MD)
An acquisition currently is going to be a distraction. We need at least three or four quarters of sustained quarterly growth performance and then look at something.
Evasive
High priority
Aspiration for positive FY26 growth and 13% EBITDA margin?
Asked by Deep Ma, MK Global
Management refused to confirm positive growth and gave non-committal margin outlook.
no commitment on growthvague on margin
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Question
First about our aspiration to deliver at least positive growth in FY26 and second is EBITDA margin roughly around 13% for the year. So if you can provide your broad observation.
Anil Gupta (CEO & MD)
It is hard for me to say whether we'll be positive quite frankly. We don't give a guidance. On margins, our endeavor is at least to keep the margins at that level.
Partial answer
High priority
Status of delayed large deals?
Asked by Deep Ma, MK Global
Provided update on deal timing but withheld specifics on size and client.
no specific deal size or client details
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Question
You indicated about right shifting of some deal. Can you help us understand whether those deals have already closed or we are yet to see that closure happening?
Anil Gupta (CEO & MD)
We have won two reasonably large deals. One deal is getting signed in the month of August. The two big deals are Q3 Q4 decisions. Hopefully we will be able to close one out of the two.
Partial answer
Medium priority
Reason for ETR increase to 36%?
Asked by Deep Ma, MK Global
Management cited a provision but did not explain the underlying cause clearly.
no specific reason for provisionlimited detail
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Question
What led to this increase in effective tax rate?
Kamini (CFO)
This quarter we've had to take it to about 36% because of a provision that we have made. We are engaging with our tax experts and have started transitioning our terms of engagement with key customers.
Answered
High priority
Why are turnaround efforts not executing as planned?
Asked by Sepa, EQS Securities
Management provided specific reasons: top customer slowdown and insourcing.
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Question
It looks like even after two and a half years of effort in terms of turning around the ship, it still looks like our restructuring and turnaround efforts are undergoing. So, what is not executing as per your plans?
Anil Gupta (CEO & MD)
Our top 24 customers or top 40 customers have not matched up to the kind of growth we had seen. Some of this work is becoming insourced. Our focus needs to go back into mining these accounts.
Partial answer
High priority
Is EBITDA margin target flattish for FY26 with uptick in FY27?
Asked by Sepa, EQS Securities
Management confirmed flattish margins but did not commit to a specific number or FY27 uptick.
no specific target rangevague on timing
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Question
In terms of EBITDA margin target which we have said last time we are not changing that this year we could be flattish plus or minus in a small range and then from FY27 there could be uptick in the margin. Is it the right way of understanding?
Anil Gupta (CEO & MD)
Our going in position right now is that the EBITDA margins will be in the current range give or take a few. As the revenue growth comes back the margins will automatically improve.
Quantitative claims vs filed numbers
| Claim | Management said | Filing | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 EBITDA margin 12.4% | 12.4% | 12.4% | Matches filing |
| ERP business contributes $200 million | 200 | 1,285 | Understated vs filing |
| Revenue base ~$152 million in Q4 | 152 | 1,285 | Understated vs filing |
Filed figures sourced from Screener.in. Claims within a small tolerance of the filing are marked “matches filing”.