Largecap stocks are usually seen as safer long-term bets in a volatile market. But even in the Nifty, safety has not always meant returns. According to ACE Equity data, six Nifty stocks have delivered negative returns over the last five years. The list includes Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, Hindustan Unilever, HDFC Life Insurance, Asian Paints and HDFC Bank.
All of these stocks are market leaders in their sectors. Yet, each has struggled with a different mix of growth, valuation, margin and sector-specific problems.
TCS has been the worst performer in the list, falling 37% over five years. Infosys is close behind with a 34% decline. Both stocks were hit by old IT services growth model coming under pressure. Global clients have delayed discretionary technology spending, while artificial intelligence has raised questions over pricing, headcount-based billing and long-term demand for traditional outsourcing services.
Indian IT companies are being forced to rethink business models as clients demand more productivity and lower prices. The Nifty IT index has also lost about a fifth this year, with its 10 constituents losing $73 billion in market value.
Infosys has also faced company-specific pressure from weak guidance. The company’s FY27 constant currency revenue growth guidance of 1.5-3.5% had pointed to continued demand uncertainty, while another guidance cut after Q1 kept brokerages cautious. Analysts also flagged weak demand, AI-led pricing pressure and client-specific issues as near-term headwinds.
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