Who imagined this? SBI overtakes TCS, Infosys in m-cap amid PSU banks’ turnaround: Gurmeet Chadha

Market veteran Gurmeet Chadha has said that five years ago, it would have been hard to imagine State Bank of India (SBI) overtaking IT heavyweights such as Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Infosys in terms of market capitalisation. While stopping short of writing off the tech stocks, the Complete Circle Consultants’ Managing Partner and CIO attributed the remarkable resurgence of PSU banks in recent years to improved risk management practices and accelerated digitisation.

“Who would have thought 5 years back that SBI would have more market cap than TCS and Inf…Great turnaround in PSU banks as they become better risk managers and digitise. I would not write off Indian IT cos…they have the ability to pivot & convert this into an opportunity..,” Chadha said in a tweet on X on Thursday.

The comment comes on the back of a massive sell-off in IT stocks. The Nifty IT index has plunged over 8% over the week due to AI-led worries.

On Thursday, a fresh round of panic selling in tech stocks swept the D-Street. The IT index plunged over 4% to a four-month low, erasing a staggering Rs 1.3 lakh crore in combined market value. Shares of Indian software exporters like TCS, Infosys and Wipro slid more than 4%, hit by persistent fears of AI-led disruption in the sector and compounded by stronger-than-expected US jobs data that dimmed hopes of near-term interest rate cuts.

Nifty IT is the worst-performing index, plunging 21% over the past 12 months.

With a market capitalisation of Rs 10.91 lakh crore on BSE, SBI is the fourth most valuable company and only behind Reliance Industries (RIL, Rs 19.87 lakh crore), HDFC Bank (Rs 14.26 lakh crore) and Bharti Airtel (Rs 11.48 lakh crore).

Meanwhile, TCS’ mcap has slipped to Rs 10.52 lakh crore, while that of Infosys is at Rs 5.97 lakh crore.The companies’ market capitalisation has eroded following a 30% drop in TCS’ share price and a 25% decline in Infosys’ over the past 12 months.
Also read: Shriram Finance at Rs 2 lakh crore Mcap outpaces Nifty as lone multibagger. Can the party continue?

In contrast, the Nifty PSU Bank index has surged over 50% in the last 12 months. Individually, Indian Bank is the top gainer with 63%, followed by 62% returns by SBI, which is swiftly closing the gap.

(Disclaimer: The recommendations, suggestions, views, and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times.)