Wipro announces record $1.61 billion buyback after revenue miss

Wipro is answering a softer growth outlook with its biggest share buyback yet, a move that hands investors up to 150 billion rupees, or about $1.61 billion, even as the Bengaluru-based outsourcer warned that near-term revenue could slip.

The board approved the tender offer on April 16, alongside fiscal fourth-quarter and full-year results for the year ended March 31, 2026. Wipro set the offer price at 250 rupees a share, about a 19% premium to the prior close, and said it plans to repurchase up to 60 crore shares, or roughly 5.7% of paid-up equity capital. Promoters and promoter groups said they intend to participate, a sign that the company’s founding ownership is aligned with the capital return strategy.

The buyback comes after a quarter that was solid but not strong enough to satisfy the market. Gross revenue for the March quarter rose 7.7% from a year earlier to 242.4 billion rupees, but still missed the 243.63 billion-rupee average estimate. Net income fell 1.9% to 35.0 billion rupees. For the full year, gross revenue climbed 4.0% to 926.2 billion rupees, yet IT services revenue slipped 0.3% to $10.478 billion, underscoring how uneven demand remains beneath the topline growth.

That unevenness is visible in the mix. Wipro said clients delayed technology spending in energy and banking, two important verticals, while Estee Lauder reduced its contribution after bringing in Accenture as an additional vendor. Energy revenue fell 5.9%, and banking, which makes up roughly a third of revenue, also declined. Wipro’s current-quarter outlook, calling for revenue to range from a 2% decline to flat sequentially, suggests management is still bracing for cautious enterprise spending rather than a broad acceleration.

At the same time, Wipro is pointing to the parts of the business that remain resilient. Total bookings for FY26 reached $16.4 billion, up 14.0% from a year earlier, while large deal bookings rose 45.4% to $7.8 billion. Operating margin held at 17.3% in the March quarter, and voluntary attrition stood at 13.8% on a trailing 12-month basis. Operating cash flow was 90.1% of net income in the fourth quarter and 112.6% for the full year, giving the company room to return capital even as growth wobbles.

For investors, the buyback is the real signal. It says Wipro wants to reassure the market that it can keep generating cash and protect shareholder returns while global tech-services demand stays choppy, AI adoption remains uncertain, and clients in sectors like banking and energy continue to delay spending. Wipro completed a 12,000 crore-rupee buyback in 2023, but this one is larger and more aggressive, arriving in a broader Indian IT earnings season where companies are being judged not just on growth, but on whether they are using strong cash generation to reward shareholders instead of betting heavily on expansion.