Infosys, Wipro ADRs Slide 8% on Downgrades 2026

ADR sell-off puts Indian IT in focus

American Depository Receipts (ADRs) of Infosys and Wipro fell sharply in US trading, setting the tone for Indian IT stocks as investors reacted to brokerage downgrades and target price cuts. The moves came amid a broader Wall Street sell-off, and the weakness in the ADRs became a key sentiment signal for domestic markets. Traders also weighed renewed concerns that fast-moving artificial intelligence tools could disrupt the traditional IT services model. With global technology shares under pressure, India’s large-cap IT counters saw selling intensify across sessions.

What happened in US trading

The ADRs of both companies swung lower early and stayed weak through the session. Wipro’s ADR slumped nearly 9% to an intraday low of $1.16, while Infosys fell as much as 4% to $12.86. Losses persisted into midday in the US.

By 12:22 p.m. EST, Wipro was trading over 8% lower at $1.21 and Infosys was down 2.4% at $13.09. The sharp intraday declines followed a separate session where Infosys ADRs plunged 5.05% to settle at $13.91 on the NYSE, before recovering modestly after hours to $14.01, up 0.72%. Wipro ADRs in that session fell 3.10% to $1.19.

Downgrades and target cuts add to pressure

The immediate trigger highlighted was brokerage downgrades and target price cuts on Wall Street-listed software stocks. The downgrade cycle contributed to a swift repricing, with the ADR moves drawing attention from Indian market participants before the domestic open.

Even as broker actions drove the initial reaction, the broader setup remained fragile due to weak global tech cues. Several reports also framed the ADR decline as a proxy for how international investors were reassessing the risk-reward for Indian IT services names.

Anthropic AI announcement revives disruption fears

Sentiment was also hit by “fresh AI disruptions” linked to Anthropic, including the unveiling of a new AI product described as capable of automating a wide range of professional tasks. That announcement revived fears that advanced automation could pressure margins and weaken the competitive positioning of traditional IT services firms.

The concern in the market was less about a single company-specific development and more about the speed at which AI capabilities are expanding. The renewed focus on automation risk came at a time when investors were already cautious on global technology shares.

Domestic market reaction: Nifty IT extends losses

Indian IT stocks traded in the red as the sector extended its fall on fears of AI-led disruption and fading expectations of an early US Federal Reserve rate cut. At 9:50 am, the Nifty IT index slumped 4.59%, or 1,520 points, to 31,639. In another update, the index was down 5.24% to 31,422.60 in Friday’s intra-day trade.

Among large caps, Infosys fell 85 points, or 6.13%, to 1,299 on the NSE, while TCS declined 4.77% to 2,619. HCLTech and Wipro dropped 4.48% and 3.64%, respectively, and Tech Mahindra was lower by 2.66%. In the mid-tier space, Coforge tumbled 1,345 points, or 5.32%, Persistent lost 3.16% to 5,279, and LTIMindtree slipped 3.62% to 5,023.

52-week lows and multi-session decline

Selling pressure pushed several counters to their 52-week lows. Infosys dipped nearly 8% to ₹1,281.50, also its 52-week low on the NSE in Friday’s intra-day trade, and the stock was reported to have plunged 13% over the past two trading days. Other names that hit their respective 52-week lows included Infosys, TCS, Cyient, Hexware Technologies, L&T Technology Services (LTTS), Mastek, Oracle Financial Services Software, Tata Technologies and Wipro.

The broader sector trend remained negative, with the Nifty IT index having fallen nearly 7% over the past week and down about 13% so far this year. The index had also been described as the weakest sector for this year so far.

Market-cap erosion and broader risk-off cues

The sell-off wiped out market value at scale. Panic selling in India’s technology sector was reported to have eroded combined market capitalisation by ₹1.3 lakh crore in a single day. In another measure focused on the top five IT stocks (TCS, Infosys, HCL Technologies, Wipro and Tech Mahindra), around ₹1,00,000 crore in market value was reported to have been lost.

Those five firms were reported to command market capitalisation of ₹2,37,1285 crore in intraday trade versus ₹2,47,1656 crore the previous day, a drop of ₹1,00,372 crore. The sell-off was attributed to a mix of global tech weakness, rate concerns after US data, ADR declines, and resurfacing AI disruption fears rather than a fresh, company-specific negative announcement.

Key data points to track

ADR moves highlighted in the reports

Domestic IT sell-off snapshot

What to watch next

The immediate swing factor remains global technology sentiment, including how US markets trade after macro data that influences interest rate expectations. ADR action is likely to stay a key reference point for domestic traders, given the repeated pattern of overnight declines feeding into India’s open. The sector’s response to rapid AI product cycles, and how investors interpret the risk to margins and demand, is also likely to remain central to near-term positioning.

For now, the reported flow of brokerage downgrades, global risk-off cues, and AI disruption concerns has kept the pressure on large-cap and mid-tier IT stocks, with multiple names testing lows and the Nifty IT index extending its slide across sessions.