Indian start-ups with exposure to Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) expect to tide themselves over the crisis even as the collapse of the California-based bank will affect tech spending that will impact some major players in the industry, analysts said.
Stocks of gaming company Nazara Technologies, which admitted to a Rs 64-crore exposure in SVB through two step-down subsidiaries, crashed 6.70 per cent in intra-day trades to a a low of Rs 483.05. It recouped its losses to close at Rs 514.75 — a marginal loss of 0.58 per cent over the previous close.
In an interview to PTI, Nitish Mittersain, founder and CEO of Nazara Technologies, ruled out the possibility of layoffs within the company.
He said the US administration’s statements on protecting depositors for the entire amount is a “positive outcome” and gives confidence about the recovery of money.
Reports quoting Traxcn data said that SVB has invested in over 20 Indian start-ups. The value of these investments is, however, not clear.
Some of the domestic companies which have received funding from SVB earlier include Bluestone, Carwale and Loyalty Rewardz.
Analysts at California-based Wedbush Securities which tracks IT firms globally, said Accenture’s 8-11 per cent constant currency revenue growth projection for financial year 2023 may be at risk, while Infosys’ financial year 2024 guidance could be in the range of 8-10 per cent against the market anticipation of 10 per cent.
Cognizant may also see a slightly downward revision in its calendar year 2023 revenue growth. However, the EPS (earnings per share) impact is expected to be marginal given the supply-side tailwinds such as moderating wage inflation.
The companies are expected to announce their next quarterly results between the later part of March and May.
“The sector’s outlook remains ‘fluid’, specifically with increased macro ‘noise’ during the past two weeks as well as SVB’s failure, likely causing enterprise clients to procrastinate on IT spending decisions, further delaying CY23’s actual budget cycle and resulting in longer sale cycles, while also impacting sector’s near-term visibility,” a note from Wedbush said.
