CLSA Equity Research: Building a Leading Indicator for Indian IT Revenue

Apoorv joined CLSA as an Equity Research Intern covering IT and capital goods. The lead analyst set the direction for each report, but Apoorv owned the inside pages: the charts, the written analysis, and the editorial decisions about what to include and how to frame it. Across his stint, he contributed to five to six reports.

The most substantive analytical work was a study examining whether US corporate IT CapEx could serve as a leading indicator for Indian IT revenue growth. The hypothesis was grounded in how Indian IT companies generate revenue: they are primarily services businesses, executing cloud migrations, software integrations, and digitization programs for global enterprises. When US companies in banking, telecom, and manufacturing increase their IT discretionary spend, that spend flows disproportionately to Indian IT service providers.

Apoorv built the correlation analysis across three sectors. He found approximately 90% correlation between US bank IT spend and Indian IT revenue, approximately 88% correlation with telecom companies, and approximately 80% correlation with manufacturing companies.

To add a forward-looking dimension, he also analyzed con call transcripts from Fortune 500 CEOs, tracking the language used around IT investment intentions to anticipate future CapEx direction.

He also covered capital goods, producing a comparative analysis of transformer-related companies with Indian-listed subsidiaries, including Hitachi Energy, Siemens Energy, GE Vernova T&D, ABB India, and Cummins, examining why certain names traded at premium multiples and what was driving the divergence.