IT titans lose lakhs of crores as Anthropic soars; time to bet on domestic players?

The sharp rise of AI major Anthropic has put the spotlight on the valuation gap between global artificial intelligence firms and India's IT services giants. As enthusiasm around generative AI gathers steam, Indian IT stocks have seen their combined market capitalisation (m-cap) shrink in the recent past.

In February 2026, Anthropic secured a $30 billion Series G funding round, pushing its valuation to a staggering $380 billion. The figure eclipses the combined market capitalisation (m-cap) of India's top listed IT services companies. Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS), Infosys Ltd, HCL Technologies Ltd, Wipro Ltd and Tech Mahindra Ltd together command a market value of roughly $241 billion (around Rs 22 lakh crore).

Anthropic positions itself as an AI safety and research company focused on building reliable, interpretable and steerable AI systems. A key differentiator has been its strong emphasis on coding-focused models, with Claude Code gaining significant traction among developers and helping the company carve out an edge in the fast-growing enterprise AI market.

The hype around generative AI and enterprise automation has wiped out lakhs of crores in market value from Indian IT stocks. However, some market experts believe that the worst may be behind us and that current valuations appear reasonable for long-term investors.

Sharad Avasthi, Head of Research (PCG) at SMIFS, in an interaction with Business Today, said, "I think this is a very good opportunity to get into IT stocks. I'm not saying this is the bottom -- there could be some more pain. But if you look at valuation comfort at current prices, the levels appear quite reasonable across the board. Stocks like TCS, Infosys and Coforge look like decent bets. We believe this is a good time to accumulate these names."

He added, "AI-led disruption will certainly happen and is already underway. However, I don't think it is an immediate concern. Five to seven years down the line, it could become more significant. Most Indian IT companies are preparing for that transition, so we are not overly worried. Market reactions tend to exaggerate moves on both sides, and that often provides an opportunity to enter. Overall, this looks like a good time to invest in IT stocks."

Ravi Singh, Chief Research Officer at Mastertrust, also underscored that "the long-term story for the IT sector remains intact."

Ajit Mishra – SVP, Research at Religare Broking, said that IT stocks also witnessed a rebound after the recent sharp decline. He added, "Sentiment improved marginally amid stabilising global cues and a rebound in global technology stocks, which helped ease concerns following the recent sell-off in the IT sector."

VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments, noted, "The negative factor of sustained selling in IT stocks may be over and there is a possibility of some rebound in the segment. News of Anthropic's Claude chatbot building partnership in software and services with IT firms indicate that there will be collaboration opportunities for Indian IT firms."

Siddhartha Khemka - Head of Research, Wealth Management at Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd (MOFSL), said, "The rebound in IT tracked a recovery in global and US technology stocks, alongside Anthropic's announcement of new enterprise partnerships, which helped alleviate concerns around AI-led disruption. That said, sentiment toward the sector remains fragile, with investors maintaining a selective approach amid ongoing global growth uncertainties."

Commenting on Infosys' recent collaboration with Anthropic, Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit, said, "This development is encouraging, as it suggests that next-generation AI applications are unlikely to disrupt Indian IT companies’ business models to the extent initially feared. Instead, these solutions are expected to be incorporated into both existing and new projects, which should help ease concerns around long-term business sustainability."

He added, "That said, some uncertainties persist. While the sector's outlook for FY27-28 appears muted compared with the strong performance of the past 2–3 years, this is getting reflected in current subdued valuations. At the same time, the environment is offering opportunities for long-term investors to re-enter the space, as more clarity is likely to emerge over the short to medium term."