India, July 17 -- Wipro's first quarter carried a contradiction. The company secured a higher value of large deals, yet revenue weakened sequentially, margins fell sharply, and its next-quarter guidance showed that a clear recovery has still not arrived.

IT services revenue stood at USD 2.61 billion, down 1.2% sequentially in constant currency (CC) and up 0.9% year on year. Operating margin fell to 16.0%, 130 basis points below the March quarter, while net income declined 4.7% sequentially to Rs 33.6 billion.

Operating cash flow remained healthy at 98% of net income. However, the quarter showed Wipro absorbing wage increases, investing in artificial intelligence (AI), and ramping large contracts before those efforts had fully translated...