HFCL reports record Q2 on fibre exports and lifts FY27 growth aim to 80 percent

HFCL makes fibre cables, antennas and networking gear that carry mobile, broadband and 5G traffic, and also makes defence communication products. On October 19, 2026 its board approved results for the quarter and half year ended September 30, 2026 and filed an earnings presentation for a call the same evening . The company called it the best quarter in its history and lifted its FY27 revenue growth aim to at least 80 percent on product and export strength .

Record profit came with faster sales and wider margins

Q2FY27 is presented as the best quarter on sales and profitability, with reported EBITDA growing faster than sales . EBITDA means earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation. HFCL’s reported EBITDA includes other income, while its EBITDA margin uses revenue from operations as the denominator . PAT means profit after tax.

Source: .

Measure	Q2FY27	Q1FY27	Q2FY26
Revenue from operations, Rs crore	2541.79	1914.98	1043.34
EBITDA, Rs crore	658.00	445.27	203.37
EBITDA margin, percent	25.89	23.25	19.49
PAT, Rs crore	394.22	245.64	71.92
PAT margin, percent	15.51	12.83	6.89

The quarter improved on both the previous quarter and the same quarter last year on sales and on both margins . Management said the stronger margins show increasing scale and strength, and it expects to sustain the trajectory on visibility and execution .

The half year shows the same pattern at larger scale, with H1FY27 already close to full FY26 sales .

Source: .

Measure	H1FY27	H1FY26
Revenue from operations, Rs crore	4456.77	1914.36
EBITDA, Rs crore	1103.27	246.30
EBITDA margin, percent	24.75	12.87
PAT, Rs crore	639.86	42.62
PAT margin, percent	14.36	2.23

FY26 had already recovered from the FY25 dip before this half-year jump .

Source: .

Measure	FY26	FY25	FY24
Revenue from operations, Rs crore	4949.27	4064.52	4465.05
EBITDA margin, percent	16.7	12.5	15.3
Net margin, percent	6.7	4.3	7.6

Products and exports now drive most sales

Management frames Q2FY27 as the result of a deliberate pivot away from low-profit turnkey work toward higher value products, exports and private customers . Turnkey here means building networks for a fixed price.

Products replaced turnkey projects as the core

Products were about 91 percent of revenues in Q2FY27, which management links to better stability and margin profile . The move is described as pivoting to a product-led mix while deliberately shifting from low-profit turnkey work .

Exports and private buyers dominate current sales

Exports were about 63 percent of revenues and private customers about 92 percent of revenues in Q2FY27 . Management says the private-customer shift lowers working-capital intensity, while the export mix positions HFCL as a global player .

Sources: Q2FY27 — ; Q1FY27 — ; FY26 — .

Period	Product share, percent	Export share, percent	Private share, percent
FY26	62	41	84
Q1FY27	85	56	92
Q2FY27	91	63	92

The Q1FY27 call had already put telecom products at 85 percent of revenue and linked near 30 percent telecom-product margins to long-term contracts where input and sales prices are known . Management said Q1FY27 had no one-off high-margin order, only average orders expected to continue through the year, with exports seen around 60 to 65 percent and the rest local .

Order book of Rs 28,911 crore gives multi-year cover

The confirmed order book means firm future work not yet executed. It rose across the last two quarters and is described as diversified across telecom and defence .

Source: .

As at	Total order book, Rs crore
Q4FY26	21206
Q1FY27	26665
Q2FY27	28911

The Q2FY27 split is tilted to products and private buyers, with a heavy fibre and export weight .

Source: .

Q2FY27 split	Rs crore
Products	19751
O and M	5070
Networks	4090
Private customers	18806
Government customers	10105

O and M means operation and maintenance. About 64 percent of the total book comes from optical fibre cable and data centre interconnect and about 57 percent comes from export . Management says AI infrastructure, hyperscale data centres and international telecom networks are turning into firm contracts that support growth for the next six to seven years and beyond, with a strong pipeline at advanced conversion . On the Q1FY27 call, about Rs 22,000 crore of the Rs 26,000 crore book was seen for execution within five years, with fibre cable from three months to four years .

Growth and margin aims were raised again

FY27 growth aim rose to at least 80 percent

Promoter and Managing Director Mahendra Nahata now expects revenue growth of at least 80 percent in FY27 over FY26 revenue, with scope to exceed . This steps up from a 40 percent and above aspiration in July 2026 and a 20 to 25 percent expectation in April 2026 .

10,000 crore sales aim and richer margins moved forward

Momentum gives confidence that the Rs 10,000 crore revenue aspiration can be achieved much earlier than the FY29 horizon first envisaged . The strategy slide expects EBITDA margin to expand from about 16.7 percent in FY26 to greater than 27 percent by FY29 on higher value products, backward integration and capacity . That is above the 22 to 25 percent by FY29 talked of in July 2026 and the 20 to 21 percent by FY29 talked of in April 2026 . Export mix is targeted at more than 70 percent by FY27, with 65 percent plus from FY27 onwards from 63 percent in Q2FY27 .

Hyperscaler demand supports Rs 1,800 crore fibre expansion

HFCL says it supplies to a majority of global Tier 1 telecom customers and to a majority of hyperscalers across more than 60 countries . Hyperscalers are large cloud and data centre operators. Hyperscaler, AI and data centre demand for high-fibre-count cables is named as the tailwind, with customised high-end solutions lifting value realisation . Passive connectivity and data centre solutions are called a high-growth adjacency to cable, driven by exports and hyperscalers .

To convert this, the plan is about Rs 1,800 crore in fibre, cable and preform manufacturing . Preform is the glass rod from which fibre is drawn.

Source: .

Asset	Current	Planned	By
Optical fibre	2.80 cr fkm per annum	4.31 cr fkm per annum	July 2028
Optical fibre cable	3.90 cr fkm per annum	6.20 cr fkm per annum	July 2028
Preform	—	600 MT per annum, Rs 1250 crore capex	October 2028

Fkm means fibre kilometre. The plan built from a 300 MT preform plant for Rs 580 crore, then additions to reach fibre and cable scale and 600 MT preform . On the July 2026 call, international fibre realisation was put at 18 dollars to 28 dollars per fibre kilometre, with data centre fibre at 22 to 28 dollars, and spot business seen 15 to 20 percent above five-year contracts . Data centre connectivity in its first production year was seen at more than Rs 700 crore, later about Rs 800 crore for FY27 .

Defence builds a second engine around Rs 500 crore sales aim

Nahata calls defence and aerospace the next major growth engine, with indigenous technology, deliveries and pipeline supporting about Rs 500 crore of defence revenue in FY27 .

Domestic products move toward serial production

The portfolio covers electronic fuzes, radio relay, surveillance radar variants, thermal imaging core and sights, multi-mode hand grenades and tactical cables. Aerostructure solutions are planned through the proposed aerospace acquisition . Management cites HAL preferred supplier status, DRDO technology transfer and own intellectual property, with a shift from lowest bidder to strategic partner . Domestic defence is expected to lift operating performance as serial production starts on multiple Indian contracts . Research support is 53 defence staff within 253 total across Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Gurugram .

Export aerospace deal and ammunition plant add scale

Total defence order book is about Rs 1,850 crore including about Rs 1,600 crore through an entity proposed to be acquired, with a confirmed unexecuted export book of about Rs 1,600 crore on that route . The deal started with an MoU on March 25, 2026 and final papers on June 3, 2026, with closing expected in calendar 2026 . The buyer is HFCL Advance Systems Private Limited buying 100 percent of HFCL Defence Systems Private Limited for Rs 25 crore cash, which will then buy the aerostructure business of Defsys Solutions Private Limited for another Rs 25 crore as a slump sale . By October 19, 2026 it was still called proposed .

For ammunition, HFCL approved on May 14, 2026 a facility in Sri Sathya Sai district for multi-mode hand grenades and similar products for about 40 lakh units a year at about Rs 230 crore to finish by December 2027 . The October deck shows Rs 230 crore as Phase 1 in the upcoming 1000 acre Andhra ammunition complex .

Structure review and ownership frame what to watch

Different verticals may need different positioning

As mix evolves, management says each vertical has a distinct operating, profitability and working capital profile and it is evaluating options to sharpen focus, improve capital allocation and let each business pursue growth . On the July 2026 call it said the board had set up a restructuring committee and appointed Ernst and Young as strategic advisor to simplify structure and unlock value, with no specific outcome yet .

Promoter holding held steady as foreign holding rose

Shareholding as on September 30, 2026 was promoter 28.29 percent, foreign funds 17.24 percent, domestic funds 10.38 percent and others 44.09 percent .

Sources: September 2026 — ; June 2026 — ; March 2026 rounded fund/other shares — , with exact promoter holding from the March 31 shareholding filing.

As at	Promoter, percent	Foreign funds, percent	Domestic funds, percent	Others, percent
March 2026	28.29	7.1	8.6	56.0
June 2026	28.29	15.74	10.92	45.05
September 2026	28.29	17.24	10.38	44.09

Promoter holding stayed flat while foreign holding rose and others fell over this period . One foreign holder, Smallcap World Fund Inc, grew from 3.02 percent in June to 3.83 percent in September, according to the June 30 shareholding filing and September 30 shareholding filing.

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