# IT stocks fall on H-1B concerns, broker downgrades 2026-08-21T07:47:29+00:00 | Business & Economy | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 2 independent outlets TCS, Infosys, and LTM shares fell after the US H-1B fee proposal cleared a White House review, and brokerages downgraded the stocks. The Nifty IT index dipped 1% on Friday, and was down over 3% on a weekly basis. Kotak Institutional Equities downgraded TCS and Infosys to 'add' from 'buy', and LTM to 'sell' from 'reduce', citing industry headwinds and near-term growth concerns. CLSA also downgraded Infosys, TCS, and Tech Mahindra to 'hold' from 'outperform', citing AI-led deflation and macroeconomic headwinds. Both brokerages are more positive on mid-tier IT firms. CLSA raised target prices for Persistent Systems, Coforge, LTM, and Hexaware. The Nifty IT index closed lower on Friday. ## Indian Opinion Analysis Both ndtvprofit.com and thehindubusinessline.com reported the IT stock fall as a market story driven by broker downgrades. Neither source adopted a pro-government or critical stance, instead focusing on the analyst views from Kotak and CLSA. Ndtvprofit.com led with the H-1B fee proposal as a trigger, while thehindubusinessline.com emphasised the broader sectoral decline and multiple downgrades. The coverage is uniform straight reporting, with no editorial slant. Investors should watch for further US policy announcements and the next round of quarterly results to see if the downgrades lead to sustained selling pressure. ## Coverage Coverage: 2 sources, 2 neutral - ndtvprofit.com (neutral report) Leads with H-1B proposal as trigger, reports Kotak downgrades factually - thehindubusinessline.com (neutral report) Emphasises sector index fall and multiple broker actions, no slant This story was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above. Updated: this story now draws on 2 sources. Last updated 2026-08-23T03:36:15+00:00. Tags: H-1B visa, Infosys, Kotak Institutional Equities, LTIMindtree, Nifty IT, TCS Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/tcs-infosys-lead-it-stock-rout-on-h-1b-fee-hike-fears/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/tcs-infosys-lead-it-stock-rout-on-h-1b-fee-hike-fears/#story-in-brief How this brief was made: an AI model read the reports linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. Stance labels are editorial classifications of how each outlet framed this story, assigned by the same model, not ratings of the outlets. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/