₹896.50 per share dividend, five buybacks since listing: Check TCS' corporate action history ahead of Q1 results

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), the country's largest information technology company, has a long history of rewarding its shareholders with regular dividend payouts and share buyback plans.

The company has paid dividends, including special, interim and final dividends, regularly ever since it got listed in 2004. Since its listing, TCS has paid a total dividend of ₹896.50 per share, according to the dividend payment history of the company.

Despite facing challenges in the form of the global financial crisis in 2008 and COVID-19-induced lockdowns, when global economic activity slumped, TCS has regularly paid dividends to its shareholders.

The company paid its highest dividend of ₹126 per share in the financial year 2024-25, while its highest single dividend payout of ₹75 per share (₹67 special dividend and ₹8 interim dividend) was paid out in the third quarter of the financial year 2022-23.

Dividend payment history of TCS in last five years:

Apart from regularly paying dividends, the company has conducted five share buybacks and issued bonus shares thrice.

The company undertook its first share buyback in 2017 when it bought shares worth ₹16,000 crore at ₹2,850 per share. The second share buyback was conducted by the company in 2018 when it bought back shares worth ₹16,000 crore at ₹2,100 per share, and the third share buyback of the same amount was conducted in 2020 when the company bought back shares at ₹3,000 per share.

The company also conducted two share buyback programmes in 2022 and 2023 when it bought shares worth ₹18,000 crore and ₹17,000 crore, respectively, at ₹4,500 per share and ₹4,150 per share.

The company has, in its five share buybacks, bought stocks worth ₹83,000 crore.

Companies conduct share buybacks in order to return excess cash on their books to shareholders, analysts said.

TCS has also issued bonus shares thrice. It first issued a bonus in 2006 when it gave one share for one share held by shareholders and repeated the same in 2009 and 2018.

What to expect from TCS in Q1 FY26

Market participants will closely watch out for revenue figures by the Tata Group company at a time of heightened uncertainty across the world surrounding geopolitical tensions and trade wars. HSBC expects TCS to report revenue of $7,502 million, representing 0.5% sequential growth.

The company is likely to report a net profit of ₹11,925 crore as against a net profit of ₹12,224 crore in the previous quarter.

Analysts will also closely watch out for major deal wins in the first quarter of the current financial year. The Mumbai-based IT services company reported record deal wins in the previous quarter. Its total contract value (TCV) stood at $12.2 billion in deal wins, with a book-to-bill ratio of 1.6.

The book-to-bill ratio in the IT industry compares new orders (bookings) to billings (revenue recognised); a value above 1 indicates strong demand. TCS's full-year order book stood at $39.4 billion for FY25, while Q4 deal wins are above market estimates.