IT & Pharma Decoded

— THE IT DASHBOARD —

Indian IT companies (TCS, Infosys, Wipro…) sell engineering hours and projects to global clients, earning dollars (Chapter 19's exporters). Their dashboard:

TCV — Total Contract Value / "deal wins." The full value of new contracts signed this quarter — future revenue being booked today. Direction: higher = better, and because markets price the future (Chapter 26), big deal-win announcements often move IT stocks more than the quarter's actual revenue does. Watch also large deal counts (contracts above $50–100M) — the whales that feed years of revenue.

Attrition. The % of employees who quit over the past year. IT's product is its people, so attrition is its raw-material leakage. Direction: lower = better. "Elevated attrition" = the company is losing trained staff, paying more to retain and replace them — a direct margin squeeze. Attrition spiking industry-wide (as in 2021–22) signals a talent war; one company's attrition far above peers signals something internal.

Utilization. What % of employees are currently deployed on paying client work (vs. "on the bench" awaiting projects). Direction: higher = better for margins — but near-100% utilization leaves no bench to staff new deals, so companies manage it in a band (~80–85%).

Constant currency (cc) growth. Growth calculated as if exchange rates hadn't moved — isolating real business growth from rupee-dollar noise (Chapter 19). When a report says "revenue grew 3% (5.5% cc)," the honest business grew 5.5%; currency ate the difference. Always prefer the cc number for judging the business.

Margin walk. IT managements literally explain operating-margin change as a bridge: wage hikes −80bps, currency +30bps, utilization +20bps… (bps = basis points; 100 bps = 1%). Read it once per results and you know exactly what's squeezing or helping the engine.

— THE PHARMA DASHBOARD —

Indian pharma exporters live and die by one regulator: the USFDA (US Food & Drug Administration), gatekeeper of the world's largest medicine market. The dashboard:

ANDA — Abbreviated New Drug Application. The application to sell a generic (an identical copy of a drug whose patent expired) in the US. A company's ANDA pipeline = its queue of future US products. Approvals = good; the richer the pipeline, the more future revenue queued.

USFDA inspection outcomes — the escalation ladder. The FDA physically inspects Indian factories, and the outcome vocabulary moves stocks within minutes. Form 483 = inspection observations, issues found, severity varies (mildly bad to bad — check how many observations and how serious). Warning Letter = formal escalation: fix this or else (bad). Import Alert = that factory's products banned from the US entirely (very bad — direct revenue hit). EIR / VAI / NAI = the all-clear vocabulary: inspection closed acceptably (good). So when TV flashes "XYZ Pharma receives 5 observations at Unit-3," you now know exactly what happened: inspection occurred, issues were found, and the market will price the severity — check which plant it is and what share of US revenue it supplies.

Price erosion. Generic drugs face relentless price declines in the US as more copies enter (a pure Chapter 15 story — identical products, many sellers, consolidated buyers). "Single-digit price erosion" = normal weather; "double-digit erosion" = margin pain across the whole sector.

Chronic vs. acute (domestic market). Chronic therapies (diabetes, cardiac, blood pressure — taken for life) = steady, repeat, defensive revenue. Acute (infections, fever — taken briefly) = seasonal and lumpy. A domestic portfolio tilted toward chronic = higher-quality revenue.