STL's record Q2 FY27: consolidated PAT swings to ₹517 Cr on 145% YoY revenue surge

Sterlite Technologies reported its highest-ever consolidated quarterly revenue of ₹2,529 Cr in Q2 FY27, up ~145% YoY and ~32% QoQ, as large hyperscaler and telecom orders moved into execution. Consolidated PAT swung to ₹517 Cr (basic EPS ₹10.32) from just ₹4 Cr a year ago and ₹197 Cr last quarter. The print includes a one-time net ₹161 Cr gain from a US tariff refund on subsidiary imports; stripping that out, adjusted PAT is roughly ₹394 Cr. Because the year-ago PAT base was near breakeven, the headline YoY percentage (both reported and adjusted) is not a meaningful number — the underlying story is a genuine swing from near-zero to several hundred crores of profit, not an artifact of the one-off alone. Reported EBITDA margin was 33.5% (₹846 Cr), but excluding the tariff refund, operational EBITDA margin was 27.1% — up 624 bps QoQ from 20.8% in Q1 FY27 and sharply above the 13.6% margin a year ago. The expansion is structural, not just the one-off: revenue mix is shifting toward higher-margin data-center and hyperscaler optical connectivity, with the Data Centre & Cloud plus Large Enterprise segments now at 47% of H1 FY27 revenue versus a negligible share in H1 FY26, and the optical-connectivity attach rate hitting a record 24%. North America contributed 61% of H1 FY27 revenue as hyperscaler AI-data-center capex flows through STL's order book. Management's press release called this its "best quarter yet," crediting demand for AI-ready digital infrastructure and newly signed multi-year hyperscaler agreements. Against the guidance set out on the Q1 FY27 call — FY27 EBITDA margin upgraded to 23% and Data Centre + Enterprise revenue to reach 50% of revenue by year-end — the quarter is running ahead: H1 FY27 EBITDA margin is already 28.0%, and the DC+Enterprise revenue share (47%) is tracking toward the 50% milestone. The net-debt-free commitment also holds, with net cash of ₹703 Cr, and CRISIL upgraded STL's long-term rating to AA/Stable from AA- on the stronger profile. The open order book jumped to ₹35,274 Cr (4.6x the FY26-end level) after a new $1.2 Bn (~₹11,500 Cr) hyperscaler LTSA signed October 1 and an earlier $1.11 Bn product award letter; no quarter-specific Street consensus for Q2 FY27 revenue or PAT could be found to benchmark this print as a beat, inline or miss. Looking ahead, the board approved a ₹3,000 Cr capacity expansion (September 3) across fibre, cable and preform lines plus a greenfield facility, part of the "Lakshya" FY27-29 roadmap targeting ₹20,000 Cr revenue and a >30% EBITDA margin by FY29 (margin target itself just upgraded from >27%). Of the ₹35,274 Cr backlog, only ₹3,021 Cr is scheduled for Q3 FY27 versus ₹32,253 Cr for Q4 FY27 and beyond, meaning revenue recognition is back-loaded — execution pace into FY28, and whether margins hold once the tariff-refund gain rolls out of the base, are the key things to track next.