Infosys, the country’s second-largest IT services firm, will declare its first-quarter earnings after market close on Friday and the focus will be on software maker's revenue growth and margins.

Expectations are running high for Infosys results following stellar quarterly performance by larger rival Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) earlier this week.

TCS surprised the street by reporting better-than-expected numbers in the first quarter, boosted by strong demand in areas like cloud transformation, cyber-security and data privacy, and automation.

Will Infosys follow suit?

A CNBC-TV18 poll showed brokerages expect Infosys to post a growth in revenue while EBIT margins are likely to see a drop in the quarter ended June. Lets take a quick look at the consensus forecast of analysts in the poll:

Key numbers to watch out for

Dollar revenue is expected to rise 1.5% quarter-on-quarter to $2.85 billion

Rupee revenue seen rising 5.65% to Rs 19,104 crore

EBIT likely to rise to Rs 4,520 crore in Q1 vs Rs 4,472 crore in Q4

EBIT margin seen falling to 23.66% vs Rs 24.7%

PAT likely to rise 1.6% to Rs 3750 crore

Outlook

Any revision in margin guidance due to the rupee depreciation will be key.

Prolonged weakness in the rupee is likely to impact Infosys profitability in the June quarter, say analysts.

Commentary

Any comments on mergers and acquisitions and capital allocation.

Commentary on verticals such as BFSI and healthcare remain key.

• BFSI: Expects banking vertical growth to be in line with company average.

• Manufacturing: Infosys sees moderate demand pickup with cost-savings being the primary agenda.

• Healthcare: The sector is witnessing good growth driven by population growth, heavy population and increasing fitness awareness.

• Retail: The sector is weak due to store closures in the US and the Amazon effect but Infosys expects pickup in growth in Europe and other parts of the world.

Other factors to watch

Growth from financial services vertical

• Leadership attrition: Recent exits include Sangita Singh (head of the healthcare vertical) and Nitesh Banga (head of manufacturing)

• Dealbook: Total contract value of deal wins increased to an 8 -quarter high of US$905 million.

• Digital constitutes 25.5% of overall revenues ($2.8 billion in FY18)