Zudio & Tanishq Power: Trent & Titan Outpace TCS Growth
For nearly two decades, when investors talked about the Tata Group’s financial muscle, the conversation began and ended with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS). As India's IT export giant, TCS generated the lion's share of group profits, provided massive dividend payouts to holding company Tata Sons, and consistently accounted for the bulk of the conglomerate's total stock market value.
However, a fundamental shift is underway inside Dalal Street's most iconic business empire.
While TCS remains a massive profit generator, its growth pace has moderated alongside a global slowdown in enterprise IT spending. Stepping into the spotlight as the group's high-speed growth engines are Tata's retail and lifestyle powerhouses: Trent and Titan Company.
Here is a analysis of how consumer-facing brands are reshaping the Tata Group's market dynamics, why Trent and Titan are capturing investor imagination, and what this power shift means for the future.
The Numbers Behind the Shift: High-Speed Retail vs. Mature IT
To understand how the balance of power inside the Tata Group is evolving, you have to look at market capitalization trajectories and revenue growth rates over recent years.
The Moderation of the IT Engine
TCS remains an incredible enterprise—generating tens of thousands of crores in net profit and boasting a market capitalization crossing ₹15 lakh crore. However, as global economic uncertainty, high interest rates, and cautious tech budgets forced Western clients to slow down discretionary software spending, TCS’s top-line revenue growth settled into single digits.
The Explosion of Consumer Retail
In sharp contrast, Tata’s consumer-facing businesses have hit an extraordinary growth phase, driven by India's expanding middle class, rising disposable incomes, and organized retail expansion:
Trent Limited: Led by fashion brands like Zudio and Westside, Trent has delivered astonishing financial growth. Fueled by Zudio’s value fashion phenomenon—which offers trendy clothing at low price points across Tier-2, Tier-3, and metro cities—Trent's stock price surged exponentially, making it one of the top market performers across the entire Indian stock market.
Titan Company: Expanding beyond traditional gold jewelry (Tanishq) into premium eyewear, watches, and lifestyle accessories, Titan has consistently reported strong double-digit revenue growth, benefiting directly from the ongoing shift toward organized, hallmarked jewelry buying.
Zudio and Tanishq: The Twin Engines of the Consumer Playbook
The core driver behind this internal shift comes down to a simple reality: Indian domestic consumption is outstripping global IT demand.
Trent’s Value-Fashion Masterclass
Trent’s success with Zudio rests on extreme supply chain efficiency, high inventory turnover, and aggressive store opening speed. By offering runway-inspired fashion at prices mostly below ₹999, Zudio tapped into a massive, underserved segment of young Indian buyers who want affordable daily styling.
Titan’s Premiumization Strategy
Titan’s flagship jewelry brand, Tanishq, has capitalized on two major consumer trends: the wedding market and a consumer preference for trusted, hallmarked brands over unorganized neighborhood goldsmiths. By expanding into lab-grown diamonds, luxury watches, and international markets, Titan maintains strong pricing power and healthy operating margins.
What This Shift Means for Holding Company Tata Sons
The rapid rise of consumer companies carries major strategic implications for holding company Tata Sons:
Diversified Dividend Income: Historically, Tata Sons relied heavily on TCS dividends to fund new, capital-intensive group bets—such as semiconductor manufacturing, EV battery gigafactories, digital apps (Tata Neu), and Air India. As Trent, Titan, and Tata Motors generate higher free cash flows, Tata Sons gains a far broader dividend base.
Balanced Market Weightage: A diversified group valuation reduces vulnerability. If global IT spending faces temporary headwinds, surging domestic retail earnings cushion the overall valuation of the Tata Group ecosystem.
Changing Investor Sentiment: Institutional investors looking for aggressive growth opportunities on Dalal Street are increasingly allocating capital toward Tata's domestic consumption plays rather than traditional defensive tech exporters.
Can Consumer Brands Ever Overtake TCS in Absolute Size?
While Trent and Titan are stealing the growth spotlight, it is important to maintain perspective regarding absolute numbers.
TCS’s total annual profits and overall market capitalization remain significantly larger than Trent and Titan combined. IT services require very little physical capital expenditure, allowing TCS to convert a massive percentage of its revenue directly into cash dividends.
However, in terms of incremental market value creation and revenue momentum, Trent and Titan are playing an increasingly dominant role in driving the Tata Group’s overall stock market performance.
The Bottom Line
The changing guard inside the House of Tata is a mirror reflecting the broader Indian economy.
While TCS built the conglomerate's global technological footprint over the past twenty years, India's booming domestic consumer market is writing the next chapter. Powered by everyday shopping at Zudio and Tanishq, consumer retail has emerged as the vibrant new growth engine driving Dalal Street's favorite business empire forward.
Nikunjj Jhawar is a Chartered Accountant (CA) and Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with nearly two decades of experience in the financial services industry. Having worked with global institutions such as HSBC and Credit Suisse in investment-related roles, he brings deep expertise in finance and markets. He is the Founder of mangopeoplenews.com, where he focuses on making complex topics in finance, markets and business accessible and relevant to everyday readers.
