It has been about a month since the last earnings report for Gartner (IT). Shares have added about 0.2% in that time frame, outperforming the S&P 500.
Will the recent positive trend continue leading up to its next earnings release, or is Gartner due for a pullback? Well, first let's take a quick look at the latest earnings report in order to get a better handle on the recent drivers for Gartner, Inc. before we dive into how investors and analysts have reacted as of late.
Gartner Surpasses Q2 Earnings Estimates
Gartner reported better-than-expected second-quarter 2026 results, with both earnings and revenues surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate.
Adjusted earnings of $4.37 per share beat the consensus estimate of $3.77 by 15.9% and increased 23.8% from the year-ago quarter's $3.53. The improvement reflected higher operating profit and a considerably lower diluted share count.
Revenues of $1.68 billion surpassed the consensus mark of $1.65 billion by 1.8%. Reported revenues declined 0.6% year over year because the prior-year period included revenues from the divested Digital Markets operation. Adjusted revenues increased 2.8% on a reported basis and 1.8% on a foreign-currency-neutral basis.
IT's Contract Value Growth Accelerates
Global contract value reached $5.28 billion, increasing 1.7% year over year and 0.3% sequentially on a foreign-currency-neutral basis. The improvement from 1% year-over-year growth in the first quarter indicates that subscription demand is gradually stabilizing.
Global Technology Sales contract value was approximately $4 billion, rising 1.1% year over year and remaining nearly flat sequentially. Global Business Sales contract value increased 3.3% year over year and 1.2% sequentially to $1.28 billion.
Global wallet retention was 98.2%, up from 97.7% in the preceding quarter but below 101.3% a year earlier. Client retention improved sequentially to 85.2% from 85%, compared with 84.6% in the year-ago quarter. Contract value per enterprise advanced to $414,000 from $376,000 a year ago, partly offsetting a 4.5% decline in client enterprises to 12,775.
Gartner's Q2 Segmental Performance
Insights revenues increased 2.1% year over year, or 1% on a foreign-currency-neutral basis, to $1.29 billion. Segment contribution rose 4% to $999 million. The contribution margin expanded 150 basis points to 77.5%, demonstrating the scalability of Gartner's subscription-oriented research platform.
Conferences delivered the strongest revenue growth. Segment revenues advanced 15.5% year over year, or 14.2% on a foreign-currency-neutral basis, to $244 million. Contribution jumped 19.6% to $145 million, while the contribution margin expanded 210 basis points to 59.5%.
Same-conference revenues increased 12%, although attendee levels declined 1.4%. Gartner held 18 destination conferences during the quarter compared with 19 a year earlier, while destination conference attendance decreased slightly to 28,057 from 28,295.
Consulting remained the weakest segment. Revenues declined 8.8% year over year to $142 million, while contribution fell 12.6% to $54 million. The contribution margin contracted 170 basis points to 37.9%.
Labor-based consulting revenues decreased 12.8% to $96 million, whereas contract optimization revenues increased 0.9% to $46 million. Consulting backlog rose 9.1% to $214 million, offering some support for future revenues. Billable headcount fell 11.3% to 842, while utilization improved 32 basis points to 65.1%.
IT's Profitability and Cash Flow Improve
Adjusted EBITDA excluding the divested operation increased 6.4% year over year, or 4.4% on a foreign-currency-neutral basis, to $466 million. The corresponding margin expanded 90 basis points to 27.8%.
GAAP operating income advanced 15.7% to $378.5 million. The operating margin improved to 22.6% from 19.4% a year earlier, aided by lower service, product-development and administrative expenses.
Net income increased 14.4% to $275.5 million. Earnings climbed 33.1% to $4.14 per share, with the faster per-share increase supported by a reduction in shares to 66.6 million from 77.4 million.
Operating cash flow rose 3.8% to $398 million. With capital expenditures declining to $20 million from $36 million, free cash flow increased 8.9% to $378 million. The trailing-12-month free cash flow was approximately $1.3 billion.
Gartner repurchased 3.6 million shares for $547 million during the quarter. Year-to-date repurchases totaled approximately $1.08 billion. The company had about $1.2 billion remaining under its repurchase authorization as of July 31 after the board approved an additional $500 million in July.
Gartner ended the quarter with $1.49 billion in cash and approximately $3 billion in debt. Gross debt to adjusted EBITDA was 1.8 times, while net leverage stood at 0.9 times.
Gartner's 2026 Guidance
Gartner now expects 2026 adjusted revenues of at least $6.38 billion, compared with the previous outlook of $6.41 billion.
Insights revenues are now projected to be at least $5.17 billion, down from the prior guidance of $5.20 billion. The outlooks for Conferences and Consulting revenues were maintained at no less than $695 million and $510 million, respectively.
Despite the revenue adjustment, the company raised its profitability forecast. Adjusted EBITDA excluding the divested operation is now expected to be at least $1.57 billion, up from $1.55 billion. Adjusted EPS guidance for 2026 increased to at least $14 from $13.25, while the free cash flow forecast rose to at least $1.19 billion from $1.16 billion.
How Have Estimates Been Moving Since Then?
In the past month, investors have witnessed a upward trend in fresh estimates.
The consensus estimate has shifted 5.82% due to these changes.
VGM Scores
Currently, Gartner has a average Growth Score of C, though it is lagging a bit on the Momentum Score front with a D. However, the stock was allocated a score of A on the value side, putting it in the top 20% for this investment strategy.
Overall, the stock has an aggregate VGM Score of A. If you aren't focused on one strategy, this score is the one you should be interested in.
Outlook
Estimates have been trending upward for the stock, and the magnitude of these revisions looks promising. It comes with little surprise Gartner has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). We expect an above average return from the stock in the next few months.
Performance of an Industry Player
Gartner belongs to the Zacks Consulting Services industry. Another stock from the same industry, Equifax (EFX), has gained 4.6% over the past month. More than a month has passed since the company reported results for the quarter ended June 2026.
Equifax reported revenues of $1.7 billion in the last reported quarter, representing a year-over-year change of +10.6%. EPS of $2.25 for the same period compares with $2.00 a year ago.
For the current quarter, Equifax is expected to post earnings of $2.21 per share, indicating a change of +8.3% from the year-ago quarter. The Zacks Consensus Estimate has changed +0.1% over the last 30 days.
The overall direction and magnitude of estimate revisions translate into a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) for Equifax. Also, the stock has a VGM Score of C.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
