Strong Engagement & Contract Value Strengthen Gartner's Prospects
Gartner IT reported better-than-expected second-quarter 2026 results. 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. Revenues of $1.68 billion surpassed the consensus mark of $1.65 billion by 1.8%. Reported revenues declined marginally year over year.
Gartner, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Gartner, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Gartner, Inc. Quote
How Is Gartner Faring?
IT’s client engagement increased about 140 basis points (bps) year over year in the second quarter of 2026, with digital engagement expanding more than 110 bps and human interaction exceeding 150 bps.
Global contract value was $5.3 billion in the second quarter of 2026, inching up 1.7% year over year on an FX-neutral basis and by a slight margin sequentially. Excluding the U.S. federal government, contract value grew 3.3%. Management anticipates contract value growth to rise consistently as enterprises seek help with AI, cybersecurity and other mission-critical priorities, supporting Gartner’s long-term relevance.
In the second quarter of 2026, Global Technology Sales contract value rose 1.1% year over year and Global Business Sales contract value increased 3.3% on an FX-neutral basis. Global client retention improved to 85.2% from 84.6% a year earlier, while contract value per enterprise increased to $414,000 from $376,000.
Conferences revenues rose 15.5% year over year in the second quarter of 2026, and management retained 2026 Conferences revenue guidance of at least $695 million. These trends solidify the company’s ability to generate recurring subscription revenues while expanding its Conferences business that delivers higher growth.
Gartner repurchased 3.6 million shares for $547 million in the second quarter of 2026, and combined with the first quarter’s $535 million, takes the first-half repurchases to $1.08 billion. The free cash flow gained 8.9% year over year to $378 million in the second quarter of 2026, and management hiked the full-year free cash flow guidance to at least $1.185 billion. Adjusted EPS guidance increased to at least $14 from $13.25.
Zacks Rank & Other Stocks to Consider
IT currently flaunts a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
Some other top-ranked stocks from the broader Zacks Business Services sector are Figure Technology Solutions FIGR and The Geo Group GEO. These two companies also presently flaunt a Zacks Rank #1. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Figure Technology has a long-term earnings growth expectation of 51.7%. FIGR delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 28.2%, on average.
The Geo Group has a long-term earnings growth expectation of 14%.GEO delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 24.6%, on average.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
