Quick Verdict
Gartner reported third-quarter revenue of $1.505 billion, GAAP EPS of $3.35, and adjusted EPS of $3.59, beating analyst expectations. Shares initially traded near unchanged before falling sharply during the session. Management raised full-year guidance, but slower-than-hoped subscription growth and fourth-quarter profitability expectations tempered enthusiasm for the earnings beat.
About Gartner, Inc.
Gartner, Inc. (NYSE: IT) is a business and technology research, advisory, conferences and consulting company founded in 1979 and headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut. Its subscription-based Insights business helps executives evaluate technology, manage risk and make decisions about their most important business priorities. Conferences connect clients with analysts and industry peers, while Consulting provides more tailored support for technology strategy and implementation.
A November 3 earnings report placed Gartner’s market capitalization at approximately $14.86 billion, although that figure should be treated as a contemporaneous snapshot rather than a valuation updated after the subsequent share-price decline. Gartner generated approximately $6.44 billion in trailing-12-month revenue. Its scale is also evident in its client reach: management said its AI insights guide more than 75,000 senior executives. For investors, subscription contract value is particularly important because it helps indicate the direction of future recurring revenue, profitability, and cash generation.
Top Financial Highlights
- Total revenue: $1,504.8 million, down 1.3% year over year on a reported basis.
- Adjusted revenue: approximately $1.505 billion, up 2.4%, excluding Digital Markets revenue from the prior-year comparison.
- GAAP net income: $214.4 million, versus $35.4 million a year earlier; the company reported growth of 506.4%.
- Earnings per share: GAAP diluted EPS of $3.35, up 612.8%; adjusted EPS of $3.59, up 30.1%.
- Gross-margin-related measure: Gartner reported consolidated contribution margin of 71.2%, versus 68.9% a year earlier. This is the company’s contribution-margin measure, not a separately labeled GAAP gross margin.
- Adjusted EBITDA excluding the divested operation: $364 million, up 7.5%, with a 24.2% margin.
- Operating cash flow: approximately $294 million, down 1.4%, according to the release’s headline comparison.
- Free cash flow: $275 million, up 2.2%.
- Insights revenue: $1,292.4 million, up 1.7%, with a 77.6% contribution margin.
- Conferences revenue: $86.0 million, up 15.4%, with a 34.9% contribution margin.
- Consulting revenue: $126.4 million, up 2.3%, with a 33.8% contribution margin
- Subscription contract value: approximately $5.3 billion, up 2.5% year over year and 1.1% sequentially on a foreign-exchange-neutral basis.
- Cash on hand: cash and cash equivalents totaled $1,633.1 million at September 30, 2026; balance-sheet long-term debt was $2,980.6 million.
- Capital returns: Gartner repurchased approximately 0.9 million shares for $138 million during the quarter and $1.7 billion of stock over the preceding four quarters.
- Guidance: fourth-quarter adjusted EBITDA excluding the divested operation is expected to be at least $390 million. Full-year minimum targets increased to $6.405 billion in adjusted revenue, $1.615 billion in adjusted EBITDA excluding the divested operation, $14.65 in adjusted EPS and $1.235 billion in free cash flow.
Beat or Miss?
Gartner delivered a beat on revenue and adjusted EPS. The comparison below uses the S&P analyst-consensus figures reported by StockStory; estimates differ by provider, with the Associated Press citing a lower revenue consensus of $1.48 billion from three analysts surveyed by Zacks.
| Metric | Reported | Difference/Analysis |
| Revenue | $1,504.8 million | Above the approximately $1.49 billion S&P consensus; StockStory reported a 1.2% beat using its underlying, unrounded estimate. |
| Adjusted EPS | $3.59 | Versus $2.84 expected: a $0.75, or 26.4%, beat. |
| Adjusted EBITDA excluding the divested operation | $364 million | Versus $327.5 million consensus: an 11.1% beat. |
| GAAP diluted EPS | $3.35 | Comparable GAAP consensus not established in the reviewed sources; do not compare directly with the $2.84 adjusted-EPS estimate. |
| Q4 adjusted EBITDA excluding the divested operation | At least $390 million | Management’s quarterly outlook; reporting identified fourth-quarter expectations as a source of investor disappointment. |
The distinction between reported and adjusted revenue matters. Gartner’s Q3 2025 results included approximately $55 million of Digital Markets revenue, but that business was sold in February 2026. Removing it from the comparison changes the revenue trend from a 1.3% reported decline to 2.4% adjusted growth.
What Leadership Is Saying
Chairman and CEO Gene Hall described Gartner’s strategy for strengthening its core offering:
“As we’ve discussed on previous calls, we’re transforming our Insights across four dimensions: impact, timeliness, quantity, and client experience.”
CFO Craig Safian attributed the financial outperformance to both revenue and cost execution:
“We outperformed expectations in the third quarter through revenue upside, effective expense management, and a prudent approach to guidance.”
Safian also said adjusted EPS benefited from a lower-than-expected adjusted tax rate of approximately 17%. Management cautioned that continued analyst hiring will add costs over the next several quarters, making the durability of margin expansion an important consideration.
Historical Performance
The following table compares Gartner’s quarter ended September 30, 2026, with the same quarter of 2025. Dollar amounts are in millions, except EPS.
| Category | Q3 2026 | Q3 2025 | Change (%) |
| Revenue | $1,504.80 | $1,524.10 | −1.3% |
| Net income | $214.40 | $35.40 | 506.40% |
| Total costs and expenses | $1,223.70 | $1,437.70 | −14.9% |
| Operating income | $281.10 | $86.40 | 225.30% |
| Adjusted EPS | $3.59 | $2.76 | 30.10% |
The dramatic GAAP earnings increase needs context: Q3 2025 included a $150 million Digital Markets goodwill impairment, while Q3 2026 did not. Adjusted EPS growth of 30.1% therefore provides a less distorted view of improvement than the more-than-sixfold increase in GAAP net income. Share repurchases also supported per-share growth: weighted-average diluted shares declined to 63.9 million from 75.0 million.
Competitor comparison: Forrester Research
Forrester Research (Nasdaq: FORR), another research and advisory company, reported its Q3 2026 results on October 29. The table uses adjusted operating income as the permitted alternative to operating expenses because the reviewed release provides directly comparable figures for that measure.
| Category | Q3 2026 | Q3 2025 | Change (%) |
| Revenue | $86.1 million | $94.3 million | −8.7% |
| GAAP net income/(loss) | −$4.4 million | −$2.1 million | Net loss widened 109.5% |
| Adjusted operating income | $6.5 million | $9.9 million | −34.3% |
The comparison shows different underlying revenue trajectories: Gartner’s adjusted revenue grew 2.4%, while Forrester’s reported revenue fell 8.7%. Gartner’s contract value increased 2.5% on an FX-neutral basis, whereas Forrester reported a 3.5% decline in contract value to $281.9 million. These are useful directional comparisons, but the companies differ substantially in scale, business mix, and reporting adjustments.
How the Market Reacted?
Shares were initially reported near unchanged at $237.44 immediately after the earnings announcement, but that early snapshot did not capture the subsequent selloff. Barron’s later reported an approximately 15% intraday decline to $201.05, citing disappointment around the fourth-quarter outlook despite stronger Q3 earnings and raised annual targets.
A later MarketBeat snapshot showed a November 3 closing price of $203.99, down 13.29%, followed by a 0.62% extended-hours recovery to $205.25 at 7:55 p.m. Eastern. Investors also had to weigh management’s disclosure that contract-value growth excluding the U.S. federal business was unlikely to reach the previously discussed 4% year-end rate.
