Gartner Raises 2026 Outlook After Q3 Adjusted Revenue Growth

Gartner Inc. (NYSE: IT) increased its 2026 financial outlook after third-quarter adjusted revenue rose 2.4% and global contract value grew 2.5%, signaling continued expansion in its subscription-based Insights business despite a decline in reported revenue following the Digital Markets divestiture.

The research and advisory company now expects 2026 adjusted revenue of at least $6.405 billion, up from its August outlook of at least $6.375 billion. Gartner also raised its forecasts for adjusted EBITDA excluding the divested operation to at least $1.615 billion from $1.570 billion, adjusted earnings per share to at least $14.65 from $14.00, and free cash flow to at least $1.235 billion from $1.185 billion.

The revised revenue outlook includes a $25 million increase in the business forecast and a $5 million foreign-exchange benefit. Gartner attributed the higher EBITDA, adjusted EPS and free-cash-flow forecasts to its updated business outlook. Based on October exchange rates, foreign currency is expected to provide a roughly 80-basis-point tailwind to revenue growth and a 150-basis-point benefit to adjusted EBITDA growth.

Adjusted earnings rise as reported revenue declines

Third-quarter GAAP revenue fell 1.3% to $1.505 billion, or 1.1% on an FX-neutral basis, reflecting the absence of $55.2 million of revenue recorded a year earlier by the divested operation. Adjusted revenue, which excludes Digital Markets, increased 2.4%, or 2.6% at constant currency.

Adjusted EBITDA excluding the divested operation rose 7.5% to $364 million, with a margin of 24.2%, compared with 23.1% a year earlier. Adjusted EPS increased 30.1% to $3.59, supported in part by a lower share count. Weighted-average diluted shares declined to 63.9 million from 75 million.

GAAP operating income increased to $281.1 million from $86.4 million, while net income rose to $214.4 million, or $3.35 per diluted share, from $35.4 million, or $0.47 per share. The prior-year quarter included a $150 million goodwill impairment related to Digital Markets, limiting the comparability of the GAAP results.

Contract value reaches $5.3 billion

Global contract value, an annualized measure of Gartner’s subscription-related contracts, reached $5.34 billion, up 2.5% year over year on an FX-neutral basis and 1.1% sequentially. Excluding the U.S. federal government, contract value grew 2.8%.

Global Technology Sales contract value increased 2.1% to $4.03 billion, while Global Business Sales contract value grew 3.7% to $1.31 billion. The company’s combined quarterly net contract value increase was $57 million.

Overall wallet retention was 99%, indicating that contract value from retained clients was slightly below the prior-year level. Client retention was 85.4%. Gartner served 12,680 client enterprises at quarter-end, down from 13,218 a year earlier, while contract value per enterprise rose to $421,000 from $382,000.

The global quota-bearing sales force totaled 4,929, down 1.8% year over year but up from 4,874 in the second quarter. Gartner said its expense assumptions reflect cost management alongside investment in experts, artificial intelligence and quota-bearing headcount to support future revenue growth.

Conferences leads segment growth

Insights, Gartner’s largest segment, generated $1.292 billion of revenue, up 1.7% as reported and 1.8% at constant currency. Its contribution margin increased to 77.6% from 76.7%. The company noted that Insights revenue is nearly entirely subscription-based and reflects third-quarter contract value.

Conferences revenue rose 15.4% to $86 million, or 15.3% on an FX-neutral basis. Gartner held 13 destination conferences during the quarter, compared with 10 a year earlier, and attendance increased to 13,575 from 11,454. Same-conference revenue grew 7.9%, while same-conference attendance rose 1.1%. The segment’s contribution margin declined to 34.9% from 36.6%.

Consulting revenue increased 2.3% to $126 million, or 3% at constant currency. Contract optimization revenue rose 8.9% to $32 million, while labor revenue was nearly flat at $94 million. Consulting backlog increased 8.8% to $217 million. The segment’s contribution margin improved to 33.8% from 28.5%, as utilization reached 66.4% despite an 11.6% decline in billable headcount.

For the full year, Gartner expects at least $5.18 billion of Insights revenue, $710 million from Conferences and $515 million from Consulting. Its Conferences forecast assumes 55 in-person destination events.

Cash flow and capital allocation

Gartner generated $275 million of free cash flow during the quarter and $1.295 billion over the trailing 12 months. It repurchased $138 million of shares in the third quarter and $1.7 billion over the trailing 12 months. Approximately $1.1 billion remained under its repurchase authorization as of Sept. 30.

The company ended the quarter with $1.63 billion of cash and $3 billion of debt. Gross debt was 1.8 times trailing adjusted EBITDA, below Gartner’s target leverage range of 2 to 2.5 times. Management said capital deployment priorities include offsetting equity dilution, opportunistic share repurchases and strategic tuck-in acquisitions, with no current plans for material debt repayment.

Gartner’s outlook remains subject to customer renewal and new-contract activity, competition, AI-related technological and regulatory developments, government budget actions, conference timing, foreign-exchange movements, tariffs and trade-policy volatility, geopolitical conditions, and the company’s ability to execute strategic investments while controlling costs.