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David Cohen: Good morning, everyone. Welcome to Gartner's Second Quarter 2026 Earnings Call. I'm David Cohen, SVP of Investor Relations. [Operator Instructions] After comments by Gene Hall, Gartner's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer; and Craig Safian, Gartner's Chief Financial Officer, there will be a question-and-answer session. [Operator Instructions] Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. This call will include a discussion of second quarter 2026 financial results and Gartner's outlook for 2026, as disclosed in today's earnings release and earnings supplement, both posted to our website, investor.gartner.com. On the call, unless stated otherwise, all references to revenue are for adjusted revenue and all references to EBITDA are for adjusted EBITDA, in each case excluding the divested operation and with the adjustments as described in our earnings release and supplement. All contract values and associated growth rates we discuss are FX neutral. All references to share counts are for fully diluted weighted average share counts unless stated otherwise. Reconciliations for all non-GAAP numbers we use are available in the Investor Relations section of the gartner.com website. As set forth in more detail in today's earnings release, certain statements made on this call may constitute forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements can vary materially from actual results and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including those contained in the company's 2025 annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, as well as in other filings with the SEC. I encourage all of you to review the risk factors listed in these documents. Now I will turn the call over to Gartner's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Gene Hall. Eugene Hall: Good morning. Thanks for joining us today. Second quarter revenue, EBITDA, adjusted EPS and free cash flow were ahead of expectations. Return on invested capital was 31%. Client engagement improved again, up 140 basis points compared to last year. Contract value growth accelerated compared to the first quarter. Midsized enterprise clients across both GTS and GBS grew mid-single digits year-over-year. We saw positive NCVI with our government clients. Wallet retention across both GTS and GBS improved sequentially. We delivered above-average growth in several of our end markets, and we remained agile in managing expenses. We have a strong and enduring value proposition. Gartner proactively guides C-level executives and their teams across every major enterprise function, in every major geography, industry and market sector on their journeys to achieve their mission-critical priorities. Our insights help clients in 4 critical areas. We identify blind spots, see around corners, fill critical information gaps and prepare for the future. First, we leverage our vantage point across about 13,000 diverse enterprises to help leaders identify blind spots and avoid common …
Est. EPS $2.85 · Revenue $1.49B · 9 analysts
Est. EPS $3.98 · Revenue $1.75B · 9 analysts
| Metric | Latest | YoYYoY means Year-over-Year. It compares the latest annual value with the previous annual value to show long-term trend strength. | QoQQoQ means Quarter-over-Quarter. It compares the latest quarter with the immediately previous quarter to show short-term momentum changes. |
|---|---|---|---|
| The total money that came through the front door from selling things, before paying a single bill. Think of it as the grand total of every credit card swipe from customers. (YoY compares this year to last year's performance, while QoQ compares the current three months to the previous three). |
| Name | Title | Compensation | Gender | Year Born | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Eugene A. Hall | Chief Executive Officer & Chairman | USD 2,627,171 | Male | 1957 | Active |
Craig W. Safian | Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer | USD 1,650,667 |
| Male |
| 1969 |
| Active |
John Rinello | Executive Vice President of Global Business Sales | USD 1,458,302 | Male | 1969 | Active |
Robin Kranich | Executive Vice President & Chief Human Resources Officer | USD 1,366,970 | Female | 1971 | Active |
Thomas Sang Kim | Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer & Corporate Secretary | USD 1,361,848 | Male | 1972 | Active |
Scott C. Hensel | Executive Vice President of Global Services & Delivery | USD 1,358,032 | Male | 1973 | Active |
Altaf Rupani | Executive Vice President & Chief Information Officer | — | Male | 1974 | Active |
William James Wartinbee | Executive Vice President of Global Sales & Services Operations | — | Male | 1974 | Active |
Claire Herkes | Executive Vice President of Conferences | — | Female | 1976 | Active |
David Cohen | Senior Vice President of Investor Relations | — | Male | — | Active |
Est. EPS $14.51 · Revenue $6.42B · 10 analysts
Est. EPS $3.87 · Revenue $1.55B · 6 analysts
| $6.5B |
| +3.7% |
| +10.9% |
| Net IncomeThe absolute bottom line. If the company paid every single supplier, employee, banker, and tax collector, this is the actual money left in their pocket at the end of the day. | $729.2M | -41.8% | +23.9% |
| Gross MarginThe basic markup. If they sell a $100 pair of sneakers, this percentage tells you how much of that price tag is profit right after paying for the rubber and shoelaces, but before paying for things like store rent or TV commercials. | +67.7% | -0.1% | -0.9% |
| Operating MarginThe 'day job' efficiency score. Out of every dollar a customer spends, this shows how many cents the company keeps after making the product AND paying for all the everyday corporate overhead (like salaries, marketing, and keeping the lights on). | +15.8% | -14.4% | +8.2% |
| Net MarginThe final take-home percentage. When you strip away every conceivable cost, tax, and interest payment, this is the exact number of cents the company truly gets to keep from every dollar in sales. | +11.2% | -43.9% | +11.7% |
| Free Cash FlowThe holy grail of corporate cash. It's the spendable, physical money left over after the business pays for its daily operations AND buys the big, expensive upgrades (like new factories or servers) it needs to survive. This is the 'free' money they can use to pay dividends or buy back stock. | $1.2B | -15.0% | +2.1% |
| FCF MarginThe ultimate cash conversion rate. It shows how good the company is at turning regular sales directly into cold, hard, spendable cash. A high percentage means the business is an absolute cash-printing machine. | +18.1% | -18.0% | -8.0% |
| Debt / EquityThe financial risk gauge. It compares how much of the company's empire was built using borrowed money (loans) versus the owners' own money (shareholders). A high number means they are heavily leveraged and playing a riskier game; a low number means they are playing it safe. | 1131.0% | +430.1% | -133.6% |
| Current RatioThe 12-month survival check. It simply compares the cash they have right now (plus things they can quickly turn into cash) against the immediate bills they absolutely must pay this year. A score above 1 means they have enough in the wallet to cover the upcoming bills without panicking. | 1.00x | -5.6% | -6.2% |
| Total AssetsThe absolute size of the company's empire. It bundles together absolutely everything of value they own—from the cash in the register and the inventory in the warehouse, to the software patents in the vault and the factories on the ground. | $8.1B | -5.3% | -6.0% |
| Metric | Annual (A vs E) | Annual Surprise | Quarter (A vs E) | Quarter Surprise |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EPS Surprise | 9.65 vs 12.78 | -24.5% | 4.14 vs 2.85 | +45.1% |
| Revenue Surprise | $6.5B vs $6.5B | +0.1% | $1.7B vs $1.5B | +12.5% |
| Date | Executive | Title | Security | Side | Shares | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 31, 2026 | Kranich Robin B | officer: EVP & CHRO | Common Stock | A | 31 | $188.20 |
| Aug 31, 2026 | HALL EUGENE A | director, officer: Chairman and CEO | Common Stock | A | 31 | $188.20 |
| Aug 31, 2026 | Safian Craig | officer: EVP & CFO | Common Stock | A | 18 | $188.20 |
| Aug 31, 2026 | Rupani Altaf | officer: EVP, Chief Information Officer | Common Stock | A | 19 | $188.20 |
| Aug 27, 2026 | Kranich Robin B | officer: EVP & CHRO | Common Stock | D | 3,278 | $196.50 |
