Research and advisory firm Gartner (NYSE: IT) met Wall Street’s revenue expectations in Q1 CY2026, but sales fell by 1.5% year on year to $1.51 billion. Its non-GAAP profit of $3.32 per share was 13.6% above analysts’ consensus estimates.

Is now the time to buy Gartner? Find out by accessing our full research report, it’s free.

Gene Hall, Gartner’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, commented, “Contract Value accelerated in the quarter. Insights revenue, Adjusted EBITDA excluding divested operation, Adjusted EPS, and free cash flow were ahead of expectations. We repurchased $535 million of stock in the quarter, as our capital allocation continues to create value for our shareholders. In addition, we increased our full year Adjusted EBITDA excluding divested operation, Adjusted EPS, and free cash flow guidance.”

Company Overview

With over 2,500 research experts guiding organizations through complex technology landscapes, Gartner (NYSE: IT) provides research, advisory services, and conferences that help executives make better decisions about technology and other business priorities.

Revenue Growth

A company’s long-term sales performance can indicate its overall quality. Any business can experience short-term success, but top-performing ones enjoy sustained growth for years.

With $6.47 billion in revenue over the past 12 months, Gartner is one of the larger companies in the business services industry and benefits from a well-known brand that influences purchasing decisions.

As you can see below, Gartner’s 9.1% annualized revenue growth over the last five years was impressive. This shows it had high demand, a useful starting point for our analysis.

We at StockStory place the most emphasis on long-term growth, but within business services, a half-decade historical view may miss recent innovations or disruptive industry trends. Gartner’s recent performance shows its demand has slowed significantly as its annualized revenue growth of 4.1% over the last two years was well below its five-year trend.

We can dig further into the company’s sales dynamics by analyzing its constant currency revenue, which excludes currency movements that are outside their control and not indicative of demand. Over the last two years, its constant currency sales averaged 4.1% year-on-year growth. Because this number aligns with its reported revenue growth, we can see that foreign exchange has not had a meaningful impact on topline.

This quarter, Gartner reported a rather uninspiring 1.5% year-on-year revenue decline to $1.51 billion of revenue, in line with Wall Street’s estimates.

Looking ahead, sell-side analysts expect revenue to grow 1.6% over the next 12 months, a slight deceleration versus the last two years. This projection is underwhelming and indicates its products and services will see some demand headwinds.

ONE MORE THING: 3 Hidden Platforms Growing 3X Faster than Amazon, Google, and PayPal. Amazon, Google, and Meta all followed the same playbook: Dominate an ignored market. Build an unbeatable moat. Scale until you’re unstoppable.

These three platforms are running that exact playbook right now. The early investors in Amazon made fortunes. The early investors in these could do the same. Get All 3 Stocks Here for FREE.

Adjusted Operating Margin

Gartner has been a well-oiled machine over the last five years. It demonstrated elite profitability for a business services business, boasting an average adjusted operating margin of 18.9%.

Analyzing the trend in its profitability, Gartner’s adjusted operating margin decreased by 2.1 percentage points over the last five years. This raises questions about the company’s expense base because its revenue growth should have given it leverage on its fixed costs, resulting in better economies of scale and profitability.

This quarter, Gartner generated an adjusted operating margin profit margin of 20.9%, up 2.8 percentage points year on year. This increase was a welcome development, especially since its revenue fell, showing it was more efficient because it scaled down its expenses.

Earnings Per Share

We track the long-term change in earnings per share (EPS) for the same reason as long-term revenue growth. Compared to revenue, however, EPS highlights whether a company’s growth is profitable.

Gartner’s EPS grew at 18.9% compounded annual growth rate over the last five years, higher than its 9.1% annualized revenue growth. However, this alone doesn’t tell us much about its business quality because its adjusted operating margin didn’t improve.

We can take a deeper look into Gartner’s earnings to better understand the drivers of its performance. A five-year view shows that Gartner has repurchased its stock, shrinking its share count by 21.5%. This tells us its EPS outperformed its revenue not because of increased operational efficiency but financial engineering, as buybacks boost per share earnings.

Like with revenue, we analyze EPS over a more recent period because it can provide insight into an emerging theme or development for the business.

For Gartner, its two-year annual EPS growth of 9.1% was lower than its five-year trend. We hope its growth can accelerate in the future.

In Q1, Gartner reported adjusted EPS of $3.32, up from $2.98 in the same quarter last year. This print easily cleared analysts’ estimates, and shareholders should be content with the results. Over the next 12 months, Wall Street expects Gartner’s full-year EPS of $13.55 to stay about the same.

Key Takeaways from Gartner’s Q1 Results

It was good to see Gartner beat analysts’ EPS expectations this quarter. On the other hand, its revenue was in line. Overall, we think this was a solid quarter with some key areas of upside. The stock remained flat at $146.42 immediately following the results.

So should you invest in Gartner right now? If you’re making that decision, you should consider the bigger picture of valuation, business qualities, as well as the latest earnings. We cover that in our actionable full research report which you can read here (it’s free).