Gartner Q2 2026: the $860M asterisk didn't repeat — EPS up 33%, contract value accelerating, guidance raised into a strong dollar

Figures trace to Gartner's Q2 2026 results release, filed August 4, 2026 as Exhibit 99.1 to Form 8-K (accession 0000749251-26-000243), with Q1 baselines from the May 5 release (accession 0000749251-26-000165), both indexed and retrieved via Aether. Research, not investment advice.

Yesterday's preview left Gartner ($IT) with two numbers to defend: contract value of $5.3 billion growing just 1.0% FX-neutral, and revenue that fell 1.5% as reported in Q1. This morning's filing answers both — and the direction is up.

Diluted EPS came in at $4.14, up 33.1% ($4.37 adjusted, +23.8%). Contract value held at $5.3 billion FX-neutral but growth accelerated to +1.7% year-over-year from Q1's +1.0% — the second straight quarter of acceleration, which is the metric that matters for a research subscription business. Revenue was $1.7 billion, still -0.6% as reported, but adjusted revenue swung to +2.8% (+1.8% FX-neutral) from Q1's +1.6%.

The cash story stayed loud: operating cash flow $398 million (+3.8%), free cash flow $378 million, up 8.9%, and another 3.6 million shares repurchased for $547 million — on top of Q1's $535 million, with the board adding another $500 million of authorization in July. Gartner is buying back stock at a pace of over $2 billion a year against a company that generates roughly $1.5 billion of annual free cash flow — the share count is doing real work in that 33% EPS growth.

CEO Gene Hall's filed comment closes the loop on guidance: "Contract Value growth accelerated again... we increased our full year Adjusted EBITDA excluding divested operation, Adjusted EPS, and free cash flow guidance even with the stronger dollar." A guidance raise into an FX headwind is the opposite of what the bears expected from Q1's soft top line.

What the filing does not change: reported revenue is still slightly negative, and the whole thesis rests on contract value converting to revenue as the divested operation rolls out of the comparisons. The valuation page has the fair-value range and the DCF pre-filled from the filings — the buyback pace is a slider worth moving.

Axon, the other name from yesterday's preview, had not filed its Q2 results as of publication — we'll close that loop when the exhibit hits EDGAR.

Every figure above traces to accession 0000749251-26-000243 (sec.gov) unless noted as Q1 (accession 0000749251-26-000165). Research, not investment advice.