Gartner raises annual forecasts on strength in conferences unit
Rewrites paragraph 1, adds analyst comments in paragraphs 6 and 7, comment from conference call in paragraph 8
By Rishi Kant
Nov 5 (Reuters) -Gartner IT.N raised its full-year forecast for revenue and profit on Tuesday, as the research and advisory firm benefits from its booming events business, sending its shares up more than 2% in morning trading.
The company, which also beat analysts' estimates for third-quarter profit, expects a $15 million increase in revenue from its conferences unit.
Gartner organizes conferences focused on specific business roles and topics for executives and teams in an organization. Its other two segments are research and consulting.
The company, which has around 15,000 enterprise clients, said it held 10 in-person, destination conferences in the third quarter.
Its client retention rate was 83% for the quarter ended Sept. 30, flat over the preceding three months and the same period a year earlier.
Joshua Chan, research analyst at UBS, said client retention rate was flat on the back of smaller companies unable to renew Gartner's services, in what remains an uncertain business environment.
Contract value in the third quarter grew 7.3% over the year-ago period. Chan said investors were expecting more stable growth in contract value.
The quarter-to-quarter change in contract value is not going to be a "straight line" trend-wise and continues to be affected by a rocky macroeconomic situation, Gartner executives said on a post-earnings call.
The Stamford, Connecticut-based company expects its 2024 revenue to be at least $6.23 billion, compared with its previous forecast of at least $6.20 billion.
It also expects its full-year adjusted profit per share to be at least $11.75, versus the $11.05 projected earlier.
Revenue at the company's mainstay research segment, which accounts for more than half of its total revenue, was up about 5.1% at $1.29 billion in the third quarter.
Its conferences business posted a 32.5% rise in revenue, while the consulting segment saw a 3.9% fall.
Total quarterly revenue rose 5.4% to $1.48 billion.
Adjusted profit of $2.50 per share beat analysts' estimate of $2.39, data compiled by LSEG showed.
Reporting by Rishi Kant in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar
Related Assets
Latest News
Disclaimer: The XM Group entities provide execution-only service and access to our Online Trading Facility, permitting a person to view and/or use the content available on or via the website, is not intended to change or expand on this, nor does it change or expand on this. Such access and use are always subject to: (i) Terms and Conditions; (ii) Risk Warnings; and (iii) Full Disclaimer. Such content is therefore provided as no more than general information. Particularly, please be aware that the contents of our Online Trading Facility are neither a solicitation, nor an offer to enter any transactions on the financial markets. Trading on any financial market involves a significant level of risk to your capital.
All material published on our Online Trading Facility is intended for educational/informational purposes only, and does not contain – nor should it be considered as containing – financial, investment tax or trading advice and recommendations; or a record of our trading prices; or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instruments; or unsolicited financial promotions to you.
Any third-party content, as well as content prepared by XM, such as: opinions, news, research, analyses, prices and other information or links to third-party sites contained on this website are provided on an “as-is” basis, as general market commentary, and do not constitute investment advice. To the extent that any content is construed as investment research, you must note and accept that the content was not intended to and has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such, it would be considered as marketing communication under the relevant laws and regulations. Please ensure that you have read and understood our Notification on Non-Independent Investment. Research and Risk Warning concerning the foregoing information, which can be accessed here.
