GARTNER INC — Call Transcript 2026

Good morning, everyone. Welcome to Gartner's 1st quarter 2026 earnings call. I'm David Cohen, SVP of Investor Relations. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. 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. We ask that you limit yourself to one question and a brief follow-up in order to give all our analysts a chance to participate in the call. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. This call will include a discussion of first 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 based on 2026 foreign exchange rates. All growth rates in Gene's comments are FX neutral unless stated otherwise. 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. Good morning. Thanks for joining us today. First quarter Insights revenue, EBITDA, adjusted EPS, and free cash flow were ahead of expectations. New business with enterprise leaders was strong in the first two months of the quarter. Due to changes in the geopolitical environment, client decisions slowed somewhat in March. Year-over-year contract value growth accelerated in the first quarter. We were agile in managing expenses, and we continued to deliver unparalleled value to our clients. Gartner's strategy is to guide executives on their journeys to achieve their mission-critical priorities. Our clients are the senior-most executives and their teams who lead every major enterprise function. For example, chief information officers and senior IT leaders, chief supply chain officers and heads of logistics, chief financial officers and corporate controllers, and more. These roles are enduring regardless of change in the world. The executives who lead these roles will always have priorities that are mission-critical to the success of their enterprise, their functions, and their personal careers. Priorities that are mission-critical tend to be long, complex journeys. They take time and effort to achieve. Executives want and need help. In today's environment, most executives face information overload. It can be challenging to differentiate authoritative sources from others. Trust is at a premium. Gartner is the best, most trusted source for the help executives need to achieve success. We proactively deliver insights that guide smarter decisions and stronger outcomes on mission-critical priorities. Gartner Insights are derived from a vast pool of highly proprietary data. Every year, we hold more than 500,000 two-way conversations with more than 80,000 executives across every major function and in every industry. We conduct more than 27,000 briefings with executives from technology providers. We also leverage data from proprietary surveys, tools, models, benchmarks, and more. This gives us a deep understanding of what executives care about most, what's working, and what isn't. Our insights are independent and objective. They reflect the latest information and situations our clients are experiencing. They're continually updated, and they're available exclusively from Gartner. A large part of our value comes from helping clients see around corners. We help leaders understand issues and approaches they're often not aware of. We help them identify blind spots, prioritize issues, and avoid costly mistakes. Our insights are forward-looking. We guide clients on how the world is likely to change and what they should do to thrive in uncertain environments. We deliver unparalleled client value through both digital and human interactions. Clients can access our written insights, Magic Quadrants, Hype Cycles, Critical Capabilities, Ignition Guides, toolkits for procurement and governance, and many more. In addition, through inquiry, clients can tap into the deep expertise of our world-class analysts that goes beyond what's in our written insights. They can get personalized support from experienced practitioners. Through our conferences, clients can interact in person with analysts, peers, and technology providers. They can validate decisions through the Gartner Peer Community, which has more than 100,000 executives from nearly every enterprise function. Of course, they can use AskGartner to go even deeper into specific topics. No one else does what we do at our scope and scale. Retention is foundational to our success. Clients who engage frequently with our insights receive greater value and retain at higher rates. To support more frequent client engagement, we've been transforming our business and technology insights, organization, and processes. I covered the dimensions of this transformation on last quarter's earnings call. They are Impact, Volume, Timeliness, and User Experience. Today, I'll give you an update on how we're doing. We measure progress in a number of ways. I'll highlight just a few examples for simplicity's sake. Starting with Impact. Our objective is to ensure insights are always on the topics our clients care about most right now. We've increased the number of high-impact documents by 22%. The second dimension is Volume. The number of documents in our insights library is up 19%. The third dimension is Timeliness. With the accelerating rate of change in the world, we've introduced insights that are published the same day important events occur. The number of these documents has more than doubled. A recent example includes recommendations for heads of software engineering in response to the dramatic change in the security landscape posed by Anthropic's Mythos. Of course, we continue to make improvements on the user experience. For example, we've added the ability to create downloadable PowerPoint presentations directly from within AskGartner. Clients can ask questions in 25 languages, and we continue to integrate additional proprietary data sources. The programs we have underway are driving increased client engagement, which should result in higher retention and additional new business. AI continues to be one of the most requested topics across all the roles we serve. Gartner sits at the nexus of CIOs and IT organizations, business leaders and AI technology providers. This gives us a full proprietary perspective that includes all the major players. We also have comprehensive, independent and objective guidance on all aspects of AI, strategy, ROI, ethics and governance, workforce readiness and more. We cover the full range of issues leaders need to address to be successful with AI, and we are world-class users of AI internally. No one is more capable or better positioned to guide leaders along their AI journeys than Gartner. Our people drive our success. I just returned from one of our sales recognition events where I had the opportunity to spend time with hundreds of our most successful salespeople. They continue to demonstrate unwavering dedication to their clients and are incredibly excited at the future of our business. In closing, Gartner has an unparalleled and enduring value proposition. We're transforming our business and technology insights, organization, and processes to deliver even more client value. Clients who engage frequently with our insights receive greater value and retain at higher rates. Gartner is the best source for clients looking to achieve success on their AI journeys, and our teams are incredibly optimistic about our future. Looking ahead to the rest of the year, we expect contract value will accelerate. We will continue to drive strong free cash flow that we can put to use to drive incremental shareholder value, and we expect to deliver adjusted EPS on a compound annual basis above 12% over the next three years. With that, I'll hand the call over to our Chief Financial Officer, Craig Safian. Thank you, Gene, and good morning. First quarter contract value, or CV, grew 1% year-over-year. This was an acceleration from the fourth quarter. Insights revenue, EBITDA, adjusted EPS and free cash flow in the first quarter were better than expected. We are increasing our EBITDA, adjusted EPS and free cash flow guidance for the full year. In the first quarter, we reduced our share count by about 4%, buying back $535 million of stock, and we expect to generate significant free cash flow and have fewer shares outstanding over the course of the next several years. First quarter revenue was $1.5 billion, up 2% year-over-year as reported, and down 1% FX neutral. Total contribution margin was 72%. EBITDA was $395 million, up 6% as reported and 1% FX neutral. Adjusted EPS was $3.32, up 11% from Q1 of last year, and free cash flow was $371 million, up 29% year-over-year. Rolling four-quarter return on invested capital was about 27%. Insights revenue in the quarter grew 3% year-over-year as reported and was about flat FX neutral. First quarter insights contribution margin was 78%, up about 120 basis points versus last year. Contract value was $5.3 billion at the end of the first quarter, up 1% versus the prior year and an acceleration from year-end. Excluding the U.S. federal government, CV growth was 3.5%. At March 31st, we had approximately $114 million of U.S. Federal CV. Q1 is normally a higher than average renewal quarter and our seasonally lowest new business quarter. The second quarter is a smaller renewal quarter and a larger new business quarter than Q1. We had more than $200 million of new business in the first quarter as there continues to be considerable interest in Gartner's proprietary unbiased insights. As you will recall, new business dollars increase each quarter as we move through the year. Driving engagement is critically important to retention. As Gene discussed, through both digital and human interactions, we understand our clients' mission-critical priorities, and we are proactive in helping them to address those priorities. This ongoing engagement helps drive client success and strong retention. We've increased licensed user engagement levels over time. In each month of the first quarter, they are higher than they've been in any of the same months over the past three years, with consistent engagement improvements in both digital and human interactions. Derived from analyzing monthly active users, overall engagement in Q1 was up over 170 basis points compared to the prior year quarter. Digital engagement improved by more than 160 basis points year-over-year. Human interactions increased more than 80 basis points year-over-year through improvements in the usage of analyst inquiries. Global technology sales contract value is $4 billion at the end of the first quarter, up versus the prior year. GTS CV for both enterprise leaders and tech vendors increased by more than 3% year-over-year ex Fed. Wallet retention for GTS was 97% for the quarter. Ex Fed wallet retention was 99%. GTS New Business was down 4% compared to last year and down about 3% ex Fed. As Gene noted, New Business was tracking ahead of the prior year through February and was affected a bit in March due to the geopolitical environment. Global business sales contract value was $1.3 billion at the end of the first quarter, up 3% year-over-year. Ex Fed GBS CV grew 5%. Growth was led by the sales, supply chain, and legal practices. Wallet retention for GBS was 98% for the quarter. GBS New Business was down 2% compared to last year. Again, as Gene noted, New Business was tracking very favorably through February with some client decision-making slowing down in March. Conferences revenue for the first quarter was $78 million. On a same conference basis, revenue growth was around 9% FX neutral. Contribution margin was 39%. We held 10 destination conferences in the first quarter as planned. Q1 consulting revenue was $119 million, compared with $140 million in the year-ago period. Consulting contribution margin was 31% in Q1. Labor-based revenue was $90 million. Backlog at March 31st was $201 million. In Contract Optimization, we had $147 million of revenue on an LTM basis, about flat compared with Q1 of 2025. On a two-year CAGR basis, revenue was up about 15%. As you know, our Contract Optimization revenue is highly variable. EBITDA for the first quarter was $395 million, up 6% from last year as reported and 1% FX neutral. We outperformed expectations in the first quarter through effective expense management and a prudent approach to guidance. Adjusted EPS in Q1 was $3.32, up 11% compared to Q1 last year. We had 70 million shares outstanding in the first quarter. This is an improvement of about 8 million shares or approximately 10% year-over-year. We exited the first quarter with 68 million shares on an unweighted basis. Free cash flow remained strong in the first quarter, up 29% year-over-year. Free cash flow on a rolling four-quarter basis was $1.3 billion. Adjusting for several items detailed in the earnings supplement, free cash flow was 20% of reported revenue, 79% of adjusted EBITDA, and 145% of GAAP net income. At the end of the first quarter, we had about $1.7 billion of cash. This includes about $500 million for running the business and around $1.2 billion available to deploy on behalf of shareholders. Our March 31st debt balance was about $3 billion. Our reported gross debt to trailing twelve-month EBITDA was under 2x. We repurchased $535 million of stock during the first quarter, reducing our share count by more than 4%. Last week, the board increased the buyback authorization to about $1.2 billion. We expect the board will refresh the amount as needed. We are updating our full-year guidance to reflect recent performance and trends, including FX. For Insights revenue in 2026, our guidance reflects Q1 contract value. The revenue outlook is operationally unchanged as we had modeled in the NCVI performance we saw in the quarter. We increased the outlook for FX. For conferences, we are basing our guidance on the 56 in-person destination conferences we have planned for 2026. We have good visibility into current year revenue, with a majority of what we've guided already under contract. For consulting, we have reflected a prudent view for the balance of the year based on the Q1 results. Contract Optimization has had several very strong years, and the business remains highly variable. For 2026, we expect consolidated revenue at or above $6.405 billion, which is updated from last quarter and is FX neutral growth of 1%. We now expect full-year EBITDA at or above $1.545 billion, up $30 million from our prior guidance. This reflects full-year margins at or above 24.1%, also up from last quarter. We expect 2026 adjusted EPS at or above $13.25, an increase from last quarter that primarily reflects the increase in the EBITDA outlook and a lower share count. For 2026, we expect free cash flow at or above $1.16 billion. This reflects a conversion from GAAP net income of 137%. Our guidance is based on 69 million fully diluted weighted average shares outstanding, which incorporates the repurchases made through the end of the first quarter. We exited Q1 with about 68 million fully diluted shares. For Q2, we expect EBITDA at or above $425 million. Our profit and cash flow results in Q1 were ahead of expectations, and we've increased the EBITDA, adjusted EPS, and free cash flow guidance for 2026. Contract value ex Fed grew 3.5% in the quarter, and total CV growth improved from the fourth quarter of 2025. We are positioned to accelerate CV growth in 2026, and we expect to deliver adjusted EPS on a compound basis above 12% over the next three years. We'll also deploy our capital on stock repurchases, which will lower the share count over time, and on strategic value-enhancing tuck-in M&A. With that, I'll turn the call back over to the operator, and we'll be happy to take your questions. Operator? Thank you so much. As a reminder, to ask a question, simply press star one one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. To remove yourself, press star one one again. We ask that you keep your questions to one and one follow-up. One moment for our first question. Comes from the line of Jeff Meuler with Baird. Please proceed. Yeah, thank you. Makes sense that the selling environment would be tougher in March. Can you give any perspective on if that has started to convert in April? The things that kind of slipped out of March, by some indications, maybe the environment is getting a little bit better. Just any differentiation on new business sales trends between New Logo versus upselling in the base, which I think had been lagging. Hey, okay. Hey, Jeff, it's Gene. I'll get started. In terms of, again, as I said in my prepared remarks, we had a really good January and February. March, decisions slowed down. By and large, clients and prospects told us, "We still wanna buy from you, but we can't make a decision today." To your point, as we roll to April, we're seeing many of those deals actually close, where clients delayed in March, but actually then came through and closed in April. Jeff, good morning. On the mix between New Logo and existing client growth, what we saw through the first two months where we did see nice year-over-year growth, that was broad-based across both New Logo and with existing clients. With the challenging, more challenging environment in March, it was also broad-based across New Logo and existing clients. As we continue to see some of those things, as Gene just mentioned, come through, it's a mix of new logo growth and growth with existing accounts. Got it. Good to hear overall engagement of both in person and digital. Just anything you can give us on the evolution of AskGartner, either usage statistics or any meaningful changes in, I guess, user experience, either from something new with the foundational models that underpin it or any adjustments that you've been making to it? Thank you. Yeah. Yeah. AskGartner is just one part of our value proposition. Obviously, there's a whole lot of other pieces of Gartner why people buy. We have AskGartner, and it's important, we will make it competitive. The client usage continues to increase, and the amount of repeat client usage continues to increase. We're seeing increasing engagement with AskGartner. We do a new release every two weeks. Clients, you know, we have a tell us what else you want button on there, and they do, plus we do market research. Every two weeks, we have new releases. As Craig and I mentioned in our remarks, we've added support for, so I think 25 languages. You can now create PowerPoints directly from the from within AskGartner. There's a whole series of other kinds of upgrades. Again, we're upgrading every two weeks, so it's too numerous to actually talk about over the course of the quarter. Yeah. Jeff, those upgrades are a combination of feature enhancements and incremental proprietary data that the tool is pulling from as well. You know, we are very quickly rolling out new features, as Gene mentioned, every two weeks, and we'll continue to do that as there's demand for it, as the models improve, and as our clients give us feedback on what they want from the tool. Thanks, both. Thank you. Our next question is from Faiza Alwy with Deutsche Bank. Please proceed. Yes. Hi. Thank you. Good morning. I wanted to follow up on the geopolitics comment, and I'm curious if you could give us some regional color. Did you see, you know, slowing sort of across the board or if there was any differentiation regionally? I'm assuming, maybe you saw some, you know, slower decision-making outside the U.S., but just would love some additional color there. There was a slowdown across the board by geo, by industry. It was worse in some places than others. If you could imagine with airlines and transportation companies, it was worse than with financial institutions, for example. It was worse in the countries directly impacted, such as the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, than it was in places that were less impacted, like in the U.S. Okay. Understood. I'm curious if you're, you know, reevaluating any pricing strategies, maybe just thinking about the overall price point, just as, you know, virtually every company is trying to figure out AI, but, you know, maybe they can't afford, you know, your services at or your subscription at the price point that it is. Just curious how you're thinking about, you know, any changes around pricing. We talk to our clients a lot about pricing to understand how they think about pricing, whether we're priced appropriately or not. The feedback we get from our clients today is that their pricing is very appropriate. It's what they expect. They're very comfortable with it. We have different price points. If a client, you know, we have, you know, our community-guided products, which are the highest priced, then our guided products, then our advisory products, then our reference products. When clients have price sensitivity, we give them an option. They can go for a different level of service. It's the same content, but a different level of service with those, and that's what clients choose to do. As we look within each of those groups, we feel like we're priced appropriately. Again, we talk to clients, we benchmark with clients to see if that's the case. We also look when clients say, "I'm not gonna buy, price is a major issue." Price is not, you know, price is not the issue. It tends to be if they're not gonna buy, the CFO said, "We have to cut all expenses 50%." Whether we're four points or eight points higher isn't the, isn't the issue at all. It's kind of a broader cost cutting that over this issue is going through. Faiza, it's, you know, important to remember who we're targeting and focusing on from a go-to-market perspective and a strategy perspective, which is really the top of the org chart in each of the functions that we serve. You know, again, we are going in and targeting the CIO, the chief information officer, or the CFO, or the chief supply chain officer, et cetera, and their teams. We're starting at the top of the pyramid where there tends to be much less price sensitivity around those things. Again, we have, as Gene, you know, articulated, an architecture where if there is price sensitivity, there are offerings that we can, you know, provide to the clients if they're not willing to sign up for a guided product. They'll go with the advisor product. If they're not willing to go with the advisor product, they go with the reference product and so on. The other thing to think about is that it's a very small part of their budget, so even our smallest clients would have, like, $100 million revenue. An individual executive might have a $10 million budget, and their service with Gartner might be $100,000 out of that $10 million budget. The, you know, whether it's $100,000 or $104,000 isn't a big issue. It's about the value they get. Great. Thank you so much. Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Andrew Nicholas with William Blair. Hi, good morning. Appreciate you taking my questions. Wanted to ask on the U.S. Federal Government business in particular, I think it was 250 basis point headwind in the quarter, maybe a little bit more than I would have thought because I thought you had lapped most of that. Can you just level set for us where you sit in that kind of renewal cycle post, kind of some of the government approach changes early last year and maybe at what point would you expect that headwind to alleviate as we move through 2026? Hey, good morning, Andrew. It's Craig. You know, on the U.S. federal side, you know, as we talked about through most of last year, the DOGE impacts, we really didn't start feeling them until March of last year. January and February were, let's just say semi-normal months, you know, from a selling environment perspective. When the DOGE activities kicked in, that was really March and April and then forward from there. You know, I think as we roll into Q2, we really do start to then lap the significant challenges that we had there. From a U.S. Federal CV perspective, we exited Q1 with about $114 million worth of U.S. Federal CV spread across GTS and GBS. The bulk of that actually in GBS. GTS, I'm sorry. The bulk of that in GTS, I should say. You know, what we saw from a renewal rate perspective in the quarter was obviously significant improvement on a year-over-year basis. We are renewing a lot of business. We are writing new business, but we really do start to lap the significant challenges starting in Q2 with the U.S. Fed clients. Perfect. Very helpful. Thanks. For my follow-up, I just kinda wanna go to the headcount growth. I think you had outlined low single-digit growth for GTS and mid-singles for GBS as kinda your targets for this year. Is that still the case? Any color you could give us on the cadence or the slope of that ramp would be great. Thank you. Andrew, the targets still remain. You articulated them correctly. That is what we are gunning for over the course of the year. We typically do see a little bit of a step back in the numbers in Q1 just because we do a lot of our promotions in the first quarter from, you know, frontline seller to manager. You know, we try and get ahead of that from a hiring perspective, but it often does take a little bit of time to catch up on some of that hiring. You know, as we noted, the hiring we're doing in 2026 is really about 2027 and 2028 and beyond. We've got ample capacity in 2026 to deliver on that CV acceleration that we've been talking about. The other note I'd mention is, we are hiring more incremental New Business developers than AEs. It's not, you know, one or the other, but we definitely have a bias towards hiring incremental BDs right now as opposed to hiring incremental account managers going forward. That's baked into the, those year-end numbers you talked about, and that's all baked into our OpEx guide as well. Great. Thank you. Thank you. Our next question comes from Jason Haas with Wells Fargo. Please proceed. Hey, good morning, and thanks for taking my questions. I'm curious for the ex Federal Government CV, did that accelerate from the 3.5% that you reported for 1Q in April? How are you expecting that to trend through the year? Do you expect an acceleration in ex Federal Government CV growth? Thanks. Hey, Jason. Good morning. It's Craig. You know, we're not giving any stats on April yet. We've barely closed the books on that, you know, can't quite comment on that. I think the answer on the CV trend is we expect the whole CV base to accelerate over the course of 2026 and then continuing onward, which would be a combo of the U.S. Fed recovery and then also the non-U.S. Fed base accelerating as well. Okay. Great. Thanks. Do your preexisting long-term targets still hold, or are those no longer in place? Thanks. That's a great question. There's no change to the medium-term objectives. I would say those objectives really do apply to a normal operating environment. You know, you can still find those medium-term objectives in our Gartner 101 presentation, which is on the investor relations site. I do think, you know, as we think about where we are today, and, you know, both Gene and I articulated this, you know, we expect in the current environment for our CV growth to accelerate. We're committed to driving compound annual growth at or above 12% to our EPS number. We continue to have a great and very large addressable market and a compelling client value proposition. Those two things are unchanged. You know, we've rebased by the EBITDA margin now based on our updated guidance of 24.1%, and we would expect our margins, you know, moving forward over the medium term to expand from there. Obviously, with the great free cash flow engine that we have, we expect to generate, you know, significant amount of free cash flow. As CV growth accelerates, we'll get, you know, more towards the higher end of our typical conversion levels of net income to free cash flow or EBITDA to free cash flow. Obviously, we'll have all that free cash flow to put to use on behalf of our shareholders as well. Okay, great. Thank you. Thank you. One moment for our next question. It comes from Surinder Thind with Jefferies. Please proceed. Thank you. When looking ahead and we think about the acceleration in CV growth, any color there where you can maybe disaggregate the drivers? Is the expectation maybe a bit more new business development, or should we expect wallet retention to continue to improve and maybe a bit more upsell at existing clients? Maybe I assume it's also underpinned by just normalized annual price increases that are normally embedded. Hey, Surinder. The reason we're expecting CV to accelerate is we're making a bunch of changes in business which we talked about. Craig talked about how we're driving engagement, and we expect engagement to go up. In fact, engagement has been rising, just as Craig outlined. We expect that to continue because we've got a big focus on it. When we get more engagement, we expect that our retention will increase as well. So our CV retention will increase with our increased engagement. In addition to that, we're making a bunch of changes in BTI. I articulated all the changes we're making, and we expect that's going to lead to more and better insights that, again, leads to even more engagement and also helps support new business growth. As we look forward through the year, we expect that, our new business growth and our retention both improving as we go through the year based on all the changes that we're making. The leading indicators, which both Craig and I talked about, that indicate that these things are causing increased engagement, with our clients, which ultimately should result in more business, more retention, and higher growth. Surinder, you know, you should see that come through, obviously in the CV growth rate, but also in the wallet retention number, which is the, you know, measure of net growth from clients that stay with us. The more that clients stay with us, the more new business opportunities we got with that. You know, the more that they stay with us, the more opportunity we have to expand the relationship and so on and so on. You know, we would expect, you know, the CV acceleration to read through both obviously to the top line CV growth, but also on the wallet retention line as well, as we will be selling, you know, more new business to existing clients over that timeframe as well. Got it. Just on the management of costs, can you maybe provide a bit more color there just relative to your expectations versus just kind of normally being, you know, conservative when you initially guide? Just any update where maybe there's a bit more benefits from even if it's AI or just other things that are going on and the opportunity for, you know, any potential structural change in the outlook for margins at this point, or is it just one small step forward each quarter at this point? That's great. It's a great question, Surinder. Yeah, you know, as we look at the, you know, the OpEx number, I'd say a couple things. One is we're obviously, you know, very focused on making sure that we're delivering on, you know, our commitments from both an, you know, EBITDA profitability perspective and a free cash flow perspective, and we are tuning our OpEx model as we go. The second thing I'd say is we're very focused on making sure that we keep our run rates aligned with our CV growth expectations, which are essentially what drive, you know, future revenue growth. Again, we want to make sure that we not only deliver, you know, strong earnings and free cash flow in current year, but that we're setting ourselves up to continue to do that into the future. Third thing I'd say is we are always focused on, you know, continuous innovation and continuous improvement and driving operational efficiencies through the business. We can leverage AI for some of that. We can leverage other technologies for other things. We can, you know, improve processes as well, and we will, you know, continue to do that. The fourth thing I'd say is, you know, we're doing all that while also making sure we're making investments that we believe will drive future, you know, medium and long-term growth for us. Under the covers, we'll be investing in places, and we may be harvesting, you know, benefits and efficiencies in other places so that we can reinvest in the places that we know drive value. We know we need analysts in our business technology insights. We're not going to stop investing there. We know adding QBH drives long-term growth. We're gonna be adding there. It may mean that we are, you know, driving significant operational efficiencies in other areas, and we'll continue to do that so that we free up the appropriate resources to invest in the things that we believe will drive long-term growth. Thank you. Thank you. Our next question comes from Josh Chan with UBS. Please proceed. Hi, good morning, Gene and Craig. Thanks for taking my questions. I guess as we think about sort of the selling environment on a year-over-year basis, it's obvious that in Q1 was worse than last year. As we go into Q2, you know, you lap Liberation Day in the prior year, et cetera, how do you think about the year-over-year selling environment comparison as we kind of go through the rest of the year? What I'd say, Josh, is it kind of depends on how the world evolves. As I sit here today, as I mentioned, a lot of the deals that clients in March said, "Let's wait and revisit this in a couple of weeks," actually closed in April. One of the things that went on that was interesting is that a lot of these companies, think airline, shipping companies, other energy-intensive industries and geographies, that basically normally a functional leader like a CIO would have the authority of a decision. When times are tough, what'll happen is they'll say, "We're gonna escalate that to the CFO, maybe even the CEO, depending on how the decision for the company." We saw more of those kind of escalations. They got escalated. They said, "Yeah, the value is there," then they closed. It just took longer to close. I think that, you know, what happens in the rest of the year is gonna depend on kind of what the environment looks like. You know, the one thing I'd add, Josh, though, is, we pride ourselves on adapting. So, yes, the environment is crazy and continues to remain a little bit chaotic, but we're making sure that our sales and our service people are armed with the right tools, talk tracks, backup, et cetera, to be successful in any sort of environment. We'll see how the world evolves, but we're gonna make sure that sales and service from our perspective are armed to deliver value, highlight the value for prospects, continue to deliver the value for clients, et cetera, moving forward. Yeah, as to build on Craig's points, one of the things that I've talked about both the last call and this call is we made more change in the last year than we've ever made at Gartner in terms of increasing value to clients. Those, you know, the assumption is the environment's gonna be tough going forward, and we wanna make sure we're resilient in that environment. I think what we're seeing here is that selling cycles are longer, but they're still buying. That's kind of what we saw happen in March. Again, January and February actually we had great, very robust new business growth, as Craig and I talked about. Decisions took longer starting March. I think there are good signs overall for what the selling environment, but it's probably gonna take longer to sales cycles if the environment continues to have the uncertainty it does today. Sure. Sure. That makes a lot of sense, and I appreciate the color there. Then maybe on your EPS CAGR outlook, can you talk about the drivers behind that 12%? I mean, obviously revenue growth, at least currently, is not probably at that level, so you're gonna need some margins or buybacks. Can you just talk about what contributes to that level of EPS growth? Thank you. Josh, happy to. Again, over a three-year period where our expectation is CV growth will reaccelerate, which will drive future revenue growth. As we noted earlier and have noted for a while, we're committed to delivering strong margins and margin expansion over time as well. Obviously on top of that, we have significant capital to put to use on behalf of our shareholders. Over the last 12 months, I think we've bought back, like $2.4 billion-$2.5 billion worth of stock, reducing the share count significantly. Obviously our intention will be to continue to do that, and that's obviously one of the bigger drivers to that EPS CAGR as well. Great. Thank you for the color, and thanks for your time. Thank you. Our next question comes from Toni Kaplan with Morgan Stanley. Please proceed. Thanks so much. Gene, just a strategic question. A number of the other info services firms have been starting to use large LLM providers as, like, a additional distribution channel. And I know your business is different, being more weighted towards advisory, but you still have proprietary data that people want. I was wondering if, is there a sort of broader data distribution that you would consider, or do you think that that dilutes your value proposition too much? Because, you know, obviously a lot of the value is in talking to the research analysts and the network and everything like that. Yeah, Toni, I think you hit the nail on the head, which is, what clients rely on us for is for us to proactively go to them and say, "Given your mission-critical priorities, here's the things you should be worried about." Things you may not have thought of, things that you might be surprised by. It's what they rely on us for is to be very proactive as opposed to wait and answer a question so that that's not how clients work with us. That's not our value proposition. In addition to that, there's a big human component. So we have our executive partners, which can function, you know, as advisors to our clients. We have our analysts, which are world-class experts, and while they publish obviously a lot of content and insights, the kind of rule of thumb we have, that's only like 5% of what they know that can be actionable and valuable. You know, when they do an inquiry with our analysts, clients get access to that other 95%. We have a vast content library, again, that's only a portion of what our analysts actually know. We have our conferences that they go to, which clients get to interact live. We have peer interactions. If you think about it, the, you know, that piece of it is just a small piece of our overall value proposition. We want to focus on what clients want from us the most of value, which is this whole, tell us what I'm not seeing. Help me see around corners. Tell me how the world's going to evolve, so that I can be successful in this uncertain environment. That doesn't really fit well with, you know, feeding into an LLM that is really answering questions, which is, you know, we have that at Gartner. That's, you know, not the majority of what we do, and that's not why clients buy us. Yeah, that makes sense. Wanted to shift to consulting. I know both the Labor-based and Contract Optimization was down a bit year-over-year, and Contract Optimization can be volatile and the comp was tough. On the labor-based, do you just attribute the slowdown there to just normal macro slowdown? You mentioned a lot that March was slower. Or do you think that there's something structurally worse going on right now given AI? Thanks. Yeah, Toni, I don't think there's something structurally worse. You know, again, this is different behavior than we saw in Q4. It's not something that's been kind of a long-term thing. I think basically it's what you said, which is the macro environment changed a lot and that affects both. It affects them differently, both the labor part of the business as well as CFC. It affects CFC because if a client was going to buy something and they postpone that decision, we get paid when they buy something. With CFC, you had both a very tough comp, as Craig went through. In addition, if clients, and we saw this, say, "Hey, I was going to do that big software deal. I've decided to push the decision off for a month," that puts us getting paid off as well. Thank you. Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of George Tong with Goldman Sachs. Please proceed. Hi. Thanks. Good morning. I wanted to take a step back on CV performance. Can you provide more details on the reasons why CV growth is coming below historical levels in the high single-digit, low double-digit range? Specifically, can you outline how much of the slower growth is due to tariff-affected industries, government spending, the macro environment, and other potential unnamed factors? Hey, good morning, George. You know, I think, one, the first obvious, you know, headwind is the U.S. Federal business, which we talked about, you know, in detail and, you know, is a, you know, 250 basis point headwind in the quarter alone. You know, that business, we believe is re-baselined. Our current assumptions are for it to be flat in 2026, and, you know, grow from there going forward. That, you know, is a temporary headwind. Obviously, we've been dealing with it for, you know, since really March of last year. That certainly, you know, remains the most dominant headwind that we have going forward. Or that we have had that have impacted the results and should right itself going forward. You know, in terms of the other areas, you know, I think it's a combination of the macro has been really challenging over the last several quarters. You know, whether it's those impacts that started in March of last year, you know, Josh referred to Liberation Day, which I remember was April 2nd of last year, to lots of other geopolitical challenges over the course of the year to, you know, where we sit today. I think, you know, the short answer is, we fully expect our CV growth rate to accelerate over the course of 2026. As I mentioned earlier, we expect it to increase across the board. Yes, we expect the U.S. Fed growth rate to improve as we lap some of the more challenging areas, but we also expect the non-U.S. Fed business to accelerate. That includes tariff affected and non-tariff affected. That includes software companies and IT services companies, et cetera. I think, you know, from where we sit today, we expect CV growth to re-accelerate over the course of 2026. And again, you know, we believe the combination of that CV growth re-acceleration, our operating expense management, our ability to invest in the right areas that drive and support, you know, future growth will allow us to drive significant free cash flow, you know, and earnings per share, you know, growing at a 12% compound annual growth rate. Got it. That's helpful. Following up on the CV growth expectations, you noted acceleration over the course of the year. What are your CV growth expectations exiting the year, and do you expect the improvement to be relatively linear from 1Q? We don't guide to CV growth, George, and we're gonna, you know, continue to not do that. You know, what I can tell you is we expect to accelerate over the course of this year. You know, I did note in my prepared remarks that, you know, Q1 happens to be a heavy renewal quarter and our smallest New Business quarter. As we roll into Q2 and Q3, we see increasing levels of New Business dollars, and we just have less CV that is up for renewal in those quarters. That certainly helps. You know, CV, though, is a rolling four-quarter number. You know, we expect to continue to see improvements, you know, across the year. You know, we don't believe that we're done at the end of this year. You know, right now we're focused on making sure we're driving engagement, making sure we're delivering on all the transformations Gene outlined, all those things should lead to CV growth accelerating over the course of this year. That should benefit us as we roll forward into 2027 and beyond. Very helpful. Thank you. Thank you. Our next question is from Jeff Silber with BMO Capital Markets. Please proceed. Thank you so much. You've mentioned a couple times your goal to have compounded adjusted EPS growth, I think of over at or above 12% over the next three years. What kind of headcount growth do you need to get there, both from a sales force perspective and an analyst perspective? Yeah, Jeff, I mean, I think it's all baked into our ability to drive the margin, to get the desired results that give us that 12% CAGR. You know, our operating model with QBH or sales headcount is unchanged. Grow it roughly, you know, 300 basis points slower than what we're growing our expectation around CV growth. That, you know, framework still, you know, we're still operating with that framework going forward. On the analyst side, it's really demand-driven. Because we've got such a good finger on the pulse of what our clients are most interested in, we're actually able to predict where that demand is and make sure that we've got, you know, the appropriate analyst levels and analyst count to handle that. It's not a specific number. We'll do all that while also driving efficiency and improvement across the rest of the business. The combination of those three things is what gives us the, you know, the operating result levers to get to that 12% EPS CAGR over time. Okay, that's great. Just to clarify something, the base year that you're talking about, is that 2025 or 2026? That base year is 2025. It's a great question. Thanks for clarifying that, Jeff. No worries. That is what I thought. Thanks so much. Thank you so much. Our next question is from Jasper Bibb with Truist Securities. Please proceed. Hey, good morning, guys. Again, I know you don't guide for CV, but I think you've mentioned on a couple earlier questions that CV should reaccelerate both total and ex Fed through the year and, you know, helpful context too around the seasonal payments of renewals and new business. I just wanted to clarify, like, do you think we see a reacceleration in the ex Fed CV growth number next quarter, or maybe are we still a little bit further away from the reacceleration in ex Fed CV? Hey, Jasper. All I'll tell you, without getting into too many details is we expect the CV growth rate to, you know, accelerate over the course of the year. You know, we're not gonna get into the details of, you know, expectations by segment of business per quarter. We'll tell you all about that when we report our Q2 results. The headline should be that we expect CV growth to accelerate. Got it. Then maybe following up on the early pricing question. I think there was some speculation inter-quarter if sales teams had made offers to sign on below the normal $50,000 ASP for new values. I guess, can you just clear up kind of in response to that, like if there's anything that's changed on your approach to pricing or offering discounts? Yeah. We do not offer discounts. Our pricing strategy and focus and mechanics are unchanged. You know, we put through our normal annual price increase on November 1 of last year. That has been in place, you know, since then. And we are, you know, despite what you may be hearing, I can assure you, there's no change in our discounting posture or philosophy. Okay, great. Thanks, guys. Thank you so much. Our next question comes from Scott Wurtzel with Wolfe Research. Hey, good morning, guys. Thank you for taking my question. Just one for me. Just wondering if you can talk a little bit about just the puts and takes on client versus wallet retention in the quarter with, you know, client retention ticking down a little bit, but wallet retention ticking up. Just wondering if there was any incremental, I guess, price realization or upsells that drove that, you know, expanding wallet retention while client retention ticked down. Thanks. Yeah. Hey, Scott. Good morning. Great question. You know, I think it's largely a function of, you know, those are both rolling four-quarter numbers. In the first quarter, you know, as I noted earlier, it's our smallest, you know, new business dollar quarter, which implies it's our smallest, you know, new business enterprise quarter as well. You know, we added, you know, new enterprises there. You know, as always, there is a lot of churn within our small tech clients that's it's improved over the last couple years, but that's still the most significant, you know, impact on that client retention number. Because those are, typically lower-spending clients, does not have as big of an impact on the wallet retention number. With wallet also, you know, we are lapping some of the challenges from last year, but also we are holding on to more dollars than we have histor- than we did last year as well. I think that's manifesting itself in that modest improvement in the wallet retention number as well. Great. Thanks, guys. Thank you so much. Our next question is from Ashish Sabadra with RBC Capital Markets. Thanks for taking my question. I just wanted to focus on the tech vendor conversation. I was wondering if you could provide any color on that front, how is that trending? Also, if you could talk about some of the challenges that software companies are facing. Has that influenced any of that conversation? Thanks. On the, on the tech vendor side, I think what we're seeing is consistent with what we saw the last couple quarters, where our business with software companies and services companies is growing at high single-digit growth rates, and other elements of our tech vendor, you know, client universe are not performing as well. Most notably, I'd say hardware providers and telecom carriers, which we classify as part of that tech community. The bulk of our CV sits with software and services, and the software and services business continues to grow at high single-digit growth rates. That's very helpful color. Then on the quota-bearing headcount, just wanted to follow up on the prior comment around hiring more incremental new business developers than account managers. How should we think about the overall QBH growth going forward, but also how do we think about that mix shift going forward and influence on productivity? Thanks. It's a great question. You know, again, it's not binary one or the other. We're obviously, as we are successful with our BDs and they sell, you know, more new business, we do need to hire account managers to catch that business, retain it, and grow it going forward. What we've been doing is driving productivity and efficiency out of our account management teams by adding incremental clients to their territories. Again, we've studied this really intently to make sure that we're not going too far on any of those, and we feel really good about the productivity gains we've driven there. What that does is free up incremental dollars for us to invest in business developers. You know, when you think about the size of the addressable market opportunity, the fact that there are, you know, roughly 140,000 enterprises that we think could be clients of Gartner, and we're currently doing business with 14,000 of them, the way we capture that market, that incremental market, is really through business developer investment. It's a slow shift in mix, though, because, you know, yes, the bias is towards hiring incremental BDs, but it's not like a student body left or a student body right. That mix will move, you know, moderately over time. We think it's the right combination of being able to manage, retain, and grow the existing client base while having the right size engine to be the new logo addition and incremental to growth going forward as well. We think we've got the right mix there going forward, and we'll continue to update, you know, our investors and the investment community on that incremental investment and the mix of that investment going forward. Yeah. The vast majority of our sales force today is account executives. They do a lot of new business growth as well, and we expect that to continue. Even with our account executives, industry BDs too, under the covers, we change territories all the time. If there's less demand in the U.S. federal, you know, the U.S. federal government, then what we'll do is reduce territories there and move those over to places where there's higher demand. There's more change going on under the covers to actually improve productivity as well. That's very helpful color. Thank you. Thanks. Thank you. Our last question comes from Wahid Amin with Bank of America. Please proceed. Hi. Good morning. Thank you. Just one for me. On an early remark, you talked about sometimes clients saying budgets are tight and maybe the selling environment is much longer than expected. How would you classify the customers that want to keep a Gartner subscription but may, you know, consider downselling or using a different user experience? Are you seeing a huge influx of that? It's a great question. In all times, we have some clients that are upgrading and some clients that are downgrading clients. While there's more concern today because of some geopolitical things, any time, you know, there's always some clients that are doing well and some that aren't. To your point, we often see clients that are doing really well saying they want to upgrade and get more value, or they try it at a lower price point and say, "I want to get more value." Similarly, we often see clients say, "Hey, my CFO says I have to cut half expenses. I want to keep Gartner, let's go with the lower service level that lets me still keep Gartner." Those things actually tend to balance out. We see about as many upgrades as downgrades, which is why we don't talk about it that much because it actually, the two balance out, almost exactly. Thank you. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, this will conclude the Q&A session. I will pass it back to Gene Hall for closing comments. Well, here's what I'd like you to take away from today's discussion. Gartner has an unparalleled and enduring value proposition. We're the best, most trusted source for executives who want to succeed with their mission-critical priorities. We're transforming our business and technology insights, organization, and processes to deliver even more client value. Clients who engage frequently with our insights receive greater value and retain at higher rates. Gartner is the best source for clients looking to achieve success on their AI journeys. We are incredibly optimistic about our future. Looking ahead to the rest of the year, we expect contract value will accelerate. We will continue to draw strong free cash flow that we can put to use to drive incremental shareholder value. We expect to deliver adjusted EPS on a compound annual basis above 12% over the next three years. Thanks for joining us today, and I look forward to updating you again next quarter. This concludes our conference. Thank you for participating, and you may now disconnect.

Speaker 4: Good morning, everyone. Welcome to Gartner's 1st quarter 2026 earnings call. I'm David Cohen, SVP of Investor Relations. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. 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. We ask that you limit yourself to one question and a brief follow-up in order to give all our analysts a chance to participate in the call. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. This call will include a discussion of first 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. Good morning, everyone. good morning everyone Welcome to Gartner's 1st quarter 2026 earnings call. welcome to gartner's 1st quarter 2026 earnings call I'm David Cohen, SVP of Investor Relations. i'm david cohen svp of investor relations At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. at this time all participants are in a listen-only mode 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. 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 We ask that you limit yourself to one question and a brief follow-up in order to give all our analysts a chance to participate in the call. we ask that you limit yourself to one question and a brief follow-up in order to give all our analysts a chance to participate in the call Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. please be advised that today's conference is being recorded This call will include a discussion of first 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. this call will include a discussion of first 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 based on 2026 foreign exchange rates. All growth rates in Gene's comments are FX neutral unless stated otherwise. 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. 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. 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 based on 2026 foreign exchange rates. all contract values and associated growth rates we discuss are based on 2026 foreign exchange rates All growth rates in Gene's comments are FX neutral unless stated otherwise. all growth rates in gene's comments are fx neutral unless stated otherwise All references to share counts are for fully diluted weighted average share counts unless stated otherwise. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. now i will turn the call over to gartner's chairman and chief executive officer gene hall

Speaker 6: Good morning. Thanks for joining us today. First quarter Insights revenue, EBITDA, adjusted EPS, and free cash flow were ahead of expectations. New business with enterprise leaders was strong in the first two months of the quarter. Due to changes in the geopolitical environment, client decisions slowed somewhat in March. Year-over-year contract value growth accelerated in the first quarter. We were agile in managing expenses, and we continued to deliver unparalleled value to our clients. Gartner's strategy is to guide executives on their journeys to achieve their mission-critical priorities. Our clients are the senior-most executives and their teams who lead every major enterprise function. For example, chief information officers and senior IT leaders, chief supply chain officers and heads of logistics, chief financial officers and corporate controllers, and more. These roles are enduring regardless of change in the world. Good morning. good morning Thanks for joining us today. thanks for joining us today First quarter Insights revenue, EBITDA, adjusted EPS, and free cash flow were ahead of expectations. first quarter insights revenue ebitda adjusted eps and free cash flow were ahead of expectations New business with enterprise leaders was strong in the first two months of the quarter. new business with enterprise leaders was strong in the first two months of the quarter Due to changes in the geopolitical environment, client decisions slowed somewhat in March. due to changes in the geopolitical environment client decisions slowed somewhat in march Year-over-year contract value growth accelerated in the first quarter. year-over-year contract value growth accelerated in the first quarter We were agile in managing expenses, and we continued to deliver unparalleled value to our clients. we were agile in managing expenses and we continued to deliver unparalleled value to our clients Gartner's strategy is to guide executives on their journeys to achieve their mission-critical priorities. gartner's strategy is to guide executives on their journeys to achieve their mission-critical priorities Our clients are the senior-most executives and their teams who lead every major enterprise function. our clients are the senior-most executives and their teams who lead every major enterprise function For example, chief information officers and senior IT leaders, chief supply chain officers and heads of logistics, chief financial officers and corporate controllers, and more. for example chief information officers and senior it leaders chief supply chain officers and heads of logistics chief financial officers and corporate controllers and more These roles are enduring regardless of change in the world. these roles are enduring regardless of change in the world The executives who lead these roles will always have priorities that are mission-critical to the success of their enterprise, their functions, and their personal careers. Priorities that are mission-critical tend to be long, complex journeys. They take time and effort to achieve. Executives want and need help. In today's environment, most executives face information overload. It can be challenging to differentiate authoritative sources from others. Trust is at a premium. Gartner is the best, most trusted source for the help executives need to achieve success. We proactively deliver insights that guide smarter decisions and stronger outcomes on mission-critical priorities. Gartner Insights are derived from a vast pool of highly proprietary data. Every year, we hold more than 500,000 two-way conversations with more than 80,000 executives across every major function and in every industry. We conduct more than 27,000 briefings with executives from technology providers. The executives who lead these roles will always have priorities that are mission-critical to the success of their enterprise, their functions, and their personal careers. the executives who lead these roles will always have priorities that are mission-critical to the success of their enterprise their functions and their personal careers Priorities that are mission-critical tend to be long, complex journeys. priorities that are mission-critical tend to be long complex journeys They take time and effort to achieve. they take time and effort to achieve Executives want and need help. executives want and need help In today's environment, most executives face information overload. in today's environment most executives face information overload It can be challenging to differentiate authoritative sources from others. it can be challenging to differentiate authoritative sources from others Trust is at a premium. trust is at a premium Gartner is the best, most trusted source for the help executives need to achieve success. gartner is the best most trusted source for the help executives need to achieve success We proactively deliver insights that guide smarter decisions and stronger outcomes on mission-critical priorities. we proactively deliver insights that guide smarter decisions and stronger outcomes on mission-critical priorities Gartner Insights are derived from a vast pool of highly proprietary data. gartner insights are derived from a vast pool of highly proprietary data Every year, we hold more than 500,000 two-way conversations with more than 80,000 executives across every major function and in every industry. every year we hold more than 500,000 two-way conversations with more than 80,000 executives across every major function and in every industry We conduct more than 27,000 briefings with executives from technology providers. we conduct more than 27,000 briefings with executives from technology providers We also leverage data from proprietary surveys, tools, models, benchmarks, and more. This gives us a deep understanding of what executives care about most, what's working, and what isn't. Our insights are independent and objective. They reflect the latest information and situations our clients are experiencing. They're continually updated, and they're available exclusively from Gartner. A large part of our value comes from helping clients see around corners. We help leaders understand issues and approaches they're often not aware of. We help them identify blind spots, prioritize issues, and avoid costly mistakes. Our insights are forward-looking. We guide clients on how the world is likely to change and what they should do to thrive in uncertain environments. We deliver unparalleled client value through both digital and human interactions. Clients can access our written insights, Magic Quadrants, Hype Cycles, Critical Capabilities, Ignition Guides, toolkits for procurement and governance, and many more. We also leverage data from proprietary surveys, tools, models, benchmarks, and more. we also leverage data from proprietary surveys tools models benchmarks and more This gives us a deep understanding of what executives care about most, what's working, and what isn't. this gives us a deep understanding of what executives care about most what's working and what isn't Our insights are independent and objective. our insights are independent and objective They reflect the latest information and situations our clients are experiencing. they reflect the latest information and situations our clients are experiencing They're continually updated, and they're available exclusively from Gartner. they're continually updated and they're available exclusively from gartner A large part of our value comes from helping clients see around corners. a large part of our value comes from helping clients see around corners We help leaders understand issues and approaches they're often not aware of. we help leaders understand issues and approaches they're often not aware of We help them identify blind spots, prioritize issues, and avoid costly mistakes. we help them identify blind spots prioritize issues and avoid costly mistakes Our insights are forward-looking. our insights are forward-looking We guide clients on how the world is likely to change and what they should do to thrive in uncertain environments. we guide clients on how the world is likely to change and what they should do to thrive in uncertain environments We deliver unparalleled client value through both digital and human interactions. we deliver unparalleled client value through both digital and human interactions Clients can access our written insights, Magic Quadrants, Hype Cycles, Critical Capabilities, Ignition Guides, toolkits for procurement and governance, and many more. clients can access our written insights magic quadrants hype cycles critical capabilities ignition guides toolkits for procurement and governance and many more In addition, through inquiry, clients can tap into the deep expertise of our world-class analysts that goes beyond what's in our written insights. They can get personalized support from experienced practitioners. Through our conferences, clients can interact in person with analysts, peers, and technology providers. They can validate decisions through the Gartner Peer Community, which has more than 100,000 executives from nearly every enterprise function. Of course, they can use AskGartner to go even deeper into specific topics. No one else does what we do at our scope and scale. Retention is foundational to our success. Clients who engage frequently with our insights receive greater value and retain at higher rates. To support more frequent client engagement, we've been transforming our business and technology insights, organization, and processes. I covered the dimensions of this transformation on last quarter's earnings call. In addition, through inquiry, clients can tap into the deep expertise of our world-class analysts that goes beyond what's in our written insights. in addition through inquiry clients can tap into the deep expertise of our world-class analysts that goes beyond what's in our written insights They can get personalized support from experienced practitioners. they can get personalized support from experienced practitioners Through our conferences, clients can interact in person with analysts, peers, and technology providers. through our conferences clients can interact in person with analysts peers and technology providers They can validate decisions through the Gartner Peer Community, which has more than 100,000 executives from nearly every enterprise function. they can validate decisions through the gartner peer community which has more than 100,000 executives from nearly every enterprise function Of course, they can use AskGartner to go even deeper into specific topics. of course they can use askgartner to go even deeper into specific topics No one else does what we do at our scope and scale. no one else does what we do at our scope and scale Retention is foundational to our success. retention is foundational to our success Clients who engage frequently with our insights receive greater value and retain at higher rates. clients who engage frequently with our insights receive greater value and retain at higher rates To support more frequent client engagement, we've been transforming our business and technology insights, organization, and processes. to support more frequent client engagement we've been transforming our business and technology insights organization and processes I covered the dimensions of this transformation on last quarter's earnings call. i covered the dimensions of this transformation on last quarter's earnings call They are Impact, Volume, Timeliness, and User Experience. Today, I'll give you an update on how we're doing. We measure progress in a number of ways. I'll highlight just a few examples for simplicity's sake. Starting with Impact. Our objective is to ensure insights are always on the topics our clients care about most right now. We've increased the number of high-impact documents by 22%. The second dimension is Volume. The number of documents in our insights library is up 19%. The third dimension is Timeliness. With the accelerating rate of change in the world, we've introduced insights that are published the same day important events occur. The number of these documents has more than doubled. A recent example includes recommendations for heads of software engineering in response to the dramatic change in the security landscape posed by Anthropic's Mythos. They are Impact, Volume, Timeliness, and User Experience. Today, I'll give you an update on how we're doing. they are impact volume timeliness and user experience. today i'll give you an update on how we're doing We measure progress in a number of ways. we measure progress in a number of ways I'll highlight just a few examples for simplicity's sake. i'll highlight just a few examples for simplicity's sake Starting with Impact. starting with impact Our objective is to ensure insights are always on the topics our clients care about most right now. our objective is to ensure insights are always on the topics our clients care about most right now We've increased the number of high-impact documents by 22%. we've increased the number of high-impact documents by 22% The second dimension is Volume. the second dimension is volume The number of documents in our insights library is up 19%. the number of documents in our insights library is up 19% The third dimension is Timeliness. the third dimension is timeliness With the accelerating rate of change in the world, we've introduced insights that are published the same day important events occur. with the accelerating rate of change in the world we've introduced insights that are published the same day important events occur The number of these documents has more than doubled. the number of these documents has more than doubled A recent example includes recommendations for heads of software engineering in response to the dramatic change in the security landscape posed by Anthropic's Mythos. a recent example includes recommendations for heads of software engineering in response to the dramatic change in the security landscape posed by anthropic's mythos Of course, we continue to make improvements on the user experience. For example, we've added the ability to create downloadable PowerPoint presentations directly from within AskGartner. Clients can ask questions in 25 languages, and we continue to integrate additional proprietary data sources. The programs we have underway are driving increased client engagement, which should result in higher retention and additional new business. AI continues to be one of the most requested topics across all the roles we serve. Gartner sits at the nexus of CIOs and IT organizations, business leaders and AI technology providers. This gives us a full proprietary perspective that includes all the major players. We also have comprehensive, independent and objective guidance on all aspects of AI, strategy, ROI, ethics and governance, workforce readiness and more. Of course, we continue to make improvements on the user experience. of course we continue to make improvements on the user experience For example, we've added the ability to create downloadable PowerPoint presentations directly from within AskGartner. for example we've added the ability to create downloadable powerpoint presentations directly from within askgartner Clients can ask questions in 25 languages, and we continue to integrate additional proprietary data sources. clients can ask questions in 25 languages and we continue to integrate additional proprietary data sources The programs we have underway are driving increased client engagement, which should result in higher retention and additional new business. the programs we have underway are driving increased client engagement which should result in higher retention and additional new business AI continues to be one of the most requested topics across all the roles we serve. ai continues to be one of the most requested topics across all the roles we serve Gartner sits at the nexus of CIOs and IT organizations, business leaders and AI technology providers. gartner sits at the nexus of cios and it organizations business leaders and ai technology providers This gives us a full proprietary perspective that includes all the major players. this gives us a full proprietary perspective that includes all the major players We also have comprehensive, independent and objective guidance on all aspects of AI, strategy, ROI, ethics and governance, workforce readiness and more. we also have comprehensive independent and objective guidance on all aspects of ai strategy roi ethics and governance workforce readiness and more We cover the full range of issues leaders need to address to be successful with AI, and we are world-class users of AI internally. No one is more capable or better positioned to guide leaders along their AI journeys than Gartner. Our people drive our success. I just returned from one of our sales recognition events where I had the opportunity to spend time with hundreds of our most successful salespeople. They continue to demonstrate unwavering dedication to their clients and are incredibly excited at the future of our business. In closing, Gartner has an unparalleled and enduring value proposition. We're transforming our business and technology insights, organization, and processes to deliver even more client value. Clients who engage frequently with our insights receive greater value and retain at higher rates. We cover the full range of issues leaders need to address to be successful with AI, and we are world-class users of AI internally. we cover the full range of issues leaders need to address to be successful with ai and we are world-class users of ai internally No one is more capable or better positioned to guide leaders along their AI journeys than Gartner. no one is more capable or better positioned to guide leaders along their ai journeys than gartner Our people drive our success. our people drive our success I just returned from one of our sales recognition events where I had the opportunity to spend time with hundreds of our most successful salespeople. i just returned from one of our sales recognition events where i had the opportunity to spend time with hundreds of our most successful salespeople They continue to demonstrate unwavering dedication to their clients and are incredibly excited at the future of our business. they continue to demonstrate unwavering dedication to their clients and are incredibly excited at the future of our business In closing, Gartner has an unparalleled and enduring value proposition. in closing gartner has an unparalleled and enduring value proposition We're transforming our business and technology insights, organization, and processes to deliver even more client value. we're transforming our business and technology insights organization and processes to deliver even more client value Clients who engage frequently with our insights receive greater value and retain at higher rates. clients who engage frequently with our insights receive greater value and retain at higher rates Gartner is the best source for clients looking to achieve success on their AI journeys, and our teams are incredibly optimistic about our future. Looking ahead to the rest of the year, we expect contract value will accelerate. We will continue to drive strong free cash flow that we can put to use to drive incremental shareholder value, and we expect to deliver adjusted EPS on a compound annual basis above 12% over the next three years. With that, I'll hand the call over to our Chief Financial Officer, Craig Safian. Gartner is the best source for clients looking to achieve success on their AI journeys, and our teams are incredibly optimistic about our future. gartner is the best source for clients looking to achieve success on their ai journeys and our teams are incredibly optimistic about our future Looking ahead to the rest of the year, we expect contract value will accelerate. looking ahead to the rest of the year we expect contract value will accelerate We will continue to drive strong free cash flow that we can put to use to drive incremental shareholder value, and we expect to deliver adjusted EPS on a compound annual basis above 12% over the next three years. we will continue to drive strong free cash flow that we can put to use to drive incremental shareholder value and we expect to deliver adjusted eps on a compound annual basis above 12% over the next three years With that, I'll hand the call over to our Chief Financial Officer, Craig Safian. with that i'll hand the call over to our chief financial officer craig safian

Speaker 3: Thank you, Gene, and good morning. First quarter contract value, or CV, grew 1% year-over-year. This was an acceleration from the fourth quarter. Insights revenue, EBITDA, adjusted EPS and free cash flow in the first quarter were better than expected. We are increasing our EBITDA, adjusted EPS and free cash flow guidance for the full year. In the first quarter, we reduced our share count by about 4%, buying back $535 million of stock, and we expect to generate significant free cash flow and have fewer shares outstanding over the course of the next several years. First quarter revenue was $1.5 billion, up 2% year-over-year as reported, and down 1% FX neutral. Total contribution margin was 72%. Thank you, Gene, and good morning. thank you gene and good morning First quarter contract value, or CV, grew 1% year-over-year. first quarter contract value or cv grew 1% year-over-year This was an acceleration from the fourth quarter. this was an acceleration from the fourth quarter Insights revenue, EBITDA, adjusted EPS and free cash flow in the first quarter were better than expected. insights revenue ebitda adjusted eps and free cash flow in the first quarter were better than expected We are increasing our EBITDA, adjusted EPS and free cash flow guidance for the full year. we are increasing our ebitda adjusted eps and free cash flow guidance for the full year In the first quarter, we reduced our share count by about 4%, buying back $535 million of stock, and we expect to generate significant free cash flow and have fewer shares outstanding over the course of the next several years. in the first quarter we reduced our share count by about 4% buying back $535 million of stock and we expect to generate significant free cash flow and have fewer shares outstanding over the course of the next several years First quarter revenue was $1.5 billion, up 2% year-over-year as reported, and down 1% FX neutral. first quarter revenue was $1.5 billion up 2% year-over-year as reported and down 1% fx neutral Total contribution margin was 72%. total contribution margin was 72% EBITDA was $395 million, up 6% as reported and 1% FX neutral. Adjusted EPS was $3.32, up 11% from Q1 of last year, and free cash flow was $371 million, up 29% year-over-year. Rolling four-quarter return on invested capital was about 27%. Insights revenue in the quarter grew 3% year-over-year as reported and was about flat FX neutral. First quarter insights contribution margin was 78%, up about 120 basis points versus last year. Contract value was $5.3 billion at the end of the first quarter, up 1% versus the prior year and an acceleration from year-end. Excluding the U.S. federal government, CV growth was 3.5%. EBITDA was $395 million, up 6% as reported and 1% FX neutral. ebitda was $395 million up 6% as reported and 1% fx neutral Adjusted EPS was $3.32, up 11% from Q1 of last year, and free cash flow was $371 million, up 29% year-over-year. adjusted eps was $3.32 up 11% from q1 of last year and free cash flow was $371 million up 29% year-over-year Rolling four-quarter return on invested capital was about 27%. rolling four-quarter return on invested capital was about 27% Insights revenue in the quarter grew 3% year-over-year as reported and was about flat FX neutral. insights revenue in the quarter grew 3% year-over-year as reported and was about flat fx neutral First quarter insights contribution margin was 78%, up about 120 basis points versus last year. first quarter insights contribution margin was 78% up about 120 basis points versus last year Contract value was $5.3 billion at the end of the first quarter, up 1% versus the prior year and an acceleration from year-end. contract value was $5.3 billion at the end of the first quarter up 1% versus the prior year and an acceleration from year-end Excluding the U.S. federal government, CV growth was 3.5%. excluding the u.s federal government cv growth was 3.5% At March 31st, we had approximately $114 million of U.S. Federal CV. Q1 is normally a higher than average renewal quarter and our seasonally lowest new business quarter. The second quarter is a smaller renewal quarter and a larger new business quarter than Q1. We had more than $200 million of new business in the first quarter as there continues to be considerable interest in Gartner's proprietary unbiased insights. As you will recall, new business dollars increase each quarter as we move through the year. Driving engagement is critically important to retention. As Gene discussed, through both digital and human interactions, we understand our clients' mission-critical priorities, and we are proactive in helping them to address those priorities. This ongoing engagement helps drive client success and strong retention. We've increased licensed user engagement levels over time. At March 31st, we had approximately $114 million of U.S. at march 31st we had approximately $114 million of u.s Federal CV. federal cv Q1 is normally a higher than average renewal quarter and our seasonally lowest new business quarter. q1 is normally a higher than average renewal quarter and our seasonally lowest new business quarter The second quarter is a smaller renewal quarter and a larger new business quarter than Q1. the second quarter is a smaller renewal quarter and a larger new business quarter than q1 We had more than $200 million of new business in the first quarter as there continues to be considerable interest in Gartner's proprietary unbiased insights. we had more than $200 million of new business in the first quarter as there continues to be considerable interest in gartner's proprietary unbiased insights As you will recall, new business dollars increase each quarter as we move through the year. as you will recall new business dollars increase each quarter as we move through the year Driving engagement is critically important to retention. driving engagement is critically important to retention As Gene discussed, through both digital and human interactions, we understand our clients' mission-critical priorities, and we are proactive in helping them to address those priorities. as gene discussed through both digital and human interactions we understand our clients' mission-critical priorities and we are proactive in helping them to address those priorities This ongoing engagement helps drive client success and strong retention. this ongoing engagement helps drive client success and strong retention We've increased licensed user engagement levels over time. we've increased licensed user engagement levels over time In each month of the first quarter, they are higher than they've been in any of the same months over the past three years, with consistent engagement improvements in both digital and human interactions. Derived from analyzing monthly active users, overall engagement in Q1 was up over 170 basis points compared to the prior year quarter. Digital engagement improved by more than 160 basis points year-over-year. Human interactions increased more than 80 basis points year-over-year through improvements in the usage of analyst inquiries. Global technology sales contract value is $4 billion at the end of the first quarter, up versus the prior year. GTS CV for both enterprise leaders and tech vendors increased by more than 3% year-over-year ex Fed. Wallet retention for GTS was 97% for the quarter. Ex Fed wallet retention was 99%. In each month of the first quarter, they are higher than they've been in any of the same months over the past three years, with consistent engagement improvements in both digital and human interactions. in each month of the first quarter they are higher than they've been in any of the same months over the past three years with consistent engagement improvements in both digital and human interactions Derived from analyzing monthly active users, overall engagement in Q1 was up over 170 basis points compared to the prior year quarter. derived from analyzing monthly active users overall engagement in q1 was up over 170 basis points compared to the prior year quarter Digital engagement improved by more than 160 basis points year-over-year. digital engagement improved by more than 160 basis points year-over-year Human interactions increased more than 80 basis points year-over-year through improvements in the usage of analyst inquiries. Global technology sales contract value is $4 billion at the end of the first quarter, up versus the prior year. human interactions increased more than 80 basis points year-over-year through improvements in the usage of analyst inquiries. global technology sales contract value is $4 billion at the end of the first quarter up versus the prior year GTS CV for both enterprise leaders and tech vendors increased by more than 3% year-over-year ex Fed. gts cv for both enterprise leaders and tech vendors increased by more than 3% year-over-year ex fed Wallet retention for GTS was 97% for the quarter. wallet retention for gts was 97% for the quarter Ex Fed wallet retention was 99%. ex fed wallet retention was 99% GTS New Business was down 4% compared to last year and down about 3% ex Fed. As Gene noted, New Business was tracking ahead of the prior year through February and was affected a bit in March due to the geopolitical environment. Global business sales contract value was $1.3 billion at the end of the first quarter, up 3% year-over-year. Ex Fed GBS CV grew 5%. Growth was led by the sales, supply chain, and legal practices. Wallet retention for GBS was 98% for the quarter. GBS New Business was down 2% compared to last year. Again, as Gene noted, New Business was tracking very favorably through February with some client decision-making slowing down in March. Conferences revenue for the first quarter was $78 million. On a same conference basis, revenue growth was around 9% FX neutral. GTS New Business was down 4% compared to last year and down about 3% ex Fed. gts new business was down 4% compared to last year and down about 3% ex fed As Gene noted, New Business was tracking ahead of the prior year through February and was affected a bit in March due to the geopolitical environment. as gene noted new business was tracking ahead of the prior year through february and was affected a bit in march due to the geopolitical environment Global business sales contract value was $1.3 billion at the end of the first quarter, up 3% year-over-year. global business sales contract value was $1.3 billion at the end of the first quarter up 3% year-over-year Ex Fed GBS CV grew 5%. ex fed gbs cv grew 5% Growth was led by the sales, supply chain, and legal practices. growth was led by the sales supply chain and legal practices Wallet retention for GBS was 98% for the quarter. wallet retention for gbs was 98% for the quarter GBS New Business was down 2% compared to last year. gbs new business was down 2% compared to last year Again, as Gene noted, New Business was tracking very favorably through February with some client decision-making slowing down in March. again as gene noted new business was tracking very favorably through february with some client decision-making slowing down in march Conferences revenue for the first quarter was $78 million. conferences revenue for the first quarter was $78 million On a same conference basis, revenue growth was around 9% FX neutral. on a same conference basis revenue growth was around 9% fx neutral Contribution margin was 39%. We held 10 destination conferences in the first quarter as planned. Q1 consulting revenue was $119 million, compared with $140 million in the year-ago period. Consulting contribution margin was 31% in Q1. Labor-based revenue was $90 million. Backlog at March 31st was $201 million. In Contract Optimization, we had $147 million of revenue on an LTM basis, about flat compared with Q1 of 2025. On a two-year CAGR basis, revenue was up about 15%. As you know, our Contract Optimization revenue is highly variable. EBITDA for the first quarter was $395 million, up 6% from last year as reported and 1% FX neutral. Contribution margin was 39%. contribution margin was 39% We held 10 destination conferences in the first quarter as planned. we held 10 destination conferences in the first quarter as planned Q1 consulting revenue was $119 million, compared with $140 million in the year-ago period. q1 consulting revenue was $119 million compared with $140 million in the year-ago period Consulting contribution margin was 31% in Q1. consulting contribution margin was 31% in q1 Labor-based revenue was $90 million. labor-based revenue was $90 million Backlog at March 31st was $201 million. backlog at march 31st was $201 million In Contract Optimization, we had $147 million of revenue on an LTM basis, about flat compared with Q1 of 2025. in contract optimization we had $147 million of revenue on an ltm basis about flat compared with q1 of 2025 On a two-year CAGR basis, revenue was up about 15%. on a two-year cagr basis revenue was up about 15% As you know, our Contract Optimization revenue is highly variable. as you know our contract optimization revenue is highly variable EBITDA for the first quarter was $395 million, up 6% from last year as reported and 1% FX neutral. ebitda for the first quarter was $395 million up 6% from last year as reported and 1% fx neutral We outperformed expectations in the first quarter through effective expense management and a prudent approach to guidance. Adjusted EPS in Q1 was $3.32, up 11% compared to Q1 last year. We had 70 million shares outstanding in the first quarter. This is an improvement of about 8 million shares or approximately 10% year-over-year. We exited the first quarter with 68 million shares on an unweighted basis. Free cash flow remained strong in the first quarter, up 29% year-over-year. Free cash flow on a rolling four-quarter basis was $1.3 billion. Adjusting for several items detailed in the earnings supplement, free cash flow was 20% of reported revenue, 79% of adjusted EBITDA, and 145% of GAAP net income. At the end of the first quarter, we had about $1.7 billion of cash. We outperformed expectations in the first quarter through effective expense management and a prudent approach to guidance. we outperformed expectations in the first quarter through effective expense management and a prudent approach to guidance Adjusted EPS in Q1 was $3.32, up 11% compared to Q1 last year. adjusted eps in q1 was $3.32 up 11% compared to q1 last year We had 70 million shares outstanding in the first quarter. we had 70 million shares outstanding in the first quarter This is an improvement of about 8 million shares or approximately 10% year-over-year. this is an improvement of about 8 million shares or approximately 10% year-over-year We exited the first quarter with 68 million shares on an unweighted basis. we exited the first quarter with 68 million shares on an unweighted basis Free cash flow remained strong in the first quarter, up 29% year-over-year. free cash flow remained strong in the first quarter up 29% year-over-year Free cash flow on a rolling four-quarter basis was $1.3 billion. free cash flow on a rolling four-quarter basis was $1.3 billion Adjusting for several items detailed in the earnings supplement, free cash flow was 20% of reported revenue, 79% of adjusted EBITDA, and 145% of GAAP net income. adjusting for several items detailed in the earnings supplement free cash flow was 20% of reported revenue 79% of adjusted ebitda and 145% of gaap net income At the end of the first quarter, we had about $1.7 billion of cash. at the end of the first quarter we had about $1.7 billion of cash This includes about $500 million for running the business and around $1.2 billion available to deploy on behalf of shareholders. Our March 31st debt balance was about $3 billion. Our reported gross debt to trailing twelve-month EBITDA was under 2x. We repurchased $535 million of stock during the first quarter, reducing our share count by more than 4%. Last week, the board increased the buyback authorization to about $1.2 billion. We expect the board will refresh the amount as needed. We are updating our full-year guidance to reflect recent performance and trends, including FX. For Insights revenue in 2026, our guidance reflects Q1 contract value. The revenue outlook is operationally unchanged as we had modeled in the NCVI performance we saw in the quarter. We increased the outlook for FX. This includes about $500 million for running the business and around $1.2 billion available to deploy on behalf of shareholders. this includes about $500 million for running the business and around $1.2 billion available to deploy on behalf of shareholders Our March 31st debt balance was about $3 billion. our march 31st debt balance was about $3 billion Our reported gross debt to trailing twelve-month EBITDA was under 2x. our reported gross debt to trailing twelve-month ebitda was under 2x We repurchased $535 million of stock during the first quarter, reducing our share count by more than 4%. we repurchased $535 million of stock during the first quarter reducing our share count by more than 4% Last week, the board increased the buyback authorization to about $1.2 billion. last week the board increased the buyback authorization to about $1.2 billion We expect the board will refresh the amount as needed. we expect the board will refresh the amount as needed We are updating our full-year guidance to reflect recent performance and trends, including FX. we are updating our full-year guidance to reflect recent performance and trends including fx For Insights revenue in 2026, our guidance reflects Q1 contract value. for insights revenue in 2026 our guidance reflects q1 contract value The revenue outlook is operationally unchanged as we had modeled in the NCVI performance we saw in the quarter. the revenue outlook is operationally unchanged as we had modeled in the ncvi performance we saw in the quarter We increased the outlook for FX. we increased the outlook for fx For conferences, we are basing our guidance on the 56 in-person destination conferences we have planned for 2026. We have good visibility into current year revenue, with a majority of what we've guided already under contract. For consulting, we have reflected a prudent view for the balance of the year based on the Q1 results. Contract Optimization has had several very strong years, and the business remains highly variable. For 2026, we expect consolidated revenue at or above $6.405 billion, which is updated from last quarter and is FX neutral growth of 1%. We now expect full-year EBITDA at or above $1.545 billion, up $30 million from our prior guidance. This reflects full-year margins at or above 24.1%, also up from last quarter. For conferences, we are basing our guidance on the 56 in-person destination conferences we have planned for 2026. for conferences we are basing our guidance on the 56 in-person destination conferences we have planned for 2026 We have good visibility into current year revenue, with a majority of what we've guided already under contract. we have good visibility into current year revenue with a majority of what we've guided already under contract For consulting, we have reflected a prudent view for the balance of the year based on the Q1 results. for consulting we have reflected a prudent view for the balance of the year based on the q1 results Contract Optimization has had several very strong years, and the business remains highly variable. contract optimization has had several very strong years and the business remains highly variable For 2026, we expect consolidated revenue at or above $6.405 billion, which is updated from last quarter and is FX neutral growth of 1%. for 2026 we expect consolidated revenue at or above $6.405 billion which is updated from last quarter and is fx neutral growth of 1% We now expect full-year EBITDA at or above $1.545 billion, up $30 million from our prior guidance. we now expect full-year ebitda at or above $1.545 billion up $30 million from our prior guidance This reflects full-year margins at or above 24.1%, also up from last quarter. this reflects full-year margins at or above 24.1% also up from last quarter We expect 2026 adjusted EPS at or above $13.25, an increase from last quarter that primarily reflects the increase in the EBITDA outlook and a lower share count. For 2026, we expect free cash flow at or above $1.16 billion. This reflects a conversion from GAAP net income of 137%. Our guidance is based on 69 million fully diluted weighted average shares outstanding, which incorporates the repurchases made through the end of the first quarter. We exited Q1 with about 68 million fully diluted shares. For Q2, we expect EBITDA at or above $425 million. Our profit and cash flow results in Q1 were ahead of expectations, and we've increased the EBITDA, adjusted EPS, and free cash flow guidance for 2026. We expect 2026 adjusted EPS at or above $13.25, an increase from last quarter that primarily reflects the increase in the EBITDA outlook and a lower share count. we expect 2026 adjusted eps at or above $13.25 an increase from last quarter that primarily reflects the increase in the ebitda outlook and a lower share count For 2026, we expect free cash flow at or above $1.16 billion. for 2026 we expect free cash flow at or above $1.16 billion This reflects a conversion from GAAP net income of 137%. this reflects a conversion from gaap net income of 137% Our guidance is based on 69 million fully diluted weighted average shares outstanding, which incorporates the repurchases made through the end of the first quarter. our guidance is based on 69 million fully diluted weighted average shares outstanding which incorporates the repurchases made through the end of the first quarter We exited Q1 with about 68 million fully diluted shares. we exited q1 with about 68 million fully diluted shares For Q2, we expect EBITDA at or above $425 million. for q2 we expect ebitda at or above $425 million Our profit and cash flow results in Q1 were ahead of expectations, and we've increased the EBITDA, adjusted EPS, and free cash flow guidance for 2026. our profit and cash flow results in q1 were ahead of expectations and we've increased the ebitda adjusted eps and free cash flow guidance for 2026 Contract value ex Fed grew 3.5% in the quarter, and total CV growth improved from the fourth quarter of 2025. We are positioned to accelerate CV growth in 2026, and we expect to deliver adjusted EPS on a compound basis above 12% over the next three years. We'll also deploy our capital on stock repurchases, which will lower the share count over time, and on strategic value-enhancing tuck-in M&A. With that, I'll turn the call back over to the operator, and we'll be happy to take your questions. Operator? Contract value ex Fed grew 3.5% in the quarter, and total CV growth improved from the fourth quarter of 2025. contract value ex fed grew 3.5% in the quarter and total cv growth improved from the fourth quarter of 2025 We are positioned to accelerate CV growth in 2026, and we expect to deliver adjusted EPS on a compound basis above 12% over the next three years. we are positioned to accelerate cv growth in 2026 and we expect to deliver adjusted eps on a compound basis above 12% over the next three years We'll also deploy our capital on stock repurchases, which will lower the share count over time, and on strategic value-enhancing tuck-in M&A. we'll also deploy our capital on stock repurchases which will lower the share count over time and on strategic value-enhancing tuck-in m&a With that, I'll turn the call back over to the operator, and we'll be happy to take your questions. with that i'll turn the call back over to the operator and we'll be happy to take your questions Operator? operator

Speaker 13: Thank you so much. As a reminder, to ask a question, simply press star one one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. To remove yourself, press star one one again. We ask that you keep your questions to one and one follow-up. One moment for our first question. Comes from the line of Jeff Meuler with Baird. Please proceed. Thank you so much. thank you so much As a reminder, to ask a question, simply press star one one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. as a reminder to ask a question simply press star one one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced To remove yourself, press star one one again. to remove yourself press star one one again We ask that you keep your questions to one and one follow-up. we ask that you keep your questions to one and one follow-up One moment for our first question. Comes from the line of Jeff Meuler with Baird. one moment for our first question. comes from the line of jeff meuler with baird Please proceed. please proceed

Speaker 10: Yeah, thank you. Makes sense that the selling environment would be tougher in March. Can you give any perspective on if that has started to convert in April? The things that kind of slipped out of March, by some indications, maybe the environment is getting a little bit better. Just any differentiation on new business sales trends between New Logo versus upselling in the base, which I think had been lagging. Yeah, thank you. yeah thank you Makes sense that the selling environment would be tougher in March. makes sense that the selling environment would be tougher in march Can you give any perspective on if that has started to convert in April? can you give any perspective on if that has started to convert in april The things that kind of slipped out of March, by some indications, maybe the environment is getting a little bit better. the things that kind of slipped out of march by some indications maybe the environment is getting a little bit better Just any differentiation on new business sales trends between New Logo versus upselling in the base, which I think had been lagging. just any differentiation on new business sales trends between new logo versus upselling in the base which i think had been lagging

Speaker 6: Hey, okay. Hey, Jeff, it's Gene. I'll get started. In terms of, again, as I said in my prepared remarks, we had a really good January and February. March, decisions slowed down. By and large, clients and prospects told us, "We still wanna buy from you, but we can't make a decision today." To your point, as we roll to April, we're seeing many of those deals actually close, where clients delayed in March, but actually then came through and closed in April. Hey, okay. hey okay Hey, Jeff, it's Gene. hey jeff it's gene I'll get started. i'll get started In terms of, again, as I said in my prepared remarks, we had a really good January and February. in terms of again as i said in my prepared remarks we had a really good january and february March, decisions slowed down. march decisions slowed down By and large, clients and prospects told us, "We still wanna buy from you, but we can't make a decision today." To your point, as we roll to April, we're seeing many of those deals actually close, where clients delayed in March, but actually then came through and closed in April. by and large clients and prospects told us "we still wanna buy from you but we can't make a decision today." to your point as we roll to april we're seeing many of those deals actually close where clients delayed in march but actually then came through and closed in april

Speaker 3: Jeff, good morning. On the mix between New Logo and existing client growth, what we saw through the first two months where we did see nice year-over-year growth, that was broad-based across both New Logo and with existing clients. With the challenging, more challenging environment in March, it was also broad-based across New Logo and existing clients. As we continue to see some of those things, as Gene just mentioned, come through, it's a mix of new logo growth and growth with existing accounts. Jeff, good morning. jeff good morning On the mix between New Logo and existing client growth, what we saw through the first two months where we did see nice year-over-year growth, that was broad-based across both New Logo and with existing clients. on the mix between new logo and existing client growth what we saw through the first two months where we did see nice year-over-year growth that was broad-based across both new logo and with existing clients With the challenging, more challenging environment in March, it was also broad-based across New Logo and existing clients. with the challenging more challenging environment in march it was also broad-based across new logo and existing clients As we continue to see some of those things, as Gene just mentioned, come through, it's a mix of new logo growth and growth with existing accounts. as we continue to see some of those things as gene just mentioned come through it's a mix of new logo growth and growth with existing accounts

Speaker 10: Got it. Good to hear overall engagement of both in person and digital. Just anything you can give us on the evolution of AskGartner, either usage statistics or any meaningful changes in, I guess, user experience, either from something new with the foundational models that underpin it or any adjustments that you've been making to it? Thank you. Got it. got it Good to hear overall engagement of both in person and digital. good to hear overall engagement of both in person and digital Just anything you can give us on the evolution of AskGartner, either usage statistics or any meaningful changes in, I guess, user experience, either from something new with the foundational models that underpin it or any adjustments that you've been making to it? just anything you can give us on the evolution of askgartner either usage statistics or any meaningful changes in i guess user experience either from something new with the foundational models that underpin it or any adjustments that you've been making to it Thank you. thank you

Speaker 6: Yeah. Yeah. AskGartner is just one part of our value proposition. Obviously, there's a whole lot of other pieces of Gartner why people buy. We have AskGartner, and it's important, we will make it competitive. The client usage continues to increase, and the amount of repeat client usage continues to increase. We're seeing increasing engagement with AskGartner. We do a new release every two weeks. Clients, you know, we have a tell us what else you want button on there, and they do, plus we do market research. Every two weeks, we have new releases. As Craig and I mentioned in our remarks, we've added support for, so I think 25 languages. You can now create PowerPoints directly from the from within AskGartner. There's a whole series of other kinds of upgrades. Yeah. yeah Yeah. yeah AskGartner is just one part of our value proposition. askgartner is just one part of our value proposition Obviously, there's a whole lot of other pieces of Gartner why people buy. obviously there's a whole lot of other pieces of gartner why people buy We have AskGartner, and it's important, we will make it competitive. we have askgartner and it's important we will make it competitive The client usage continues to increase, and the amount of repeat client usage continues to increase. the client usage continues to increase and the amount of repeat client usage continues to increase We're seeing increasing engagement with AskGartner. we're seeing increasing engagement with askgartner We do a new release every two weeks. we do a new release every two weeks Clients, you know, we have a tell us what else you want button on there, and they do, plus we do market research. clients you know we have a tell us what else you want button on there and they do plus we do market research Every two weeks, we have new releases. every two weeks we have new releases As Craig and I mentioned in our remarks, we've added support for, so I think 25 languages. as craig and i mentioned in our remarks we've added support for so i think 25 languages You can now create PowerPoints directly from the from within AskGartner. you can now create powerpoints directly from the from within askgartner There's a whole series of other kinds of upgrades. there's a whole series of other kinds of upgrades Again, we're upgrading every two weeks, so it's too numerous to actually talk about over the course of the quarter. Again, we're upgrading every two weeks, so it's too numerous to actually talk about over the course of the quarter. again we're upgrading every two weeks so it's too numerous to actually talk about over the course of the quarter

Speaker 3: Yeah. Jeff, those upgrades are a combination of feature enhancements and incremental proprietary data that the tool is pulling from as well. You know, we are very quickly rolling out new features, as Gene mentioned, every two weeks, and we'll continue to do that as there's demand for it, as the models improve, and as our clients give us feedback on what they want from the tool. Yeah. yeah Jeff, those upgrades are a combination of feature enhancements and incremental proprietary data that the tool is pulling from as well. jeff those upgrades are a combination of feature enhancements and incremental proprietary data that the tool is pulling from as well You know, we are very quickly rolling out new features, as Gene mentioned, every two weeks, and we'll continue to do that as there's demand for it, as the models improve, and as our clients give us feedback on what they want from the tool. you know we are very quickly rolling out new features as gene mentioned every two weeks and we'll continue to do that as there's demand for it as the models improve and as our clients give us feedback on what they want from the tool

Speaker 10: Thanks, both. Thanks, both. thanks both

Speaker 13: Thank you. Our next question is from Faiza Alwy with Deutsche Bank. Please proceed. Thank you. thank you Our next question is from Faiza Alwy with Deutsche Bank. our next question is from faiza alwy with deutsche bank Please proceed. please proceed

Speaker 5: Yes. Hi. Thank you. Good morning. I wanted to follow up on the geopolitics comment, and I'm curious if you could give us some regional color. Did you see, you know, slowing sort of across the board or if there was any differentiation regionally? I'm assuming, maybe you saw some, you know, slower decision-making outside the U.S., but just would love some additional color there. Yes. yes Hi. hi Thank you. thank you Good morning. good morning I wanted to follow up on the geopolitics comment, and I'm curious if you could give us some regional color. i wanted to follow up on the geopolitics comment and i'm curious if you could give us some regional color Did you see, you know, slowing sort of across the board or if there was any differentiation regionally? did you see you know slowing sort of across the board or if there was any differentiation regionally I'm assuming, maybe you saw some, you know, slower decision-making outside the U.S., but just would love some additional color there. i'm assuming maybe you saw some you know slower decision-making outside the u.s but just would love some additional color there

Speaker 6: There was a slowdown across the board by geo, by industry. It was worse in some places than others. If you could imagine with airlines and transportation companies, it was worse than with financial institutions, for example. It was worse in the countries directly impacted, such as the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, than it was in places that were less impacted, like in the U.S. There was a slowdown across the board by geo, by industry. there was a slowdown across the board by geo by industry It was worse in some places than others. it was worse in some places than others If you could imagine with airlines and transportation companies, it was worse than with financial institutions, for example. if you could imagine with airlines and transportation companies it was worse than with financial institutions for example It was worse in the countries directly impacted, such as the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, than it was in places that were less impacted, like in the U.S. it was worse in the countries directly impacted such as the gulf cooperation council countries than it was in places that were less impacted like in the u.s

Speaker 5: Okay. Understood. I'm curious if you're, you know, reevaluating any pricing strategies, maybe just thinking about the overall price point, just as, you know, virtually every company is trying to figure out AI, but, you know, maybe they can't afford, you know, your services at or your subscription at the price point that it is. Just curious how you're thinking about, you know, any changes around pricing. Okay. okay Understood. understood I'm curious if you're, you know, reevaluating any pricing strategies, maybe just thinking about the overall price point, just as, you know, virtually every company is trying to figure out AI, but, you know, maybe they can't afford, you know, your services at or your subscription at the price point that it is. i'm curious if you're you know reevaluating any pricing strategies maybe just thinking about the overall price point just as you know virtually every company is trying to figure out ai but you know maybe they can't afford you know your services at or your subscription at the price point that it is Just curious how you're thinking about, you know, any changes around pricing. just curious how you're thinking about you know any changes around pricing

Speaker 6: We talk to our clients a lot about pricing to understand how they think about pricing, whether we're priced appropriately or not. The feedback we get from our clients today is that their pricing is very appropriate. It's what they expect. They're very comfortable with it. We have different price points. If a client, you know, we have, you know, our community-guided products, which are the highest priced, then our guided products, then our advisory products, then our reference products. When clients have price sensitivity, we give them an option. They can go for a different level of service. It's the same content, but a different level of service with those, and that's what clients choose to do. As we look within each of those groups, we feel like we're priced appropriately. We talk to our clients a lot about pricing to understand how they think about pricing, whether we're priced appropriately or not. we talk to our clients a lot about pricing to understand how they think about pricing whether we're priced appropriately or not The feedback we get from our clients today is that their pricing is very appropriate. the feedback we get from our clients today is that their pricing is very appropriate It's what they expect. it's what they expect They're very comfortable with it. they're very comfortable with it We have different price points. we have different price points If a client, you know, we have, you know, our community-guided products, which are the highest priced, then our guided products, then our advisory products, then our reference products. if a client you know we have you know our community-guided products which are the highest priced then our guided products then our advisory products then our reference products When clients have price sensitivity, we give them an option. when clients have price sensitivity we give them an option They can go for a different level of service. they can go for a different level of service It's the same content, but a different level of service with those, and that's what clients choose to do. it's the same content but a different level of service with those and that's what clients choose to do As we look within each of those groups, we feel like we're priced appropriately. as we look within each of those groups we feel like we're priced appropriately Again, we talk to clients, we benchmark with clients to see if that's the case. We also look when clients say, "I'm not gonna buy, price is a major issue." Price is not, you know, price is not the issue. It tends to be if they're not gonna buy, the CFO said, "We have to cut all expenses 50%." Whether we're four points or eight points higher isn't the, isn't the issue at all. It's kind of a broader cost cutting that over this issue is going through. Again, we talk to clients, we benchmark with clients to see if that's the case. again we talk to clients we benchmark with clients to see if that's the case We also look when clients say, "I'm not gonna buy, price is a major issue." Price is not, you know, price is not the issue. we also look when clients say "i'm not gonna buy price is a major issue." price is not you know price is not the issue It tends to be if they're not gonna buy, the CFO said, "We have to cut all expenses 50%." Whether we're four points or eight points higher isn't the, isn't the issue at all. it tends to be if they're not gonna buy the cfo said "we have to cut all expenses 50%." whether we're four points or eight points higher isn't the isn't the issue at all It's kind of a broader cost cutting that over this issue is going through. it's kind of a broader cost cutting that over this issue is going through

Speaker 3: Faiza, it's, you know, important to remember who we're targeting and focusing on from a go-to-market perspective and a strategy perspective, which is really the top of the org chart in each of the functions that we serve. You know, again, we are going in and targeting the CIO, the chief information officer, or the CFO, or the chief supply chain officer, et cetera, and their teams. We're starting at the top of the pyramid where there tends to be much less price sensitivity around those things. Again, we have, as Gene, you know, articulated, an architecture where if there is price sensitivity, there are offerings that we can, you know, provide to the clients if they're not willing to sign up for a guided product. They'll go with the advisor product. Faiza, it's, you know, important to remember who we're targeting and focusing on from a go-to-market perspective and a strategy perspective, which is really the top of the org chart in each of the functions that we serve. faiza it's you know important to remember who we're targeting and focusing on from a go-to-market perspective and a strategy perspective which is really the top of the org chart in each of the functions that we serve You know, again, we are going in and targeting the CIO, the chief information officer, or the CFO, or the chief supply chain officer, et cetera, and their teams. you know again we are going in and targeting the cio the chief information officer or the cfo or the chief supply chain officer et cetera and their teams We're starting at the top of the pyramid where there tends to be much less price sensitivity around those things. we're starting at the top of the pyramid where there tends to be much less price sensitivity around those things Again, we have, as Gene, you know, articulated, an architecture where if there is price sensitivity, there are offerings that we can, you know, provide to the clients if they're not willing to sign up for a guided product. again we have as gene you know articulated an architecture where if there is price sensitivity there are offerings that we can you know provide to the clients if they're not willing to sign up for a guided product They'll go with the advisor product. they'll go with the advisor product If they're not willing to go with the advisor product, they go with the reference product and so on. If they're not willing to go with the advisor product, they go with the reference product and so on. if they're not willing to go with the advisor product they go with the reference product and so on

Speaker 6: The other thing to think about is that it's a very small part of their budget, so even our smallest clients would have, like, $100 million revenue. An individual executive might have a $10 million budget, and their service with Gartner might be $100,000 out of that $10 million budget. The, you know, whether it's $100,000 or $104,000 isn't a big issue. It's about the value they get. The other thing to think about is that it's a very small part of their budget, so even our smallest clients would have, like, $100 million revenue. the other thing to think about is that it's a very small part of their budget so even our smallest clients would have like $100 million revenue An individual executive might have a $10 million budget, and their service with Gartner might be $100,000 out of that $10 million budget. an individual executive might have a $10 million budget and their service with gartner might be $100,000 out of that $10 million budget The, you know, whether it's $100,000 or $104,000 isn't a big issue. the you know whether it's $100,000 or $104,000 isn't a big issue It's about the value they get. it's about the value they get

Speaker 5: Great. Thank you so much. Great. great Thank you so much. thank you so much

Speaker 13: Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Andrew Nicholas with William Blair. Thank you. thank you Our next question comes from the line of Andrew Nicholas with William Blair. our next question comes from the line of andrew nicholas with william blair

Speaker 1: Hi, good morning. Appreciate you taking my questions. Wanted to ask on the U.S. Federal Government business in particular, I think it was 250 basis point headwind in the quarter, maybe a little bit more than I would have thought because I thought you had lapped most of that. Can you just level set for us where you sit in that kind of renewal cycle post, kind of some of the government approach changes early last year and maybe at what point would you expect that headwind to alleviate as we move through 2026? Hi, good morning. hi good morning Appreciate you taking my questions. appreciate you taking my questions Wanted to ask on the U.S. wanted to ask on the u.s Federal Government business in particular, I think it was 250 basis point headwind in the quarter, maybe a little bit more than I would have thought because I thought you had lapped most of that. federal government business in particular i think it was 250 basis point headwind in the quarter maybe a little bit more than i would have thought because i thought you had lapped most of that Can you just level set for us where you sit in that kind of renewal cycle post, kind of some of the government approach changes early last year and maybe at what point would you expect that headwind to alleviate as we move through 2026? can you just level set for us where you sit in that kind of renewal cycle post kind of some of the government approach changes early last year and maybe at what point would you expect that headwind to alleviate as we move through 2026

Speaker 3: Hey, good morning, Andrew. It's Craig. You know, on the U.S. federal side, you know, as we talked about through most of last year, the DOGE impacts, we really didn't start feeling them until March of last year. January and February were, let's just say semi-normal months, you know, from a selling environment perspective. When the DOGE activities kicked in, that was really March and April and then forward from there. You know, I think as we roll into Q2, we really do start to then lap the significant challenges that we had there. From a U.S. Federal CV perspective, we exited Q1 with about $114 million worth of U.S. Federal CV spread across GTS and GBS. The bulk of that actually in GBS. Hey, good morning, Andrew. hey good morning andrew It's Craig. it's craig You know, on the U.S. federal side, you know, as we talked about through most of last year, the DOGE impacts, we really didn't start feeling them until March of last year. you know on the u.s federal side you know as we talked about through most of last year the doge impacts we really didn't start feeling them until march of last year January and February were, let's just say semi-normal months, you know, from a selling environment perspective. january and february were let's just say semi-normal months you know from a selling environment perspective When the DOGE activities kicked in, that was really March and April and then forward from there. when the doge activities kicked in that was really march and april and then forward from there You know, I think as we roll into Q2, we really do start to then lap the significant challenges that we had there. you know i think as we roll into q2 we really do start to then lap the significant challenges that we had there From a U.S. from a u.s Federal CV perspective, we exited Q1 with about $114 million worth of U.S. federal cv perspective we exited q1 with about $114 million worth of u.s Federal CV spread across GTS and GBS. federal cv spread across gts and gbs The bulk of that actually in GBS. the bulk of that actually in gbs GTS, I'm sorry. The bulk of that in GTS, I should say. You know, what we saw from a renewal rate perspective in the quarter was obviously significant improvement on a year-over-year basis. We are renewing a lot of business. We are writing new business, but we really do start to lap the significant challenges starting in Q2 with the U.S. Fed clients. GTS, I'm sorry. gts i'm sorry The bulk of that in GTS, I should say. the bulk of that in gts i should say You know, what we saw from a renewal rate perspective in the quarter was obviously significant improvement on a year-over-year basis. you know what we saw from a renewal rate perspective in the quarter was obviously significant improvement on a year-over-year basis We are renewing a lot of business. we are renewing a lot of business We are writing new business, but we really do start to lap the significant challenges starting in Q2 with the U.S. we are writing new business but we really do start to lap the significant challenges starting in q2 with the u.s Fed clients. fed clients

Speaker 1: Perfect. Very helpful. Thanks. For my follow-up, I just kinda wanna go to the headcount growth. I think you had outlined low single-digit growth for GTS and mid-singles for GBS as kinda your targets for this year. Is that still the case? Any color you could give us on the cadence or the slope of that ramp would be great. Thank you. Perfect. perfect Very helpful. very helpful Thanks. thanks For my follow-up, I just kinda wanna go to the headcount growth. for my follow-up i just kinda wanna go to the headcount growth I think you had outlined low single-digit growth for GTS and mid-singles for GBS as kinda your targets for this year. i think you had outlined low single-digit growth for gts and mid-singles for gbs as kinda your targets for this year Is that still the case? is that still the case Any color you could give us on the cadence or the slope of that ramp would be great. any color you could give us on the cadence or the slope of that ramp would be great Thank you. thank you

Speaker 3: Andrew, the targets still remain. You articulated them correctly. That is what we are gunning for over the course of the year. We typically do see a little bit of a step back in the numbers in Q1 just because we do a lot of our promotions in the first quarter from, you know, frontline seller to manager. You know, we try and get ahead of that from a hiring perspective, but it often does take a little bit of time to catch up on some of that hiring. You know, as we noted, the hiring we're doing in 2026 is really about 2027 and 2028 and beyond. We've got ample capacity in 2026 to deliver on that CV acceleration that we've been talking about. Andrew, the targets still remain. andrew the targets still remain You articulated them correctly. you articulated them correctly That is what we are gunning for over the course of the year. that is what we are gunning for over the course of the year We typically do see a little bit of a step back in the numbers in Q1 just because we do a lot of our promotions in the first quarter from, you know, frontline seller to manager. we typically do see a little bit of a step back in the numbers in q1 just because we do a lot of our promotions in the first quarter from you know frontline seller to manager You know, we try and get ahead of that from a hiring perspective, but it often does take a little bit of time to catch up on some of that hiring. you know we try and get ahead of that from a hiring perspective but it often does take a little bit of time to catch up on some of that hiring You know, as we noted, the hiring we're doing in 2026 is really about 2027 and 2028 and beyond. you know as we noted the hiring we're doing in 2026 is really about 2027 and 2028 and beyond We've got ample capacity in 2026 to deliver on that CV acceleration that we've been talking about. we've got ample capacity in 2026 to deliver on that cv acceleration that we've been talking about The other note I'd mention is, we are hiring more incremental New Business developers than AEs. It's not, you know, one or the other, but we definitely have a bias towards hiring incremental BDs right now as opposed to hiring incremental account managers going forward. That's baked into the, those year-end numbers you talked about, and that's all baked into our OpEx guide as well. The other note I'd mention is, we are hiring more incremental New Business developers than AEs. the other note i'd mention is we are hiring more incremental new business developers than aes It's not, you know, one or the other, but we definitely have a bias towards hiring incremental BDs right now as opposed to hiring incremental account managers going forward. it's not you know one or the other but we definitely have a bias towards hiring incremental bds right now as opposed to hiring incremental account managers going forward That's baked into the, those year-end numbers you talked about, and that's all baked into our OpEx guide as well. that's baked into the those year-end numbers you talked about and that's all baked into our opex guide as well

Speaker 1: Great. Thank you. Great. great Thank you. thank you

Speaker 13: Thank you. Our next question comes from Jason Haas with Wells Fargo. Please proceed. Thank you. thank you Our next question comes from Jason Haas with Wells Fargo. our next question comes from jason haas with wells fargo Please proceed. please proceed

Speaker 8: Hey, good morning, and thanks for taking my questions. I'm curious for the ex Federal Government CV, did that accelerate from the 3.5% that you reported for 1Q in April? How are you expecting that to trend through the year? Do you expect an acceleration in ex Federal Government CV growth? Thanks. Hey, good morning, and thanks for taking my questions. hey good morning and thanks for taking my questions I'm curious for the ex Federal Government CV, did that accelerate from the 3.5% that you reported for 1Q in April? i'm curious for the ex federal government cv did that accelerate from the 3.5% that you reported for 1q in april How are you expecting that to trend through the year? how are you expecting that to trend through the year Do you expect an acceleration in ex Federal Government CV growth? do you expect an acceleration in ex federal government cv growth Thanks. thanks

Speaker 3: Hey, Jason. Good morning. It's Craig. You know, we're not giving any stats on April yet. We've barely closed the books on that, you know, can't quite comment on that. I think the answer on the CV trend is we expect the whole CV base to accelerate over the course of 2026 and then continuing onward, which would be a combo of the U.S. Fed recovery and then also the non-U.S. Fed base accelerating as well. Hey, Jason. hey jason Good morning. good morning It's Craig. it's craig You know, we're not giving any stats on April yet. you know we're not giving any stats on april yet We've barely closed the books on that, you know, can't quite comment on that. we've barely closed the books on that you know can't quite comment on that I think the answer on the CV trend is we expect the whole CV base to accelerate over the course of 2026 and then continuing onward, which would be a combo of the U.S. i think the answer on the cv trend is we expect the whole cv base to accelerate over the course of 2026 and then continuing onward which would be a combo of the u.s Fed recovery and then also the non-U.S. fed recovery and then also the non-u.s Fed base accelerating as well. fed base accelerating as well

Speaker 8: Okay. Great. Thanks. Do your preexisting long-term targets still hold, or are those no longer in place? Thanks. Okay. okay Great. great Thanks. thanks Do your preexisting long-term targets still hold, or are those no longer in place? do your preexisting long-term targets still hold or are those no longer in place Thanks. thanks

Speaker 3: That's a great question. There's no change to the medium-term objectives. I would say those objectives really do apply to a normal operating environment. You know, you can still find those medium-term objectives in our Gartner 101 presentation, which is on the investor relations site. I do think, you know, as we think about where we are today, and, you know, both Gene and I articulated this, you know, we expect in the current environment for our CV growth to accelerate. We're committed to driving compound annual growth at or above 12% to our EPS number. We continue to have a great and very large addressable market and a compelling client value proposition. Those two things are unchanged. That's a great question. that's a great question There's no change to the medium-term objectives. there's no change to the medium-term objectives I would say those objectives really do apply to a normal operating environment. i would say those objectives really do apply to a normal operating environment You know, you can still find those medium-term objectives in our Gartner 101 presentation, which is on the investor relations site. you know you can still find those medium-term objectives in our gartner 101 presentation which is on the investor relations site I do think, you know, as we think about where we are today, and, you know, both Gene and I articulated this, you know, we expect in the current environment for our CV growth to accelerate. i do think you know as we think about where we are today and you know both gene and i articulated this you know we expect in the current environment for our cv growth to accelerate We're committed to driving compound annual growth at or above 12% to our EPS number. we're committed to driving compound annual growth at or above 12% to our eps number We continue to have a great and very large addressable market and a compelling client value proposition. we continue to have a great and very large addressable market and a compelling client value proposition Those two things are unchanged. those two things are unchanged You know, we've rebased by the EBITDA margin now based on our updated guidance of 24.1%, and we would expect our margins, you know, moving forward over the medium term to expand from there. Obviously, with the great free cash flow engine that we have, we expect to generate, you know, significant amount of free cash flow. As CV growth accelerates, we'll get, you know, more towards the higher end of our typical conversion levels of net income to free cash flow or EBITDA to free cash flow. Obviously, we'll have all that free cash flow to put to use on behalf of our shareholders as well. You know, we've rebased by the EBITDA margin now based on our updated guidance of 24.1%, and we would expect our margins, you know, moving forward over the medium term to expand from there. you know we've rebased by the ebitda margin now based on our updated guidance of 24.1% and we would expect our margins you know moving forward over the medium term to expand from there Obviously, with the great free cash flow engine that we have, we expect to generate, you know, significant amount of free cash flow. obviously with the great free cash flow engine that we have we expect to generate you know significant amount of free cash flow As CV growth accelerates, we'll get, you know, more towards the higher end of our typical conversion levels of net income to free cash flow or EBITDA to free cash flow. as cv growth accelerates we'll get you know more towards the higher end of our typical conversion levels of net income to free cash flow or ebitda to free cash flow Obviously, we'll have all that free cash flow to put to use on behalf of our shareholders as well. obviously we'll have all that free cash flow to put to use on behalf of our shareholders as well

Speaker 8: Okay, great. Thank you. Okay, great. okay great Thank you. thank you

Speaker 13: Thank you. One moment for our next question. It comes from Surinder Thind with Jefferies. Please proceed. Thank you. thank you One moment for our next question. one moment for our next question It comes from Surinder Thind with Jefferies. it comes from surinder thind with jefferies Please proceed. please proceed

Speaker 15: Thank you. When looking ahead and we think about the acceleration in CV growth, any color there where you can maybe disaggregate the drivers? Is the expectation maybe a bit more new business development, or should we expect wallet retention to continue to improve and maybe a bit more upsell at existing clients? Maybe I assume it's also underpinned by just normalized annual price increases that are normally embedded. Thank you. thank you When looking ahead and we think about the acceleration in CV growth, any color there where you can maybe disaggregate the drivers? when looking ahead and we think about the acceleration in cv growth any color there where you can maybe disaggregate the drivers Is the expectation maybe a bit more new business development, or should we expect wallet retention to continue to improve and maybe a bit more upsell at existing clients? is the expectation maybe a bit more new business development or should we expect wallet retention to continue to improve and maybe a bit more upsell at existing clients Maybe I assume it's also underpinned by just normalized annual price increases that are normally embedded. maybe i assume it's also underpinned by just normalized annual price increases that are normally embedded

Speaker 6: Hey, Surinder. The reason we're expecting CV to accelerate is we're making a bunch of changes in business which we talked about. Craig talked about how we're driving engagement, and we expect engagement to go up. In fact, engagement has been rising, just as Craig outlined. We expect that to continue because we've got a big focus on it. When we get more engagement, we expect that our retention will increase as well. So our CV retention will increase with our increased engagement. In addition to that, we're making a bunch of changes in BTI. I articulated all the changes we're making, and we expect that's going to lead to more and better insights that, again, leads to even more engagement and also helps support new business growth. Hey, Surinder. hey surinder The reason we're expecting CV to accelerate is we're making a bunch of changes in business which we talked about. the reason we're expecting cv to accelerate is we're making a bunch of changes in business which we talked about Craig talked about how we're driving engagement, and we expect engagement to go up. craig talked about how we're driving engagement and we expect engagement to go up In fact, engagement has been rising, just as Craig outlined. in fact engagement has been rising just as craig outlined We expect that to continue because we've got a big focus on it. we expect that to continue because we've got a big focus on it When we get more engagement, we expect that our retention will increase as well. when we get more engagement we expect that our retention will increase as well So our CV retention will increase with our increased engagement. so our cv retention will increase with our increased engagement In addition to that, we're making a bunch of changes in BTI. in addition to that we're making a bunch of changes in bti I articulated all the changes we're making, and we expect that's going to lead to more and better insights that, again, leads to even more engagement and also helps support new business growth. i articulated all the changes we're making and we expect that's going to lead to more and better insights that again leads to even more engagement and also helps support new business growth As we look forward through the year, we expect that, our new business growth and our retention both improving as we go through the year based on all the changes that we're making. The leading indicators, which both Craig and I talked about, that indicate that these things are causing increased engagement, with our clients, which ultimately should result in more business, more retention, and higher growth. As we look forward through the year, we expect that, our new business growth and our retention both improving as we go through the year based on all the changes that we're making. as we look forward through the year we expect that our new business growth and our retention both improving as we go through the year based on all the changes that we're making The leading indicators, which both Craig and I talked about, that indicate that these things are causing increased engagement, with our clients, which ultimately should result in more business, more retention, and higher growth. the leading indicators which both craig and i talked about that indicate that these things are causing increased engagement with our clients which ultimately should result in more business more retention and higher growth

Speaker 3: Surinder, you know, you should see that come through, obviously in the CV growth rate, but also in the wallet retention number, which is the, you know, measure of net growth from clients that stay with us. The more that clients stay with us, the more new business opportunities we got with that. You know, the more that they stay with us, the more opportunity we have to expand the relationship and so on and so on. You know, we would expect, you know, the CV acceleration to read through both obviously to the top line CV growth, but also on the wallet retention line as well, as we will be selling, you know, more new business to existing clients over that timeframe as well. Surinder, you know, you should see that come through, obviously in the CV growth rate, but also in the wallet retention number, which is the, you know, measure of net growth from clients that stay with us. surinder you know you should see that come through obviously in the cv growth rate but also in the wallet retention number which is the you know measure of net growth from clients that stay with us The more that clients stay with us, the more new business opportunities we got with that. the more that clients stay with us the more new business opportunities we got with that You know, the more that they stay with us, the more opportunity we have to expand the relationship and so on and so on. you know the more that they stay with us the more opportunity we have to expand the relationship and so on and so on You know, we would expect, you know, the CV acceleration to read through both obviously to the top line CV growth, but also on the wallet retention line as well, as we will be selling, you know, more new business to existing clients over that timeframe as well. you know we would expect you know the cv acceleration to read through both obviously to the top line cv growth but also on the wallet retention line as well as we will be selling you know more new business to existing clients over that timeframe as well

Speaker 15: Got it. Just on the management of costs, can you maybe provide a bit more color there just relative to your expectations versus just kind of normally being, you know, conservative when you initially guide? Just any update where maybe there's a bit more benefits from even if it's AI or just other things that are going on and the opportunity for, you know, any potential structural change in the outlook for margins at this point, or is it just one small step forward each quarter at this point? Got it. got it Just on the management of costs, can you maybe provide a bit more color there just relative to your expectations versus just kind of normally being, you know, conservative when you initially guide? just on the management of costs can you maybe provide a bit more color there just relative to your expectations versus just kind of normally being you know conservative when you initially guide Just any update where maybe there's a bit more benefits from even if it's AI or just other things that are going on and the opportunity for, you know, any potential structural change in the outlook for margins at this point, or is it just one small step forward each quarter at this point? just any update where maybe there's a bit more benefits from even if it's ai or just other things that are going on and the opportunity for you know any potential structural change in the outlook for margins at this point or is it just one small step forward each quarter at this point

Speaker 3: That's great. It's a great question, Surinder. Yeah, you know, as we look at the, you know, the OpEx number, I'd say a couple things. One is we're obviously, you know, very focused on making sure that we're delivering on, you know, our commitments from both an, you know, EBITDA profitability perspective and a free cash flow perspective, and we are tuning our OpEx model as we go. The second thing I'd say is we're very focused on making sure that we keep our run rates aligned with our CV growth expectations, which are essentially what drive, you know, future revenue growth. Again, we want to make sure that we not only deliver, you know, strong earnings and free cash flow in current year, but that we're setting ourselves up to continue to do that into the future. That's great. that's great It's a great question, Surinder. it's a great question surinder Yeah, you know, as we look at the, you know, the OpEx number, I'd say a couple things. yeah you know as we look at the you know the opex number i'd say a couple things One is we're obviously, you know, very focused on making sure that we're delivering on, you know, our commitments from both an, you know, EBITDA profitability perspective and a free cash flow perspective, and we are tuning our OpEx model as we go. one is we're obviously you know very focused on making sure that we're delivering on you know our commitments from both an you know ebitda profitability perspective and a free cash flow perspective and we are tuning our opex model as we go The second thing I'd say is we're very focused on making sure that we keep our run rates aligned with our CV growth expectations, which are essentially what drive, you know, future revenue growth. the second thing i'd say is we're very focused on making sure that we keep our run rates aligned with our cv growth expectations which are essentially what drive you know future revenue growth Again, we want to make sure that we not only deliver, you know, strong earnings and free cash flow in current year, but that we're setting ourselves up to continue to do that into the future. again we want to make sure that we not only deliver you know strong earnings and free cash flow in current year but that we're setting ourselves up to continue to do that into the future Third thing I'd say is we are always focused on, you know, continuous innovation and continuous improvement and driving operational efficiencies through the business. We can leverage AI for some of that. We can leverage other technologies for other things. We can, you know, improve processes as well, and we will, you know, continue to do that. The fourth thing I'd say is, you know, we're doing all that while also making sure we're making investments that we believe will drive future, you know, medium and long-term growth for us. Under the covers, we'll be investing in places, and we may be harvesting, you know, benefits and efficiencies in other places so that we can reinvest in the places that we know drive value. We know we need analysts in our business technology insights. Third thing I'd say is we are always focused on, you know, continuous innovation and continuous improvement and driving operational efficiencies through the business. third thing i'd say is we are always focused on you know continuous innovation and continuous improvement and driving operational efficiencies through the business We can leverage AI for some of that. we can leverage ai for some of that We can leverage other technologies for other things. we can leverage other technologies for other things We can, you know, improve processes as well, and we will, you know, continue to do that. we can you know improve processes as well and we will you know continue to do that The fourth thing I'd say is, you know, we're doing all that while also making sure we're making investments that we believe will drive future, you know, medium and long-term growth for us. the fourth thing i'd say is you know we're doing all that while also making sure we're making investments that we believe will drive future you know medium and long-term growth for us Under the covers, we'll be investing in places, and we may be harvesting, you know, benefits and efficiencies in other places so that we can reinvest in the places that we know drive value. under the covers we'll be investing in places and we may be harvesting you know benefits and efficiencies in other places so that we can reinvest in the places that we know drive value We know we need analysts in our business technology insights. we know we need analysts in our business technology insights We're not going to stop investing there. We know adding QBH drives long-term growth. We're gonna be adding there. It may mean that we are, you know, driving significant operational efficiencies in other areas, and we'll continue to do that so that we free up the appropriate resources to invest in the things that we believe will drive long-term growth. We're not going to stop investing there. we're not going to stop investing there We know adding QBH drives long-term growth. we know adding qbh drives long-term growth We're gonna be adding there. we're gonna be adding there It may mean that we are, you know, driving significant operational efficiencies in other areas, and we'll continue to do that so that we free up the appropriate resources to invest in the things that we believe will drive long-term growth. it may mean that we are you know driving significant operational efficiencies in other areas and we'll continue to do that so that we free up the appropriate resources to invest in the things that we believe will drive long-term growth

Speaker 15: Thank you. Thank you. thank you

Speaker 13: Thank you. Our next question comes from Josh Chan with UBS. Please proceed. Thank you. thank you Our next question comes from Josh Chan with UBS. our next question comes from josh chan with ubs Please proceed. please proceed

Speaker 12: Hi, good morning, Gene and Craig. Thanks for taking my questions. I guess as we think about sort of the selling environment on a year-over-year basis, it's obvious that in Q1 was worse than last year. As we go into Q2, you know, you lap Liberation Day in the prior year, et cetera, how do you think about the year-over-year selling environment comparison as we kind of go through the rest of the year? Hi, good morning, Gene and Craig. hi good morning gene and craig Thanks for taking my questions. thanks for taking my questions I guess as we think about sort of the selling environment on a year-over-year basis, it's obvious that in Q1 was worse than last year. i guess as we think about sort of the selling environment on a year-over-year basis it's obvious that in q1 was worse than last year As we go into Q2, you know, you lap Liberation Day in the prior year, et cetera, how do you think about the year-over-year selling environment comparison as we kind of go through the rest of the year? as we go into q2 you know you lap liberation day in the prior year et cetera how do you think about the year-over-year selling environment comparison as we kind of go through the rest of the year

Speaker 6: What I'd say, Josh, is it kind of depends on how the world evolves. As I sit here today, as I mentioned, a lot of the deals that clients in March said, "Let's wait and revisit this in a couple of weeks," actually closed in April. One of the things that went on that was interesting is that a lot of these companies, think airline, shipping companies, other energy-intensive industries and geographies, that basically normally a functional leader like a CIO would have the authority of a decision. When times are tough, what'll happen is they'll say, "We're gonna escalate that to the CFO, maybe even the CEO, depending on how the decision for the company." We saw more of those kind of escalations. They got escalated. What I'd say, Josh, is it kind of depends on how the world evolves. what i'd say josh is it kind of depends on how the world evolves As I sit here today, as I mentioned, a lot of the deals that clients in March said, "Let's wait and revisit this in a couple of weeks," actually closed in April. as i sit here today as i mentioned a lot of the deals that clients in march said "let's wait and revisit this in a couple of weeks," actually closed in april One of the things that went on that was interesting is that a lot of these companies, think airline, shipping companies, other energy-intensive industries and geographies, that basically normally a functional leader like a CIO would have the authority of a decision. one of the things that went on that was interesting is that a lot of these companies think airline shipping companies other energy-intensive industries and geographies that basically normally a functional leader like a cio would have the authority of a decision When times are tough, what'll happen is they'll say, "We're gonna escalate that to the CFO, maybe even the CEO, depending on how the decision for the company." We saw more of those kind of escalations. when times are tough what'll happen is they'll say "we're gonna escalate that to the cfo maybe even the ceo depending on how the decision for the company." we saw more of those kind of escalations They got escalated. they got escalated They said, "Yeah, the value is there," then they closed. It just took longer to close. I think that, you know, what happens in the rest of the year is gonna depend on kind of what the environment looks like. They said, "Yeah, the value is there," then they closed. they said "yeah the value is there," then they closed It just took longer to close. it just took longer to close I think that, you know, what happens in the rest of the year is gonna depend on kind of what the environment looks like. i think that you know what happens in the rest of the year is gonna depend on kind of what the environment looks like

Speaker 3: You know, the one thing I'd add, Josh, though, is, we pride ourselves on adapting. So, yes, the environment is crazy and continues to remain a little bit chaotic, but we're making sure that our sales and our service people are armed with the right tools, talk tracks, backup, et cetera, to be successful in any sort of environment. We'll see how the world evolves, but we're gonna make sure that sales and service from our perspective are armed to deliver value, highlight the value for prospects, continue to deliver the value for clients, et cetera, moving forward. You know, the one thing I'd add, Josh, though, is, we pride ourselves on adapting. you know the one thing i'd add josh though is we pride ourselves on adapting So, yes, the environment is crazy and continues to remain a little bit chaotic, but we're making sure that our sales and our service people are armed with the right tools, talk tracks, backup, et cetera, to be successful in any sort of environment. so yes the environment is crazy and continues to remain a little bit chaotic but we're making sure that our sales and our service people are armed with the right tools talk tracks backup et cetera to be successful in any sort of environment We'll see how the world evolves, but we're gonna make sure that sales and service from our perspective are armed to deliver value, highlight the value for prospects, continue to deliver the value for clients, et cetera, moving forward. we'll see how the world evolves but we're gonna make sure that sales and service from our perspective are armed to deliver value highlight the value for prospects continue to deliver the value for clients et cetera moving forward

Speaker 6: Yeah, as to build on Craig's points, one of the things that I've talked about both the last call and this call is we made more change in the last year than we've ever made at Gartner in terms of increasing value to clients. Those, you know, the assumption is the environment's gonna be tough going forward, and we wanna make sure we're resilient in that environment. I think what we're seeing here is that selling cycles are longer, but they're still buying. That's kind of what we saw happen in March. Again, January and February actually we had great, very robust new business growth, as Craig and I talked about. Decisions took longer starting March. Yeah, as to build on Craig's points, one of the things that I've talked about both the last call and this call is we made more change in the last year than we've ever made at Gartner in terms of increasing value to clients. yeah as to build on craig's points one of the things that i've talked about both the last call and this call is we made more change in the last year than we've ever made at gartner in terms of increasing value to clients Those, you know, the assumption is the environment's gonna be tough going forward, and we wanna make sure we're resilient in that environment. those you know the assumption is the environment's gonna be tough going forward and we wanna make sure we're resilient in that environment I think what we're seeing here is that selling cycles are longer, but they're still buying. i think what we're seeing here is that selling cycles are longer but they're still buying That's kind of what we saw happen in March. that's kind of what we saw happen in march Again, January and February actually we had great, very robust new business growth, as Craig and I talked about. again january and february actually we had great very robust new business growth as craig and i talked about Decisions took longer starting March. decisions took longer starting march I think there are good signs overall for what the selling environment, but it's probably gonna take longer to sales cycles if the environment continues to have the uncertainty it does today. I think there are good signs overall for what the selling environment, but it's probably gonna take longer to sales cycles if the environment continues to have the uncertainty it does today. i think there are good signs overall for what the selling environment but it's probably gonna take longer to sales cycles if the environment continues to have the uncertainty it does today

Speaker 12: Sure. Sure. That makes a lot of sense, and I appreciate the color there. Then maybe on your EPS CAGR outlook, can you talk about the drivers behind that 12%? I mean, obviously revenue growth, at least currently, is not probably at that level, so you're gonna need some margins or buybacks. Can you just talk about what contributes to that level of EPS growth? Thank you. Sure. sure Sure. sure That makes a lot of sense, and I appreciate the color there. that makes a lot of sense and i appreciate the color there Then maybe on your EPS CAGR outlook, can you talk about the drivers behind that 12%? then maybe on your eps cagr outlook can you talk about the drivers behind that 12% I mean, obviously revenue growth, at least currently, is not probably at that level, so you're gonna need some margins or buybacks. i mean obviously revenue growth at least currently is not probably at that level so you're gonna need some margins or buybacks Can you just talk about what contributes to that level of EPS growth? can you just talk about what contributes to that level of eps growth Thank you. thank you

Speaker 3: Josh, happy to. Again, over a three-year period where our expectation is CV growth will reaccelerate, which will drive future revenue growth. As we noted earlier and have noted for a while, we're committed to delivering strong margins and margin expansion over time as well. Obviously on top of that, we have significant capital to put to use on behalf of our shareholders. Over the last 12 months, I think we've bought back, like $2.4 billion-$2.5 billion worth of stock, reducing the share count significantly. Obviously our intention will be to continue to do that, and that's obviously one of the bigger drivers to that EPS CAGR as well. Josh, happy to. josh happy to Again, over a three-year period where our expectation is CV growth will reaccelerate, which will drive future revenue growth. again over a three-year period where our expectation is cv growth will reaccelerate which will drive future revenue growth As we noted earlier and have noted for a while, we're committed to delivering strong margins and margin expansion over time as well. as we noted earlier and have noted for a while we're committed to delivering strong margins and margin expansion over time as well Obviously on top of that, we have significant capital to put to use on behalf of our shareholders. obviously on top of that we have significant capital to put to use on behalf of our shareholders Over the last 12 months, I think we've bought back, like $2.4 billion-$2.5 billion worth of stock, reducing the share count significantly. over the last 12 months i think we've bought back like $2.4 billion-$2.5 billion worth of stock reducing the share count significantly Obviously our intention will be to continue to do that, and that's obviously one of the bigger drivers to that EPS CAGR as well. obviously our intention will be to continue to do that and that's obviously one of the bigger drivers to that eps cagr as well

Speaker 12: Great. Thank you for the color, and thanks for your time. Great. great Thank you for the color, and thanks for your time. thank you for the color and thanks for your time

Speaker 13: Thank you. Our next question comes from Toni Kaplan with Morgan Stanley. Please proceed. Thank you. thank you Our next question comes from Toni Kaplan with Morgan Stanley. our next question comes from toni kaplan with morgan stanley Please proceed. please proceed

Speaker 16: Thanks so much. Gene, just a strategic question. A number of the other info services firms have been starting to use large LLM providers as, like, a additional distribution channel. And I know your business is different, being more weighted towards advisory, but you still have proprietary data that people want. I was wondering if, is there a sort of broader data distribution that you would consider, or do you think that that dilutes your value proposition too much? Because, you know, obviously a lot of the value is in talking to the research analysts and the network and everything like that. Thanks so much. thanks so much Gene , just a strategic question. gene just a strategic question A number of the other info services firms have been starting to use large LLM providers as, like, a additional distribution channel. a number of the other info services firms have been starting to use large llm providers as like a additional distribution channel And I know your business is different, being more weighted towards advisory, but you still have proprietary data that people want. and i know your business is different being more weighted towards advisory but you still have proprietary data that people want I was wondering if, is there a sort of broader data distribution that you would consider, or do you think that that dilutes your value proposition too much? i was wondering if is there a sort of broader data distribution that you would consider or do you think that that dilutes your value proposition too much Because, you know, obviously a lot of the value is in talking to the research analysts and the network and everything like that. because you know obviously a lot of the value is in talking to the research analysts and the network and everything like that

Speaker 6: Yeah, Toni, I think you hit the nail on the head, which is, what clients rely on us for is for us to proactively go to them and say, "Given your mission-critical priorities, here's the things you should be worried about." Things you may not have thought of, things that you might be surprised by. It's what they rely on us for is to be very proactive as opposed to wait and answer a question so that that's not how clients work with us. That's not our value proposition. In addition to that, there's a big human component. So we have our executive partners, which can function, you know, as advisors to our clients. Yeah, Toni, I think you hit the nail on the head, which is, what clients rely on us for is for us to proactively go to them and say, "Given your mission-critical priorities, here's the things you should be worried about." Things you may not have thought of, things that you might be surprised by. yeah toni i think you hit the nail on the head which is what clients rely on us for is for us to proactively go to them and say "given your mission-critical priorities here's the things you should be worried about." things you may not have thought of things that you might be surprised by It's what they rely on us for is to be very proactive as opposed to wait and answer a question so that that's not how clients work with us. it's what they rely on us for is to be very proactive as opposed to wait and answer a question so that that's not how clients work with us That's not our value proposition. that's not our value proposition In addition to that, there's a big human component. in addition to that there's a big human component So we have our executive partners, which can function, you know, as advisors to our clients. so we have our executive partners which can function you know as advisors to our clients We have our analysts, which are world-class experts, and while they publish obviously a lot of content and insights, the kind of rule of thumb we have, that's only like 5% of what they know that can be actionable and valuable. You know, when they do an inquiry with our analysts, clients get access to that other 95%. We have a vast content library, again, that's only a portion of what our analysts actually know. We have our conferences that they go to, which clients get to interact live. We have peer interactions. If you think about it, the, you know, that piece of it is just a small piece of our overall value proposition. We have our analysts, which are world-class experts, and while they publish obviously a lot of content and insights, the kind of rule of thumb we have, that's only like 5% of what they know that can be actionable and valuable. we have our analysts which are world-class experts and while they publish obviously a lot of content and insights the kind of rule of thumb we have that's only like 5% of what they know that can be actionable and valuable You know, when they do an inquiry with our analysts, clients get access to that other 95%. you know when they do an inquiry with our analysts clients get access to that other 95% We have a vast content library, again, that's only a portion of what our analysts actually know. we have a vast content library again that's only a portion of what our analysts actually know We have our conferences that they go to, which clients get to interact live. we have our conferences that they go to which clients get to interact live We have peer interactions. we have peer interactions If you think about it, the, you know, that piece of it is just a small piece of our overall value proposition. if you think about it the you know that piece of it is just a small piece of our overall value proposition We want to focus on what clients want from us the most of value, which is this whole, tell us what I'm not seeing. Help me see around corners. Tell me how the world's going to evolve, so that I can be successful in this uncertain environment. That doesn't really fit well with, you know, feeding into an LLM that is really answering questions, which is, you know, we have that at Gartner. That's, you know, not the majority of what we do, and that's not why clients buy us. We want to focus on what clients want from us the most of value, which is this whole, tell us what I'm not seeing. we want to focus on what clients want from us the most of value which is this whole tell us what i'm not seeing Help me see around corners. help me see around corners Tell me how the world's going to evolve, so that I can be successful in this uncertain environment. tell me how the world's going to evolve so that i can be successful in this uncertain environment That doesn't really fit well with, you know, feeding into an LLM that is really answering questions, which is, you know, we have that at Gartner. that doesn't really fit well with you know feeding into an llm that is really answering questions which is you know we have that at gartner That's, you know, not the majority of what we do, and that's not why clients buy us. that's you know not the majority of what we do and that's not why clients buy us

Speaker 16: Yeah, that makes sense. Wanted to shift to consulting. I know both the Labor-based and Contract Optimization was down a bit year-over-year, and Contract Optimization can be volatile and the comp was tough. On the labor-based, do you just attribute the slowdown there to just normal macro slowdown? You mentioned a lot that March was slower. Or do you think that there's something structurally worse going on right now given AI? Thanks. Yeah, that makes sense. yeah that makes sense Wanted to shift to consulting. wanted to shift to consulting I know both the Labor-based and Contract Optimization was down a bit year-over-year, and Contract Optimization can be volatile and the comp was tough. i know both the labor-based and contract optimization was down a bit year-over-year and contract optimization can be volatile and the comp was tough On the labor-based, do you just attribute the slowdown there to just normal macro slowdown? on the labor-based do you just attribute the slowdown there to just normal macro slowdown You mentioned a lot that March was slower. you mentioned a lot that march was slower Or do you think that there's something structurally worse going on right now given AI? or do you think that there's something structurally worse going on right now given ai Thanks. thanks

Speaker 6: Yeah, Toni, I don't think there's something structurally worse. You know, again, this is different behavior than we saw in Q4. It's not something that's been kind of a long-term thing. I think basically it's what you said, which is the macro environment changed a lot and that affects both. It affects them differently, both the labor part of the business as well as CFC. It affects CFC because if a client was going to buy something and they postpone that decision, we get paid when they buy something. With CFC, you had both a very tough comp, as Craig went through. In addition, if clients, and we saw this, say, "Hey, I was going to do that big software deal. I've decided to push the decision off for a month," that puts us getting paid off as well. Yeah, Toni, I don't think there's something structurally worse. yeah toni i don't think there's something structurally worse You know, again, this is different behavior than we saw in Q4. you know again this is different behavior than we saw in q4 It's not something that's been kind of a long-term thing. it's not something that's been kind of a long-term thing I think basically it's what you said, which is the macro environment changed a lot and that affects both. i think basically it's what you said which is the macro environment changed a lot and that affects both It affects them differently, both the labor part of the business as well as CFC. it affects them differently both the labor part of the business as well as cfc It affects CFC because if a client was going to buy something and they postpone that decision, we get paid when they buy something. it affects cfc because if a client was going to buy something and they postpone that decision we get paid when they buy something With CFC, you had both a very tough comp, as Craig went through. with cfc you had both a very tough comp as craig went through In addition, if clients, and we saw this, say, "Hey, I was going to do that big software deal. in addition if clients and we saw this say "hey i was going to do that big software deal I've decided to push the decision off for a month," that puts us getting paid off as well. i've decided to push the decision off for a month," that puts us getting paid off as well

Speaker 16: Thank you. Thank you. thank you

Speaker 13: Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of George Tong with Goldman Sachs. Please proceed. Thank you. thank you Our next question comes from the line of George Tong with Goldman Sachs. our next question comes from the line of george tong with goldman sachs Please proceed. please proceed

Speaker 7: Hi. Thanks. Good morning. I wanted to take a step back on CV performance. Can you provide more details on the reasons why CV growth is coming below historical levels in the high single-digit, low double-digit range? Specifically, can you outline how much of the slower growth is due to tariff-affected industries, government spending, the macro environment, and other potential unnamed factors? Hi. hi Thanks. thanks Good morning. good morning I wanted to take a step back on CV performance. i wanted to take a step back on cv performance Can you provide more details on the reasons why CV growth is coming below historical levels in the high single-digit, low double-digit range? can you provide more details on the reasons why cv growth is coming below historical levels in the high single-digit low double-digit range Specifically, can you outline how much of the slower growth is due to tariff-affected industries, government spending, the macro environment, and other potential unnamed factors? specifically can you outline how much of the slower growth is due to tariff-affected industries government spending the macro environment and other potential unnamed factors

Speaker 3: Hey, good morning, George. You know, I think, one, the first obvious, you know, headwind is the U.S. Federal business, which we talked about, you know, in detail and, you know, is a, you know, 250 basis point headwind in the quarter alone. You know, that business, we believe is re-baselined. Our current assumptions are for it to be flat in 2026, and, you know, grow from there going forward. That, you know, is a temporary headwind. Obviously, we've been dealing with it for, you know, since really March of last year. That certainly, you know, remains the most dominant headwind that we have going forward. Hey, good morning, George. hey good morning george You know, I think, one, the first obvious, you know, headwind is the U.S. you know i think one the first obvious you know headwind is the u.s Federal business, which we talked about, you know, in detail and, you know, is a, you know, 250 basis point headwind in the quarter alone. federal business which we talked about you know in detail and you know is a you know 250 basis point headwind in the quarter alone You know, that business, we believe is re-baselined. you know that business we believe is re-baselined Our current assumptions are for it to be flat in 2026, and, you know, grow from there going forward. our current assumptions are for it to be flat in 2026 and you know grow from there going forward That, you know, is a temporary headwind. that you know is a temporary headwind Obviously, we've been dealing with it for, you know, since really March of last year. obviously we've been dealing with it for you know since really march of last year That certainly, you know, remains the most dominant headwind that we have going forward. that certainly you know remains the most dominant headwind that we have going forward Or that we have had that have impacted the results and should right itself going forward. You know, in terms of the other areas, you know, I think it's a combination of the macro has been really challenging over the last several quarters. You know, whether it's those impacts that started in March of last year, you know, Josh referred to Liberation Day, which I remember was April 2nd of last year, to lots of other geopolitical challenges over the course of the year to, you know, where we sit today. I think, you know, the short answer is, we fully expect our CV growth rate to accelerate over the course of 2026. As I mentioned earlier, we expect it to increase across the board. Or that we have had that have impacted the results and should right itself going forward. or that we have had that have impacted the results and should right itself going forward You know, in terms of the other areas, you know, I think it's a combination of the macro has been really challenging over the last several quarters. you know in terms of the other areas you know i think it's a combination of the macro has been really challenging over the last several quarters You know, whether it's those impacts that started in March of last year, you know, Josh referred to Liberation Day, which I remember was April 2nd of last year, to lots of other geopolitical challenges over the course of the year to, you know, where we sit today. you know whether it's those impacts that started in march of last year you know josh referred to liberation day which i remember was april 2nd of last year to lots of other geopolitical challenges over the course of the year to you know where we sit today I think, you know, the short answer is, we fully expect our CV growth rate to accelerate over the course of 2026. i think you know the short answer is we fully expect our cv growth rate to accelerate over the course of 2026 As I mentioned earlier, we expect it to increase across the board. as i mentioned earlier we expect it to increase across the board Yes, we expect the U.S. Fed growth rate to improve as we lap some of the more challenging areas, but we also expect the non-U.S. Fed business to accelerate. That includes tariff affected and non-tariff affected. That includes software companies and IT services companies, et cetera. I think, you know, from where we sit today, we expect CV growth to re-accelerate over the course of 2026. And again, you know, we believe the combination of that CV growth re-acceleration, our operating expense management, our ability to invest in the right areas that drive and support, you know, future growth will allow us to drive significant free cash flow, you know, and earnings per share, you know, growing at a 12% compound annual growth rate. Yes, we expect the U.S. yes we expect the u.s Fed growth rate to improve as we lap some of the more challenging areas, but we also expect the non-U.S. fed growth rate to improve as we lap some of the more challenging areas but we also expect the non-u.s Fed business to accelerate. fed business to accelerate That includes tariff affected and non-tariff affected. that includes tariff affected and non-tariff affected That includes software companies and IT services companies, et cetera. that includes software companies and it services companies et cetera I think, you know, from where we sit today, we expect CV growth to re-accelerate over the course of 2026. i think you know from where we sit today we expect cv growth to re-accelerate over the course of 2026 And again, you know, we believe the combination of that CV growth re-acceleration, our operating expense management, our ability to invest in the right areas that drive and support, you know, future growth will allow us to drive significant free cash flow, you know, and earnings per share, you know, growing at a 12% compound annual growth rate. and again you know we believe the combination of that cv growth re-acceleration our operating expense management our ability to invest in the right areas that drive and support you know future growth will allow us to drive significant free cash flow you know and earnings per share you know growing at a 12% compound annual growth rate

Speaker 7: Got it. That's helpful. Following up on the CV growth expectations, you noted acceleration over the course of the year. What are your CV growth expectations exiting the year, and do you expect the improvement to be relatively linear from 1Q? Got it. got it That's helpful. that's helpful Following up on the CV growth expectations, you noted acceleration over the course of the year. following up on the cv growth expectations you noted acceleration over the course of the year What are your CV growth expectations exiting the year, and do you expect the improvement to be relatively linear from 1Q? what are your cv growth expectations exiting the year and do you expect the improvement to be relatively linear from 1q

Speaker 3: We don't guide to CV growth, George, and we're gonna, you know, continue to not do that. You know, what I can tell you is we expect to accelerate over the course of this year. You know, I did note in my prepared remarks that, you know, Q1 happens to be a heavy renewal quarter and our smallest New Business quarter. As we roll into Q2 and Q3, we see increasing levels of New Business dollars, and we just have less CV that is up for renewal in those quarters. That certainly helps. You know, CV, though, is a rolling four-quarter number. You know, we expect to continue to see improvements, you know, across the year. You know, we don't believe that we're done at the end of this year. We don't guide to CV growth, George, and we're gonna, you know, continue to not do that. we don't guide to cv growth george and we're gonna you know continue to not do that You know, what I can tell you is we expect to accelerate over the course of this year. you know what i can tell you is we expect to accelerate over the course of this year You know, I did note in my prepared remarks that, you know, Q1 happens to be a heavy renewal quarter and our smallest New Business quarter. you know i did note in my prepared remarks that you know q1 happens to be a heavy renewal quarter and our smallest new business quarter As we roll into Q2 and Q3, we see increasing levels of New Business dollars, and we just have less CV that is up for renewal in those quarters. as we roll into q2 and q3 we see increasing levels of new business dollars and we just have less cv that is up for renewal in those quarters That certainly helps. that certainly helps You know, CV, though, is a rolling four-quarter number. you know cv though is a rolling four-quarter number You know, we expect to continue to see improvements, you know, across the year. you know we expect to continue to see improvements you know across the year You know, we don't believe that we're done at the end of this year. you know we don't believe that we're done at the end of this year You know, right now we're focused on making sure we're driving engagement, making sure we're delivering on all the transformations Gene outlined, all those things should lead to CV growth accelerating over the course of this year. That should benefit us as we roll forward into 2027 and beyond. You know, right now we're focused on making sure we're driving engagement, making sure we're delivering on all the transformations Gene outlined, all those things should lead to CV growth accelerating over the course of this year. you know right now we're focused on making sure we're driving engagement making sure we're delivering on all the transformations gene outlined all those things should lead to cv growth accelerating over the course of this year That should benefit us as we roll forward into 2027 and beyond. that should benefit us as we roll forward into 2027 and beyond

Speaker 7: Very helpful. Thank you. Very helpful. very helpful Thank you. thank you

Speaker 13: Thank you. Our next question is from Jeff Silber with BMO Capital Markets. Please proceed. Thank you. thank you Our next question is from Jeff Silber with BMO Capital Markets. our next question is from jeff silber with bmo capital markets Please proceed. please proceed

Speaker 11: Thank you so much. You've mentioned a couple times your goal to have compounded adjusted EPS growth, I think of over at or above 12% over the next three years. What kind of headcount growth do you need to get there, both from a sales force perspective and an analyst perspective? Thank you so much. thank you so much You've mentioned a couple times your goal to have compounded adjusted EPS growth, I think of over at or above 12% over the next three years. you've mentioned a couple times your goal to have compounded adjusted eps growth i think of over at or above 12% over the next three years What kind of headcount growth do you need to get there, both from a sales force perspective and an analyst perspective? what kind of headcount growth do you need to get there both from a sales force perspective and an analyst perspective

Speaker 3: Yeah, Jeff, I mean, I think it's all baked into our ability to drive the margin, to get the desired results that give us that 12% CAGR. You know, our operating model with QBH or sales headcount is unchanged. Grow it roughly, you know, 300 basis points slower than what we're growing our expectation around CV growth. That, you know, framework still, you know, we're still operating with that framework going forward. On the analyst side, it's really demand-driven. Because we've got such a good finger on the pulse of what our clients are most interested in, we're actually able to predict where that demand is and make sure that we've got, you know, the appropriate analyst levels and analyst count to handle that. Yeah, Jeff, I mean, I think it's all baked into our ability to drive the margin, to get the desired results that give us that 12% CAGR. yeah jeff i mean i think it's all baked into our ability to drive the margin to get the desired results that give us that 12% cagr You know, our operating model with QBH or sales headcount is unchanged. you know our operating model with qbh or sales headcount is unchanged Grow it roughly, you know, 300 basis points slower than what we're growing our expectation around CV growth. grow it roughly you know 300 basis points slower than what we're growing our expectation around cv growth That, you know, framework still, you know, we're still operating with that framework going forward. that you know framework still you know we're still operating with that framework going forward On the analyst side, it's really demand-driven. on the analyst side it's really demand-driven Because we've got such a good finger on the pulse of what our clients are most interested in, we're actually able to predict where that demand is and make sure that we've got, you know, the appropriate analyst levels and analyst count to handle that. because we've got such a good finger on the pulse of what our clients are most interested in we're actually able to predict where that demand is and make sure that we've got you know the appropriate analyst levels and analyst count to handle that It's not a specific number. We'll do all that while also driving efficiency and improvement across the rest of the business. The combination of those three things is what gives us the, you know, the operating result levers to get to that 12% EPS CAGR over time. It's not a specific number. it's not a specific number We'll do all that while also driving efficiency and improvement across the rest of the business. we'll do all that while also driving efficiency and improvement across the rest of the business The combination of those three things is what gives us the, you know, the operating result levers to get to that 12% EPS CAGR over time. the combination of those three things is what gives us the you know the operating result levers to get to that 12% eps cagr over time

Speaker 11: Okay, that's great. Just to clarify something, the base year that you're talking about, is that 2025 or 2026? Okay, that's great. okay that's great Just to clarify something, the base year that you're talking about, is that 2025 or 2026? just to clarify something the base year that you're talking about is that 2025 or 2026

Speaker 3: That base year is 2025. It's a great question. Thanks for clarifying that, Jeff. That base year is 2025. that base year is 2025 It's a great question. it's a great question Thanks for clarifying that, Jeff. thanks for clarifying that jeff

Speaker 11: No worries. That is what I thought. Thanks so much. No worries. no worries That is what I thought. that is what i thought Thanks so much. thanks so much

Speaker 13: Thank you so much. Our next question is from Jasper Bibb with Truist Securities. Please proceed. Thank you so much. thank you so much Our next question is from Jasper Bibb with Truist Securities. our next question is from jasper bibb with truist securities Please proceed. please proceed

Speaker 9: Hey, good morning, guys. Again, I know you don't guide for CV, but I think you've mentioned on a couple earlier questions that CV should reaccelerate both total and ex Fed through the year and, you know, helpful context too around the seasonal payments of renewals and new business. I just wanted to clarify, like, do you think we see a reacceleration in the ex Fed CV growth number next quarter, or maybe are we still a little bit further away from the reacceleration in ex Fed CV? Hey, good morning, guys. hey good morning guys Again, I know you don't guide for CV, but I think you've mentioned on a couple earlier questions that CV should reaccelerate both total and ex Fed through the year and, you know, helpful context too around the seasonal payments of renewals and new business. again i know you don't guide for cv but i think you've mentioned on a couple earlier questions that cv should reaccelerate both total and ex fed through the year and you know helpful context too around the seasonal payments of renewals and new business I just wanted to clarify, like, do you think we see a reacceleration in the ex Fed CV growth number next quarter, or maybe are we still a little bit further away from the reacceleration in ex Fed CV? i just wanted to clarify like do you think we see a reacceleration in the ex fed cv growth number next quarter or maybe are we still a little bit further away from the reacceleration in ex fed cv

Speaker 3: Hey, Jasper. All I'll tell you, without getting into too many details is we expect the CV growth rate to, you know, accelerate over the course of the year. You know, we're not gonna get into the details of, you know, expectations by segment of business per quarter. We'll tell you all about that when we report our Q2 results. The headline should be that we expect CV growth to accelerate. Hey, Jasper. hey jasper All I'll tell you, without getting into too many details is we expect the CV growth rate to, you know, accelerate over the course of the year. all i'll tell you without getting into too many details is we expect the cv growth rate to you know accelerate over the course of the year You know, we're not gonna get into the details of, you know, expectations by segment of business per quarter. you know we're not gonna get into the details of you know expectations by segment of business per quarter We'll tell you all about that when we report our Q2 results. we'll tell you all about that when we report our q2 results The headline should be that we expect CV growth to accelerate. the headline should be that we expect cv growth to accelerate

Speaker 9: Got it. Then maybe following up on the early pricing question. I think there was some speculation inter-quarter if sales teams had made offers to sign on below the normal $50,000 ASP for new values. I guess, can you just clear up kind of in response to that, like if there's anything that's changed on your approach to pricing or offering discounts? Got it. got it Then maybe following up on the early pricing question. then maybe following up on the early pricing question I think there was some speculation inter-quarter if sales teams had made offers to sign on below the normal $50,000 ASP for new values. i think there was some speculation inter-quarter if sales teams had made offers to sign on below the normal $50,000 asp for new values I guess, can you just clear up kind of in response to that, like if there's anything that's changed on your approach to pricing or offering discounts? i guess can you just clear up kind of in response to that like if there's anything that's changed on your approach to pricing or offering discounts

Speaker 3: Yeah. We do not offer discounts. Our pricing strategy and focus and mechanics are unchanged. You know, we put through our normal annual price increase on November 1 of last year. That has been in place, you know, since then. And we are, you know, despite what you may be hearing, I can assure you, there's no change in our discounting posture or philosophy. Yeah. yeah We do not offer discounts. we do not offer discounts Our pricing strategy and focus and mechanics are unchanged. our pricing strategy and focus and mechanics are unchanged You know, we put through our normal annual price increase on November 1 of last year. you know we put through our normal annual price increase on november 1 of last year That has been in place, you know, since then. that has been in place you know since then And we are, you know, despite what you may be hearing, I can assure you, there's no change in our discounting posture or philosophy. and we are you know despite what you may be hearing i can assure you there's no change in our discounting posture or philosophy

Speaker 9: Okay, great. Thanks, guys. Okay, great. okay great Thanks, guys. thanks guys

Speaker 13: Thank you so much. Our next question comes from Scott Wurtzel with Wolfe Research. Thank you so much. thank you so much Our next question comes from Scott Wurtzel with Wolfe Research. our next question comes from scott wurtzel with wolfe research

Speaker 14: Hey, good morning, guys. Thank you for taking my question. Just one for me. Just wondering if you can talk a little bit about just the puts and takes on client versus wallet retention in the quarter with, you know, client retention ticking down a little bit, but wallet retention ticking up. Just wondering if there was any incremental, I guess, price realization or upsells that drove that, you know, expanding wallet retention while client retention ticked down. Thanks. Hey, good morning, guys. hey good morning guys Thank you for taking my question. thank you for taking my question Just one for me. just one for me Just wondering if you can talk a little bit about just the puts and takes on client versus wallet retention in the quarter with, you know, client retention ticking down a little bit, but wallet retention ticking up. just wondering if you can talk a little bit about just the puts and takes on client versus wallet retention in the quarter with you know client retention ticking down a little bit but wallet retention ticking up Just wondering if there was any incremental, I guess, price realization or upsells that drove that, you know, expanding wallet retention while client retention ticked down. just wondering if there was any incremental i guess price realization or upsells that drove that you know expanding wallet retention while client retention ticked down Thanks. thanks

Speaker 3: Yeah. Hey, Scott. Good morning. Great question. You know, I think it's largely a function of, you know, those are both rolling four-quarter numbers. In the first quarter, you know, as I noted earlier, it's our smallest, you know, new business dollar quarter, which implies it's our smallest, you know, new business enterprise quarter as well. You know, we added, you know, new enterprises there. You know, as always, there is a lot of churn within our small tech clients that's it's improved over the last couple years, but that's still the most significant, you know, impact on that client retention number. Because those are, typically lower-spending clients, does not have as big of an impact on the wallet retention number. Yeah. yeah Hey, Scott. hey scott Good morning. good morning Great question. great question You know, I think it's largely a function of, you know, those are both rolling four-quarter numbers. you know i think it's largely a function of you know those are both rolling four-quarter numbers In the first quarter, you know, as I noted earlier, it's our smallest, you know, new business dollar quarter, which implies it's our smallest, you know, new business enterprise quarter as well. in the first quarter you know as i noted earlier it's our smallest you know new business dollar quarter which implies it's our smallest you know new business enterprise quarter as well You know, we added, you know, new enterprises there. you know we added you know new enterprises there You know, as always, there is a lot of churn within our small tech clients that's it's improved over the last couple years, but that's still the most significant, you know, impact on that client retention number. you know as always there is a lot of churn within our small tech clients that's it's improved over the last couple years but that's still the most significant you know impact on that client retention number Because those are, typically lower-spending clients, does not have as big of an impact on the wallet retention number. because those are typically lower-spending clients does not have as big of an impact on the wallet retention number With wallet also, you know, we are lapping some of the challenges from last year, but also we are holding on to more dollars than we have histor- than we did last year as well. I think that's manifesting itself in that modest improvement in the wallet retention number as well. With wallet also, you know, we are lapping some of the challenges from last year, but also we are holding on to more dollars than we have histor- than we did last year as well. with wallet also you know we are lapping some of the challenges from last year but also we are holding on to more dollars than we have histor- than we did last year as well I think that's manifesting itself in that modest improvement in the wallet retention number as well. i think that's manifesting itself in that modest improvement in the wallet retention number as well

Speaker 14: Great. Thanks, guys. Great. great Thanks, guys. thanks guys

Speaker 13: Thank you so much. Our next question is from Ashish Sabadra with RBC Capital Markets. Thank you so much. thank you so much Our next question is from Ashish Sabadra with RBC Capital Markets. our next question is from ashish sabadra with rbc capital markets

Speaker 2: Thanks for taking my question. I just wanted to focus on the tech vendor conversation. I was wondering if you could provide any color on that front, how is that trending? Also, if you could talk about some of the challenges that software companies are facing. Has that influenced any of that conversation? Thanks. Thanks for taking my question. thanks for taking my question I just wanted to focus on the tech vendor conversation. i just wanted to focus on the tech vendor conversation I was wondering if you could provide any color on that front, how is that trending? i was wondering if you could provide any color on that front how is that trending Also, if you could talk about some of the challenges that software companies are facing. also if you could talk about some of the challenges that software companies are facing Has that influenced any of that conversation? has that influenced any of that conversation Thanks. thanks

Speaker 3: On the, on the tech vendor side, I think what we're seeing is consistent with what we saw the last couple quarters, where our business with software companies and services companies is growing at high single-digit growth rates, and other elements of our tech vendor, you know, client universe are not performing as well. Most notably, I'd say hardware providers and telecom carriers, which we classify as part of that tech community. The bulk of our CV sits with software and services, and the software and services business continues to grow at high single-digit growth rates. On the, on the tech vendor side, I think what we're seeing is consistent with what we saw the last couple quarters, where our business with software companies and services companies is growing at high single-digit growth rates, and other elements of our tech vendor, you know, client universe are not performing as well. on the on the tech vendor side i think what we're seeing is consistent with what we saw the last couple quarters where our business with software companies and services companies is growing at high single-digit growth rates and other elements of our tech vendor you know client universe are not performing as well Most notably, I'd say hardware providers and telecom carriers, which we classify as part of that tech community. most notably i'd say hardware providers and telecom carriers which we classify as part of that tech community The bulk of our CV sits with software and services, and the software and services business continues to grow at high single-digit growth rates. the bulk of our cv sits with software and services and the software and services business continues to grow at high single-digit growth rates

Speaker 2: That's very helpful color. Then on the quota-bearing headcount, just wanted to follow up on the prior comment around hiring more incremental new business developers than account managers. How should we think about the overall QBH growth going forward, but also how do we think about that mix shift going forward and influence on productivity? Thanks. That's very helpful color. that's very helpful color Then on the quota-bearing headcount, just wanted to follow up on the prior comment around hiring more incremental new business developers than account managers. then on the quota-bearing headcount just wanted to follow up on the prior comment around hiring more incremental new business developers than account managers How should we think about the overall QBH growth going forward, but also how do we think about that mix shift going forward and influence on productivity? how should we think about the overall qbh growth going forward but also how do we think about that mix shift going forward and influence on productivity Thanks. thanks

Speaker 3: It's a great question. You know, again, it's not binary one or the other. We're obviously, as we are successful with our BDs and they sell, you know, more new business, we do need to hire account managers to catch that business, retain it, and grow it going forward. What we've been doing is driving productivity and efficiency out of our account management teams by adding incremental clients to their territories. Again, we've studied this really intently to make sure that we're not going too far on any of those, and we feel really good about the productivity gains we've driven there. What that does is free up incremental dollars for us to invest in business developers. It's a great question. it's a great question You know, again, it's not binary one or the other. you know again it's not binary one or the other We're obviously, as we are successful with our BDs and they sell, you know, more new business, we do need to hire account managers to catch that business, retain it, and grow it going forward. we're obviously as we are successful with our bds and they sell you know more new business we do need to hire account managers to catch that business retain it and grow it going forward What we've been doing is driving productivity and efficiency out of our account management teams by adding incremental clients to their territories. what we've been doing is driving productivity and efficiency out of our account management teams by adding incremental clients to their territories Again, we've studied this really intently to make sure that we're not going too far on any of those, and we feel really good about the productivity gains we've driven there. again we've studied this really intently to make sure that we're not going too far on any of those and we feel really good about the productivity gains we've driven there What that does is free up incremental dollars for us to invest in business developers. what that does is free up incremental dollars for us to invest in business developers You know, when you think about the size of the addressable market opportunity, the fact that there are, you know, roughly 140,000 enterprises that we think could be clients of Gartner, and we're currently doing business with 14,000 of them, the way we capture that market, that incremental market, is really through business developer investment. It's a slow shift in mix, though, because, you know, yes, the bias is towards hiring incremental BDs, but it's not like a student body left or a student body right. That mix will move, you know, moderately over time. You know, when you think about the size of the addressable market opportunity, the fact that there are, you know, roughly 140,000 enterprises that we think could be clients of Gartner, and we're currently doing business with 14,000 of them, the way we capture that market, that incremental market, is really through business developer investment. you know when you think about the size of the addressable market opportunity the fact that there are you know roughly 140,000 enterprises that we think could be clients of gartner and we're currently doing business with 14,000 of them the way we capture that market that incremental market is really through business developer investment It's a slow shift in mix, though, because, you know, yes, the bias is towards hiring incremental BDs, but it's not like a student body left or a student body right. it's a slow shift in mix though because you know yes the bias is towards hiring incremental bds but it's not like a student body left or a student body right That mix will move, you know, moderately over time. that mix will move you know moderately over time We think it's the right combination of being able to manage, retain, and grow the existing client base while having the right size engine to be the new logo addition and incremental to growth going forward as well. We think we've got the right mix there going forward, and we'll continue to update, you know, our investors and the investment community on that incremental investment and the mix of that investment going forward. We think it's the right combination of being able to manage, retain, and grow the existing client base while having the right size engine to be the new logo addition and incremental to growth going forward as well. we think it's the right combination of being able to manage retain and grow the existing client base while having the right size engine to be the new logo addition and incremental to growth going forward as well We think we've got the right mix there going forward, and we'll continue to update, you know, our investors and the investment community on that incremental investment and the mix of that investment going forward. we think we've got the right mix there going forward and we'll continue to update you know our investors and the investment community on that incremental investment and the mix of that investment going forward

Speaker 6: Yeah. The vast majority of our sales force today is account executives. They do a lot of new business growth as well, and we expect that to continue. Even with our account executives, industry BDs too, under the covers, we change territories all the time. If there's less demand in the U.S. federal, you know, the U.S. federal government, then what we'll do is reduce territories there and move those over to places where there's higher demand. There's more change going on under the covers to actually improve productivity as well. Yeah. yeah The vast majority of our sales force today is account executives. the vast majority of our sales force today is account executives They do a lot of new business growth as well, and we expect that to continue. they do a lot of new business growth as well and we expect that to continue Even with our account executives, industry BDs too, under the covers, we change territories all the time. even with our account executives industry bds too under the covers we change territories all the time If there's less demand in the U.S. federal, you know, the U.S. federal government, then what we'll do is reduce territories there and move those over to places where there's higher demand. if there's less demand in the u.s federal you know the u.s federal government then what we'll do is reduce territories there and move those over to places where there's higher demand There's more change going on under the covers to actually improve productivity as well. there's more change going on under the covers to actually improve productivity as well

Speaker 2: That's very helpful color. Thank you. Thanks. That's very helpful color. that's very helpful color Thank you. thank you Thanks. thanks

Speaker 13: Thank you. Our last question comes from Wahid Amin with Bank of America. Please proceed. Thank you. thank you Our last question comes from Wahid Amin with Bank of America. our last question comes from wahid amin with bank of america Please proceed. please proceed

Speaker 17: Hi. Good morning. Thank you. Just one for me. On an early remark, you talked about sometimes clients saying budgets are tight and maybe the selling environment is much longer than expected. How would you classify the customers that want to keep a Gartner subscription but may, you know, consider downselling or using a different user experience? Are you seeing a huge influx of that? Hi. hi Good morning. good morning Thank you. thank you Just one for me. just one for me On an early remark, you talked about sometimes clients saying budgets are tight and maybe the selling environment is much longer than expected. on an early remark you talked about sometimes clients saying budgets are tight and maybe the selling environment is much longer than expected How would you classify the customers that want to keep a Gartner subscription but may, you know, consider downselling or using a different user experience? how would you classify the customers that want to keep a gartner subscription but may you know consider downselling or using a different user experience Are you seeing a huge influx of that? are you seeing a huge influx of that

Speaker 6: It's a great question. In all times, we have some clients that are upgrading and some clients that are downgrading clients. While there's more concern today because of some geopolitical things, any time, you know, there's always some clients that are doing well and some that aren't. To your point, we often see clients that are doing really well saying they want to upgrade and get more value, or they try it at a lower price point and say, "I want to get more value." Similarly, we often see clients say, "Hey, my CFO says I have to cut half expenses. I want to keep Gartner, let's go with the lower service level that lets me still keep Gartner." Those things actually tend to balance out. It's a great question. it's a great question In all times, we have some clients that are upgrading and some clients that are downgrading clients. in all times we have some clients that are upgrading and some clients that are downgrading clients While there's more concern today because of some geopolitical things, any time, you know, there's always some clients that are doing well and some that aren't. while there's more concern today because of some geopolitical things any time you know there's always some clients that are doing well and some that aren't To your point, we often see clients that are doing really well saying they want to upgrade and get more value, or they try it at a lower price point and say, "I want to get more value." Similarly, we often see clients say, "Hey, my CFO says I have to cut half expenses. to your point we often see clients that are doing really well saying they want to upgrade and get more value or they try it at a lower price point and say "i want to get more value." similarly we often see clients say "hey my cfo says i have to cut half expenses I want to keep Gartner, let's go with the lower service level that lets me still keep Gartner." Those things actually tend to balance out. i want to keep gartner let's go with the lower service level that lets me still keep gartner." those things actually tend to balance out We see about as many upgrades as downgrades, which is why we don't talk about it that much because it actually, the two balance out, almost exactly. We see about as many upgrades as downgrades, which is why we don't talk about it that much because it actually, the two balance out, almost exactly. we see about as many upgrades as downgrades which is why we don't talk about it that much because it actually the two balance out almost exactly

Speaker 17: Thank you. Thank you. thank you

Speaker 13: Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, this will conclude the Q&A session. I will pass it back to Gene Hall for closing comments. Thank you. thank you Ladies and gentlemen, this will conclude the Q&A session. ladies and gentlemen this will conclude the q&a session I will pass it back to Gene Hall for closing comments. i will pass it back to gene hall for closing comments

Speaker 6: Well, here's what I'd like you to take away from today's discussion. Gartner has an unparalleled and enduring value proposition. We're the best, most trusted source for executives who want to succeed with their mission-critical priorities. We're transforming our business and technology insights, organization, and processes to deliver even more client value. Clients who engage frequently with our insights receive greater value and retain at higher rates. Gartner is the best source for clients looking to achieve success on their AI journeys. We are incredibly optimistic about our future. Looking ahead to the rest of the year, we expect contract value will accelerate. We will continue to draw strong free cash flow that we can put to use to drive incremental shareholder value. We expect to deliver adjusted EPS on a compound annual basis above 12% over the next three years. Well, here's what I'd like you to take away from today's discussion. well here's what i'd like you to take away from today's discussion Gartner has an unparalleled and enduring value proposition. gartner has an unparalleled and enduring value proposition We're the best, most trusted source for executives who want to succeed with their mission-critical priorities. we're the best most trusted source for executives who want to succeed with their mission-critical priorities We're transforming our business and technology insights, organization, and processes to deliver even more client value. we're transforming our business and technology insights organization and processes to deliver even more client value Clients who engage frequently with our insights receive greater value and retain at higher rates. clients who engage frequently with our insights receive greater value and retain at higher rates Gartner is the best source for clients looking to achieve success on their AI journeys. gartner is the best source for clients looking to achieve success on their ai journeys We are incredibly optimistic about our future. we are incredibly optimistic about our future Looking ahead to the rest of the year, we expect contract value will accelerate. looking ahead to the rest of the year we expect contract value will accelerate We will continue to draw strong free cash flow that we can put to use to drive incremental shareholder value. we will continue to draw strong free cash flow that we can put to use to drive incremental shareholder value We expect to deliver adjusted EPS on a compound annual basis above 12% over the next three years. we expect to deliver adjusted eps on a compound annual basis above 12% over the next three years Thanks for joining us today, and I look forward to updating you again next quarter. Thanks for joining us today, and I look forward to updating you again next quarter. thanks for joining us today and i look forward to updating you again next quarter

Speaker 13: This concludes our conference. Thank you for participating, and you may now disconnect. This concludes our conference. this concludes our conference Thank you for participating, and you may now disconnect. thank you for participating and you may now disconnect