Gartner raises annual forecasts on strength in conferences unit (updated)

Gartner

05/11/2024 16:12

(Rewrites paragraph 1, adds analyst comments in paragraphs 6
and 7, comment from conference call in paragraph 8)
    By Rishi Kant
       Nov 5 (Reuters) - Gartner  IT.N  raised its full-year
forecast for revenue and profit on Tuesday, as the research and
advisory firm benefits from its booming events business, sending
its shares up more than 2% in morning trading.
    The company, which also beat analysts' estimates for
third-quarter profit, expects a $15 million increase in revenue
from its conferences unit.
    Gartner organizes conferences focused on specific business
roles and topics for executives and teams in an organization.
Its other two segments are research and consulting.
    The company, which has around 15,000 enterprise clients,
said it held 10 in-person, destination conferences in the third
quarter.
    Its client retention rate was 83% for the quarter ended
Sept. 30, flat over the preceding three months and the same
period a year earlier.
    Joshua Chan, research analyst at UBS, said client retention
rate was flat on the back of smaller companies unable to renew
Gartner's services, in what remains an uncertain business
environment.
    Contract value in the third quarter grew 7.3% over the
year-ago period. Chan said investors were expecting more stable
growth in contract value.
    The quarter-to-quarter change in contract value is not going
to be a "straight line" trend-wise and continues to be affected
by a rocky macroeconomic situation, Gartner executives said on a
post-earnings call.
    The Stamford, Connecticut-based company expects its 2024
revenue to be at least $6.23 billion, compared with its previous
forecast of at least $6.20 billion.
    It also expects its full-year adjusted profit per share to
be at least $11.75, versus the $11.05 projected earlier.
    Revenue at the company's mainstay research segment, which
accounts for more than half of its total revenue, was up about
5.1% at $1.29 billion in the third quarter.
    Its conferences business posted a 32.5% rise in revenue,
while the consulting segment saw a 3.9% fall.
    Total quarterly revenue rose 5.4% to $1.48 billion.
    Adjusted profit of $2.50 per share beat analysts' estimate
of $2.39, data compiled by LSEG showed.

 (Reporting by Rishi Kant in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi
Majumdar)
 ((Rishi.Kant@thomsonreuters.com))