Gartner raises annual forecasts on strength in conferences unit
Technology
Gartner raises annual forecasts on strength in conferences unit
(Reuters) - Gartner 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 the 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.
