What happened?
Shares of research and advisory firm Gartner (NYSE:IT) fell 13.4% in the afternoon session after the company reported a decline in GAAP revenue and operating cash flow for the third quarter of 2026. According to a company press release, Gartner reported GAAP revenue of $1,505 million for the third quarter of 2026, which marked a 1.3% decline compared with the previous year. On an FX-neutral basis, which adjusts for foreign currency fluctuations, GAAP revenue fell 1.1% year over year. Operating cash flow also fell 1.4% to $294 million compared with the previous year.
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What is the market telling us
Gartner’s shares are extremely volatile and have had 30 moves greater than 5% over the last year. But moves this big are rare even for Gartner and indicate this news significantly impacted the market’s perception of the business.
The previous big move we wrote about was 14 days ago when the stock gained 4.5% on the news that Truist Securities and Wells Fargo both raised their price targets on Gartner after meetings around the company’s IT Symposium. According to StreetInsider, Truist Securities analyst Jasper Bibb raised Gartner’s price target to $235 from $205 while keeping a Buy rating, and Wells Fargo analyst Jason Hass raised his target to $175 from $150 while maintaining an Underweight rating. Truist cited Symposium meetings with management, noting conference attendance was up double digits year over year and that management’s tone remained measured but confident in long-term contract-value acceleration and Gartner’s value proposition. Wells Fargo’s raise followed Symposium discussions on Gartner’s BTI transformation, where the firm sees AI-driven uncertainty increasing client engagement and expects better impact, timeliness, research quantity, and user experience — including tools such as AskGartner and faster “quick-takes” research. Together, the notes point to improving operating momentum even as Street views remain split between Truist’s Buy and Wells Fargo’s still-cautious Underweight.
Gartner is down 13.2% since the beginning of the year, and at $205.81 per share, it is trading 19.2% below its 52-week high of $254.59 from December 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Gartner’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at only $632.05.
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