What Happened?
Shares of data analytics and digital solutions company ExlService Holdings (NASDAQ:EXLS) jumped 17.9% in the afternoon session after the stock continued to gain momentum following strong quarter 2026 earnings results, which exceeded Wall Street’s expectations and prompted management to raise its full-year outlook.
Quarterly revenue increased 15.6% year over year to $594.8 million, while adjusted EPS rose 20.4% to $0.59, with both measures surpassing consensus estimates. Management also raised the midpoint of its full-year revenue guidance to $2.40 billion and its adjusted EPS forecast to $2.27. The combination of better-than-expected results and an improved outlook continued to support investor optimism.
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What Is The Market Telling Us
EXL’s shares are somewhat volatile and have had 10 moves greater than 5% over the last year. But moves this big are rare even for EXL and indicate this news significantly impacted the market’s perception of the business.
The biggest move we wrote about over the last year was 6 months ago when the stock dropped 8.9% on the news that disappointing fourth-quarter results from industry bellwether Gartner sparked widespread concerns about a slowdown in the sector.
The research and advisory firm reported that revenue in its Consulting segment fell 12.8%. This weak performance from a major industry player appeared to validate broader market fears about the health of the IT services and consulting industry. The negative sentiment spread quickly, with shares of other major companies like Accenture and Intuit also falling sharply. The market now seems concerned about a potential slowdown in the sector's growth rate, compounded by uncertainty over the long-term impact of artificial intelligence on existing business models.
EXL is down 13% since the beginning of the year, and at $35.85 per share, it is trading 23.9% below its 52-week high of $47.11. Despite the year-to-date decline, a $1,000 investment in EXL five years ago would now be worth approximately $1,646.
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