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Gartner (IT) Stock Rallies 107.2% Year to Date: Here's Why

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Shares of Gartner Inc. (IT - Free Report) have gained 107.2% so far this year, ahead of 45.3% growth of the industry it belongs to and 25.8% rise of the Zacks S&P 500 composite.

Zacks Investment ResearchImage Source: Zacks Investment Research

Let’s delve into the factors that have contributed to the company’s price performance:

Upbeat 2021 Guidance

Gartner raised its full-year 2021 guidance. The company now expects total revenues to be $4.66 billion compared with the prior guidance of $4.57 billion. The current Zacks Consensus Estimate of $4.68 billion is higher than the updated guidance.

Adjusted EPS is now anticipated to be $8.54 compared with the prior guidance of $7.60. The current Zacks Consensus Estimate of $8.72 lies higher than the updated guidance.

Adjusted EBITDA is now projected to be $1.26 billion compared with the prior guidance of $1.16 billion. Free cash flow is now anticipated to be $1.23 billion compared with the prior guidance of $1.13 billion.

Consecutive Earnings Beat

Gartner came up with better-than-expected earnings and revenue performance in the past four quarters. The company’s bottom line continued to benefit from improvement in operational efficiency. Strength across the Research and Consulting segments boosted the top line.

Diverse Addressable Market

Gartner has a large and diverse addressable market with low customer concentration, which helps in mitigating operating risks. Operating in an industry with low barriers to entry, Gartner has an integrated research and consulting team designed to best serve clients’ needs. This enables it to have a competitive advantage over its rivals. Leveraging the breadth and depth of its intellectual capital, Gartner creates and distributes proprietary research content as broadly as possible via published reports, interactive tools, facilitated peer networking, briefings, consulting and advisory services, and events. These facilitate a steadily improving revenue stream for the company.

Zacks Rank and Other Stocks to Consider

Gartner currently carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Some other top-ranked stocks in the broader Zacks Business Services sector are Avis Budget (CAR - Free Report) , Automatic Data Processing (ADP - Free Report) and Genpact (G - Free Report) , each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Avis Budget has an expected earnings growth rate of around 395.65% for the current year. The company has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 76.9%, on average.

Avis Budget’s shares have surged 615.9% so far this year. The company has a long-term earnings growth of 27.5%.

Automatic Data Processing has an expected earnings growth rate of around 12.3% for the current fiscal year. The company has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 9.7%, on average.

Automatic Data Processing’s shares have surged 31.1% so far this year. The company has a long-term earnings growth of 12%.

Genpact has an expected earnings growth rate of around 13.7% for the current fiscal year. The company has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 15.1%, on average.

Genpact’s shares have surged 23.2% so far this year. The company has a long-term earnings growth of 14.8%.

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