Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) Announces Earnings Results

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) announced its earnings results on Wednesday. The information technology service provider reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.38 by ($0.01), Zacks reports. The company had revenue of $5.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.48 billion. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a return on equity of 17.50% and a net margin of 10.41%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.31 EPS. Cognizant Technology Solutions updated its FY 2026 guidance to 5.700-5.820 EPS.

Here are the key takeaways from Cognizant Technology Solutions’ conference call:

• Second-quarter revenue grew 4.1% year over year in constant currency to $5.5 billion, with financial services leading at nearly 12% growth and adjusted operating margin expanding to 16% excluding special items.
• Bookings momentum remained solid, with seven deals above $100 million in total contract value, including three new logos; trailing-12-month bookings rose 5% with a 1.3 book-to-bill ratio, while financial-services demand continued to strengthen.
• Cognizant reported expanding AI traction, including more than 8,000 AI engagements, over 40% of software development being AI-assisted, and plans to scale its frontier workforce to 5,000 certified engineers and 10,000 frontier business operators.
• The company reduced full-year revenue growth guidance to 4%-5.5% in constant currency from its prior outlook, citing persistently elevated macro uncertainty and pressured discretionary spending, although it expects large deals to ramp in the second half.
• Adjusted EPS guidance increased to $5.70-$5.82, and Cognizant returned $1.1 billion through second-quarter share repurchases while remaining on pace to return approximately $2.6 billion to shareholders this year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Up 11.2%

NASDAQ CTSH traded up $5.65 on Wednesday, hitting $55.96. 4,867,102 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,238,286. The company has a market cap of $26.52 billion, a PE ratio of 12.14, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $47.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $59.01. Cognizant Technology Solutions has a fifty-two week low of $37.08 and a fifty-two week high of $87.03. The company has a quick ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Cognizant Technology Solutions declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Monday, May 18th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the information technology service provider to reacquire up to 9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cognizant Technology Solutions

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Compound Planning Inc. increased its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 32.5% in the fourth quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 5,695 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $473,000 after purchasing an additional 1,397 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 191.6% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 218,371 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $18,125,000 after acquiring an additional 143,488 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 349,752 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $29,030,000 after acquiring an additional 5,788 shares during the last quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury boosted its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury now owns 161,542 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $13,256,000 after acquiring an additional 7,122 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions during the fourth quarter worth about $779,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CTSH has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley set a $44.00 price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Nomura cut their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $93.00 to $74.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Dbs Bank decreased their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $80.00 to $66.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Wedbush raised shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $56.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Cognizant Technology Solutions currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $61.35.

Key Cognizant Technology Solutions News

Here are the key news stories impacting Cognizant Technology Solutions this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Improved full-year earnings outlook: Cognizant raised its 2026 adjusted diluted EPS guidance to $5.70-$5.82 from $5.69 consensus, while maintaining adjusted operating-margin guidance of 16.0%-16.2%. Cognizant Reports Second Quarter 2026 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Solid second-quarter performance: Revenue rose 4.5% year over year to $5.481 billion, operating margin expanded to 15.9%, adjusted EPS increased 4.6% to $1.37, and trailing 12-month bookings grew 5% to $29.1 billion. Financial Services revenue was particularly strong, rising 12%. Cognizant Q2 Revenue Results
• Positive Sentiment: Capital returns supported sentiment: The company deployed approximately $1.1 billion on share repurchases during the quarter, including 22.5 million shares, which can support per-share earnings and signal management’s confidence in valuation. Cognizant Reports Second Quarter 2026 Results
• Positive Sentiment: AI growth catalysts: Cognizant launched an EMEA AI unit to help businesses scale agentic-AI projects and recently expanded its partnership with Anthropic. It also won a five-year technology and AI modernization engagement with The Andover Companies. Cognizant Launches EMEA AI Unit
• Negative Sentiment: Near-term revenue guidance was cautious: Third-quarter revenue is projected at $5.6-$5.7 billion, roughly in line with or below Wall Street expectations, as clients remain conservative on discretionary IT spending and prioritize data-center infrastructure over software investments. Cognizant Forecasts Weak Quarterly Revenue
• Negative Sentiment: Minor earnings miss: Adjusted quarterly EPS of $1.37 narrowly missed the $1.38 consensus estimate, although it improved from $1.31 a year earlier. Cognizant Lags Q2 Earnings Estimates

About Cognizant Technology Solutions

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ: CTSH) is a global professional services company that provides information technology, consulting and business process services to large enterprises. Its core offerings include digital engineering, application development and maintenance, cloud migration and managed services, data analytics and artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and industry-specific solutions. Cognizant works with clients to design and implement technology-enabled transformations that address customer experience, operational efficiency and new product and service delivery.

Founded in the 1990s and headquartered in Teaneck, New Jersey, Cognizant has grown into a multinational organization with delivery centers and operations across the Americas, Europe, and Asia.