Why Gartner Stock Swooned in the First Half of 2026

Trends in the IT information market aren't favorable to Gartner's (NYSE: IT) business, and the company's recent stock trajectory reflects this. Shares of the veteran tech sector data and analysis company lost nearly 49% of their value in the first six months of this year.

Artificial intelligence is a real threat

More than anything, investors are rightfully concerned that artificial intelligence (AI) can drain business from Gartner. Increasingly these days, decision-makers in the tech field (and, let's be clear, in many sectors) are leaning on AI models to help them analyze markets and aid in strategizing.

That do-it-yourself approach is a clear threat to the company's analysis and advisory businesses, even though it's embraced AI solutions of its own, such as AskGartner (a client-facing generative AI assistant accessible within its platform).

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That fear grew in February, when Gartner released its final earnings report for 2025. Although it handily beat analyst estimates and sounded a very bullish note on the trailing quarter and its looming future, its growth rates weren't impressive.

Global contract value -- an important metric for the company -- inched up less than 1% year over year (to $5.2 billion), filtering down into total revenue growth of just over 2% to $1.8 billion.

Also, management proffered full-year revenue guidance of nearly $6.46 billion, which, if achieved, would be lower than 2025's nearly $6.5 billion. More uncomfortably, that forecast was below the $6.52 billion analyst consensus.

As the year progressed, it became more apparent that many IT departments in businesses were channeling more of their spending into direct AI implementations and enhancements. It follows that some pushed analysis and data services well down the priority ladder.

Gartner's fourth quarter earnings came a few days after the company announced it was divesting its digital market division, its business-to-business (B2B) unit. The buyer of the unit was the B2B software specialist G2; the base price was later disclosed in a regulatory filing to be $110 million.

Gartner's stock took quite a hit in the wake of this announcement; while the division had seen declines in both revenue and margins, that price was considered something of a fire-sale figure.

Modest growth figures

Gartner's subsequent first quarter 2026 earnings report did little to settle investor nerves about the state of its business. Contract value again limped only slightly higher, by 1% (to $5.3 billion), but revenue reversed course during the period, slipping by 1.5% to $1.5 billion. The company also cut its annual top-line guidance to below $6.41 billion.

On a brighter note, headline net income bumped 5% higher to $222 million, and guidance was raised for both net earnings not under generally accepted accounting principles (non-GAAP) and free cash flow. The former was pushed up to $13.25 per share from $12.30, while the latter got a boost to $1.16 billion from nearly $1.14 billion.

Regardless, to rebound in the second half of the year, Gartner will probably need to do a better job of showing investors that it can benefit from the relentless AI surge rather than be battered by it. Until it does so, it might be best not to invest in the stock.

Eric Volkman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Gartner. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.