Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) Issues Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.03 EPS

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The information technology service provider reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.03, FiscalAI reports. The firm had revenue of $5.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.64 billion. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a net margin of 10.26% and a return on equity of 17.70%. The company’s revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.39 EPS.

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

• Strong third-quarter execution: Revenue grew 4.8% year over year in constant currency to $5.7 billion, adjusted operating margin reached 16.3%, and adjusted EPS rose 7% to $1.49. Free cash flow was $925 million, while Cognizant returned more than $250 million through share repurchases during the quarter.
• Financial services and AI-related businesses remained key growth drivers. Financial services grew 12% in constant currency for a third consecutive quarter, while AI-tailwind areas representing roughly 40% of the business are growing at approximately two to three times the rate of total organic services revenue.
• Bookings quality improved, with new and expanded business reaching 60% of trailing-12-month bookings, up more than 10 percentage points year over year. Trailing-12-month bookings grew 4%, book-to-bill was 1.3, and large-deal TCV increased 9%.
• Cognizant is expanding its AI Builder strategy across modernization, agentic business operations, secure AI, and data-center and workplace services. Management cited more than 8,500 AI engagements, over 50% AI-assisted software development, and platform opportunities intended to capture more value from enterprise AI deployments.
• Guidance was reduced because macro uncertainty is weighing on discretionary spending, particularly in healthcare and consumer-facing sectors. Full-year constant-currency revenue growth is now expected at 4.0%-4.4%, versus 4.0%-5.5% previously, while fourth-quarter growth is guided to 3.2%-4.7%; higher furloughs and lower third-party resale contributions are also expected.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CTSH traded down $3.84 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $62.52. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,655,732 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,953,371. Cognizant Technology Solutions has a fifty-two week low of $37.08 and a fifty-two week high of $87.03. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $62.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $59.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 2.18 and a current ratio of 2.18. The company has a market cap of $28.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.86.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on CTSH. Needham & Company LLC set a $78.00 price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research note on Monday. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 price objective (up from $65.00) on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a report on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective (up from $65.00) on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Friday, September 18th. Robert W. Baird set a $68.00 price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $67.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Cognizant Technology Solutions has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $68.04.

Trending Headlines about Cognizant Technology Solutions

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

• Positive Sentiment: Third-quarter adjusted EPS was $1.49, above the $1.46 consensus estimate, while revenue of $5.664 billion also exceeded expectations. Adjusted operating margin expanded to 16.3%, and free cash flow reached approximately $1.6 billion. Cognizant Reports Third Quarter 2026 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Financial Services revenue grew 12% year over year, and Cognizant repurchased shares during the quarter. The company maintained expectations for adjusted operating-margin expansion and forecast full-year adjusted EPS of $5.72 to $5.79. Cognizant Third-Quarter Results
• Neutral Sentiment: Cognizant narrowed its 2026 constant-currency revenue-growth outlook to 4.0%–4.4% and expects full-year revenue of roughly $22.05 billion to $22.14 billion. The guidance remains positive but signals a relatively modest growth trajectory. Cognizant Q3 Adjusted Earnings, Revenue Rise
• Negative Sentiment: Third-quarter bookings declined 7% year over year, raising concerns about future revenue growth. Trailing 12-month bookings increased 4%, but the quarterly decline suggests customers may be delaying or reducing new technology-services commitments. Cognizant Sinks as Bookings Drop 7%
• Negative Sentiment: Although reported revenue rose 4.6%, acquisitions and resold third-party products contributed roughly four percentage points of that increase. This implies very limited organic growth in Cognizant’s core services business. Cognizant Bookings Drop 7% as Growth Slows
• Negative Sentiment: GAAP operating margin fell 60 basis points to 15.4%. Investors also noted that per-share earnings benefited from share repurchases rather than stronger underlying profitability, intensifying concerns about the quality of growth.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Company Profile

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation is a global information technology services and consulting company that helps organizations modernize their technology infrastructure, operations and customer experiences. The company serves businesses across industries including financial services, healthcare, life sciences, manufacturing, retail and communications.

Cognizant’s services include consulting, application development and modernization, cloud computing, data and artificial intelligence, digital engineering, cybersecurity and business process services.