As the craze of earnings season draws to a close, here’s a look back at some of the most exciting (and some less so) results from Q2. Today, we are looking at it services & consulting stocks, starting with EPAM (NYSE: EPAM).
IT Services & Consulting companies stand to benefit from increasing enterprise demand for digital transformation, AI-driven automation, and cybersecurity resilience. Many enterprises can't attack these topics alone and need IT services and consulting on everything from technical advice to implementation. Challenges in meeting these needs will include finding talent in specialized and evolving IT fields. While AI and automation can enhance productivity, they also threaten to commoditize certain consulting functions. Another ongoing challenge will be pricing pressures from offshore IT service providers, which have lower labor costs and increasingly equal access to advanced technology like AI.
The 8 it services & consulting stocks we track reported a mixed Q2. As a group, revenues beat analysts’ consensus estimates by 1.2% while next quarter’s revenue guidance was 0.6% below.
Amidst this news, share prices of the companies have had a rough stretch. On average, they are down 7.6% since the latest earnings results.
Best Q2: EPAM (NYSE: EPAM)
Founded in 1993 during the early days of offshore software development, EPAM Systems (NYSE: EPAM) provides digital engineering, cloud, and AI transformation services to help global enterprises and startups modernize their technology systems and create digital products.
EPAM reported revenues of $1.35 billion, up 18% year on year. This print exceeded analysts’ expectations by 1.5%. Overall, it was a strong quarter for the company with an impressive beat of analysts’ constant currency revenue estimates.
"We're pleased with another strong quarter of sequential organic growth—our third in a row—marking a return to greater consistency in our performance," said Arkadiy Dobkin, CEO and President at EPAM.
The market was likely pricing in the results, and the stock is flat since reporting. It currently trades at $150.85.
Is now the time to buy EPAM? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it’s free.
Gartner (NYSE: IT)
With over 2,500 research experts guiding organizations through complex technology landscapes, Gartner (NYSE: IT) provides research, advisory services, and conferences that help executives make better decisions about technology and other business priorities.
Gartner reported revenues of $1.69 billion, up 5.7% year on year, in line with analysts’ expectations. The business had a strong quarter with a beat of analysts’ EPS and constant currency revenue estimates.
Although it had a fine quarter compared its peers, the market seems unhappy with the results as the stock is down 22% since reporting. It currently trades at $262.87.
Is now the time to buy Gartner? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it’s free.
Slowest Q2: ASGN (NYSE: ASGN)
Evolving from its roots in IT staffing to become a high-end technology consulting powerhouse, ASGN (NYSE: ASGN) provides specialized IT consulting services and staffing solutions to Fortune 1000 companies and U.S. federal government agencies.
ASGN reported revenues of $1.02 billion, down 1.4% year on year, exceeding analysts’ expectations by 2.4%. Still, it was a softer quarter as it posted a significant miss of analysts’ full-year EPS guidance estimates.
As expected, the stock is down 5.3% since the results and currently trades at $47.35.
Read our full analysis of ASGN’s results here.
Kyndryl (NYSE: KD)
Born from IBM's managed infrastructure services business in a 2021 spinoff, Kyndryl (NYSE: KD) is the world's largest IT infrastructure services provider that designs, builds, and manages technology environments for enterprise customers.
Kyndryl reported revenues of $3.74 billion, flat year on year. This result lagged analysts' expectations by 1.5%. Overall, it was a slower quarter as it also produced revenue guidance for next quarter missing analysts’ expectations.
Kyndryl had the weakest performance against analyst estimates among its peers. The stock is down 18.6% since reporting and currently trades at $29.89.
Read our full, actionable report on Kyndryl here, it’s free.
Grid Dynamics (NASDAQ: GDYN)
With engineering centers across the Americas, Europe, and India serving Fortune 1000 companies, Grid Dynamics (NASDAQ: GDYN) provides technology consulting, engineering, and analytics services to help large enterprises modernize their technology systems and business processes.
Grid Dynamics reported revenues of $101.1 million, up 21.7% year on year. This number surpassed analysts’ expectations by 0.5%. It was a strong quarter as it also recorded full-year revenue guidance topping analysts’ expectations and EPS in line with analysts’ estimates.
Grid Dynamics scored the fastest revenue growth but had the weakest full-year guidance update among its peers. The stock is down 18.9% since reporting and currently trades at $7.70.
Read our full, actionable report on Grid Dynamics here, it’s free.
Market Update
Thanks to the Fed’s series of rate hikes in 2022 and 2023, inflation has cooled significantly from its post-pandemic highs, drawing closer to the 2% goal. This disinflation has occurred without severely impacting economic growth, suggesting the success of a soft landing. The stock market thrived in 2024, spurred by recent rate cuts (0.5% in September and 0.25% in November), and a notable surge followed Donald Trump’s presidential election win in November, propelling indices to historic highs. Nonetheless, the outlook for 2025 remains clouded by potential trade policy changes and corporate tax discussions, which could impact business confidence and growth. The path forward holds both optimism and caution as new policies take shape.
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