On this page of StockholderLetter.com we present the latest annual shareholder letter from GARTNER INC — ticker symbol IT. Reading current and past IT letters to shareholders can bring important insights into the investment thesis.
Annual Report
Dear Shareholders:
Gartner delivered strong results while
navigating a complex environment
in 2023.
Gartner continued to provide strong returns for our
shareholders and exceptional value for our clients.
We drove high single-digit growth in contract value
Gene Hall
Chief Executive Officer
Craig Safian
Chief Financial Officer
and revenue, invested for future growth while
delivering strong margins, and generated more than
$1 billion of free cash flow.1 The growth rates detailed
in this letter exclude the impact of foreign exchange,
unless otherwise stated.
We generated $5.9 billion of revenue and $1.5 billion
of adjusted EBITDA, representing year-over-year
Gartner is uniquely
positioned to support
enterprise leaders by
applying Gartner insight,
drawn from our forwardthinking expert analysis,
practitioner research on
peer best practices and
robust data and analytics.
growth of 8% and 1%, respectively. Adjusted EPS was
$11.33 in 2023, representing a reported growth of 1%.
We continued to return capital to our shareholders
through our ongoing share repurchase program.
2023 was marked by a complex economic and
geopolitical environment with several sources of
disruption to enterprises around the world. Interest
rates and inflation were the highest they   ve been in
many years. The world experienced the worst
geopolitical polarization and conflict that we   ve seen
in decades. Enterprises continued to experience the
biggest changes to how and where people work
since the Industrial Revolution. Cybersecurity attacks
became even more frequent, while getting stronger
and more disruptive. And we saw a significant leap in
the capabilities of artificial intelligence. All of these
disruptions a   ected industries around the world,
sometimes in di   erent ways.
Technology vendors, an important end market for
Gartner representing about one quarter of our
contract value, saw a lot of change during 2023.
Larger technology vendors refocused on profitability,
which led to significant cost restructuring and
1
Reconciliations of all non-GAAP financial measures used in this
letter to the most directly comparable GAAP measures are available
on investor.gartner.com.
widespread layo   s. Smaller technology vendors
practitioner research on peer best practices, and
were impacted by rising interest rates, which
robust data and analytics.
a   ected their access to capital, as well as a shift in
venture capital priorities. This resulted in a more
challenging selling environment during the year.
These challenges are temporary as the value
proposition we o   er to technology vendors remains
very compelling. We expect this end market to return
to historical levels of growth for Gartner over time.
We o   er clients and prospects a very
compelling value proposition.
Our research agenda is defined by clients    needs,
focusing on the critical issues, opportunities and
challenges they face every day. In 2023, we had
more than 490,000 direct client interactions and
advised close to 15,000 distinct client enterprises
worldwide. Our size and scale enable us to apply our
vast resources toward broader and deeper research
coverage and to deliver insight to our clients based
on their most important, mission-critical priorities.
Enterprise leaders access our research content and
At Gartner, we guide the leaders who shape the
world. We do this by delivering actionable, objective
insight that drives smarter decisions and stronger
performance on an organization   s mission-critical
priorities. We are a trusted advisor and an objective
resource for close to 15,000 enterprises in
advisory services through individual subscription
contracts over a defined period. We typically have a
minimum contract period of 12 months for our
research and advisory subscription contracts and, at
December 31, 2023, over 70% of our contracts were
multiyear agreements.
approximately 90 countries and territories    
across all major functions, in every industry and
Gartner Conferences provides enterprise executives
enterprise size.
and their teams the opportunity to learn, share and
network. From our Gartner Symposium/Xpo series,
Enterprise leaders have mission-critical priorities,
which often evolve and can sometimes change both
quickly and dramatically. These leaders know they
need even more help than ever before. And Gartner
to industry-leading conferences focused on specific
business roles and topics, to peer-driven sessions,
our o   erings enable attendees to experience the
best of Gartner insight and guidance.
is uniquely positioned to help them succeed in
addressing their priorities. The breadth and depth of
Attendees experience sessions led by Gartner
our expertise enables us to deliver value on these
research experts, and the sessions include cutting-
priorities and more. We deliver our expertise through
edge technology solutions, peer exchange
our insights platform, direct engagement between
workshops, one-on-one analyst and advisor
our analysts and clients, and through our industry-
meetings, consulting diagnostic workshops,
leading conferences.
keynotes and more. Our conferences also
provide attendees with an opportunity to interact
We continue to deliver products and
services globally through three
business segments     Research,
Conferences and Consulting.
with IT and business executives from the world   s
Gartner Research is our largest and most profitable
in March 2020. Gartner successfully held 47 in-
segment. We are uniquely positioned to support
person destination conferences with more than
enterprise leaders by applying Gartner insight, drawn
75,000 attendees, including eight Symposium/Xpos.
from our forward-thinking expert analysis,
leading companies.
During 2023, we had our first full year of in-person
destination conferences since the pandemic began
Gartner Consulting serves senior executives leading
sustained double-digit growth. We have a great
technology-driven strategic initiatives as an
team across Gartner, driven by a very compelling
extension of our IT Research business. Through
associate value proposition. Moving into 2024, we
custom analysis and on-the-ground projects, we
are in an excellent position from a talent and
enable deeper support on our clients    mission-critical
tenure perspective.
priorities. We provide actionable solutions for a range
of IT-related priorities, including IT cost optimization,
digital transformation and IT sourcing optimization.
We continually renew our commitment to our
people by seeking to optimize our recruitment and
professional development processes, create
Our market opportunity is vast across all sectors,
networking and educational opportunities, celebrate
sizes and geographies, and we   re delivering more
heritage and history, celebrate community service
value than ever.
and create safe spaces for all employees. Our human
capital management strategies are developed by
Gartner is a growth company
powered by our people.
executive management and overseen by the
Our associates have fueled our sustained track
We   ve been operating with a hybrid work
record of growth, and we strive to put our people
environment for several years now. This is a key
first. We are intentional about how we bring the best
driver of our success. When it comes to a hybrid
possible talent to meet our clients    needs. We attract
work environment, Gartner is world-class. Our
and recruit a diverse talent pool, o   er a wide breadth
hybrid approach allows us to work together
of learning and career development opportunities,
virtually and in person as an integrated, global
and o   er industry-leading rewards and recognition
team. It also allows us to continue attracting and
for strong performers. In addition, we are committed
retaining top talent as we grow.
Compensation Committee of our Board of Directors.
to supporting our associates    lives outside of work
through charitable giving programs, communitybuilding initiatives, and providing generous health
and wellness benefits.
Our results were strong across the
business in 2023.
Our Research segment ended 2023 with revenue of
Gartner aims to foster a culture of lifelong learning
$4.9 billion, an increase of 6% year over year. At the
and development. We help employees unlock their
end of the year, contract value was $4.8 billion, an
full potential through mechanisms like continuous
increase of 8% year over year.
feedback and individual development plans. We
have dedicated, job-specific training programs in
addition to global programs aimed at growing and
advancing e   ective leaders. Our programs are
o   ered across multiple mediums and platforms    
both online through dynamic e-learning, or in person
through powerful shared experiences.
At December 31, 2023, we had approximately 20,000
associates globally.
Global Technology Sales (GTS) serves leaders and
their teams within IT and represents almost 80% of
our total contract value. GTS contract value at year
end was $3.7 billion, an increase of 6% versus the
prior year.
Global Business Sales (GBS) supports all the
enterprise functions beyond IT. This includes HR,
Supply Chain, Marketing, Finance, Legal, Sales and
more. GBS represents more than 20% of our total
We continue to carefully calibrate our hiring based
contract value. GBS contract value increased a
on our near-term needs and to invest for long-term,
strong 13% year over year to end 2023 at $1.1 billion.
Gartner Conferences provides great value to our
We will continue to deliver unparalleled value to our
clients. In 2023, Conferences revenue was $505
clients, staying focused on strong, operational
million, an increase of 29% for the full year as we
execution and continuous improvement and
fully returned to in-person conferences.
innovation so that we get better, faster and stronger
Consulting revenue was $515 million, an increase of
8% for the full year 2023.
every year.
Looking out over the medium term, our outstanding
financial model and expectations are unchanged.
Looking ahead, we are well-positioned
for long-term, sustained double-digit
growth, and we will continue to focus
on strong execution.
We   re well-positioned to have a strong 2024. Our
strategy, culture and people will continue to be a
source of strength. Our strategy is to be laserfocused on our clients    mission-critical priorities, to
achieve consistent execution of operational best
practices, to innovate and continuously improve
across all aspects of our business, and to inspire
lifelong careers through an environment of
exceptional professional development.
Many of the programs we   ve worked on over the past
We expect to deliver Research contract value
growth of 12% to 16% and double-digit revenue
growth. With gross margin expansion, sales cost
growing in line with CV growth over time and G&A
leverage, we can modestly expand margins from
2024. With our modest capital expenditure needs
and the benefit of clients paying us upfront for our
services, we plan to grow free cash flow at least as
fast as adjusted EBITDA. Finally, we   ll continue to
deploy our capital on share repurchases, which will
lower the share count over time, and on strategic
value-enhancing tuck-in mergers and acquisitions.
On behalf of everyone at Gartner, we thank you for
your support.
few years are positioned to have significant impact
during 2024. Our 2024 priorities set us up to
continue delivering unparalleled value. Leaders
around the world are at or near an inflection point for
their decision making following a number of
disruptions in 2023. After a period in which leaders
reacted with spending recalibration, layo   s and
leadership changes, we expect them to refocus on
their mission-critical priorities where we are uniquely
positioned to help.
In 2023, Gartner drove strong results in terms of
contract value, revenue, profits and free cash flow.
Contract value grew in the high single digits, and we
are positioned for growth to accelerate during 2024.
We   ve increased hiring to drive future growth. And
we continue to put our capital to work on behalf of
our shareholders, repurchasing more than $3 billion
worth of our stock over the past three years.
Gene Hall
Chief Executive Officer
Craig Safian
Chief Financial Officer
 • shareholder letter icon 4/16/2024 Letter Continued (Full PDF)
 • stockholder letter icon 4/17/2023 IT Stockholder Letter
 • stockholder letter icon More "Business Services & Equipment" Category Stockholder Letters
 • Benford's Law Stocks icon IT Benford's Law Stock Score = 93


IT Shareholder/Stockholder Letter Transcript:

Annual Report

Dear Shareholders:
Gartner delivered strong results while
navigating a complex environment
in 2023.
Gartner continued to provide strong returns for our
shareholders and exceptional value for our clients.
We drove high single-digit growth in contract value
Gene Hall
Chief Executive Officer
Craig Safian
Chief Financial Officer
and revenue, invested for future growth while
delivering strong margins, and generated more than
$1 billion of free cash flow.1 The growth rates detailed
in this letter exclude the impact of foreign exchange,
unless otherwise stated.
We generated $5.9 billion of revenue and $1.5 billion
of adjusted EBITDA, representing year-over-year
Gartner is uniquely
positioned to support
enterprise leaders by
applying Gartner insight,
drawn from our forwardthinking expert analysis,
practitioner research on
peer best practices and
robust data and analytics.
growth of 8% and 1%, respectively. Adjusted EPS was
$11.33 in 2023, representing a reported growth of 1%.
We continued to return capital to our shareholders
through our ongoing share repurchase program.
2023 was marked by a complex economic and
geopolitical environment with several sources of
disruption to enterprises around the world. Interest
rates and inflation were the highest they   ve been in
many years. The world experienced the worst
geopolitical polarization and conflict that we   ve seen
in decades. Enterprises continued to experience the
biggest changes to how and where people work
since the Industrial Revolution. Cybersecurity attacks
became even more frequent, while getting stronger
and more disruptive. And we saw a significant leap in
the capabilities of artificial intelligence. All of these
disruptions a   ected industries around the world,
sometimes in di   erent ways.
Technology vendors, an important end market for
Gartner representing about one quarter of our
contract value, saw a lot of change during 2023.
Larger technology vendors refocused on profitability,
which led to significant cost restructuring and
1
Reconciliations of all non-GAAP financial measures used in this
letter to the most directly comparable GAAP measures are available
on investor.gartner.com.

widespread layo   s. Smaller technology vendors
practitioner research on peer best practices, and
were impacted by rising interest rates, which
robust data and analytics.
a   ected their access to capital, as well as a shift in
venture capital priorities. This resulted in a more
challenging selling environment during the year.
These challenges are temporary as the value
proposition we o   er to technology vendors remains
very compelling. We expect this end market to return
to historical levels of growth for Gartner over time.
We o   er clients and prospects a very
compelling value proposition.
Our research agenda is defined by clients    needs,
focusing on the critical issues, opportunities and
challenges they face every day. In 2023, we had
more than 490,000 direct client interactions and
advised close to 15,000 distinct client enterprises
worldwide. Our size and scale enable us to apply our
vast resources toward broader and deeper research
coverage and to deliver insight to our clients based
on their most important, mission-critical priorities.
Enterprise leaders access our research content and
At Gartner, we guide the leaders who shape the
world. We do this by delivering actionable, objective
insight that drives smarter decisions and stronger
performance on an organization   s mission-critical
priorities. We are a trusted advisor and an objective
resource for close to 15,000 enterprises in
advisory services through individual subscription
contracts over a defined period. We typically have a
minimum contract period of 12 months for our
research and advisory subscription contracts and, at
December 31, 2023, over 70% of our contracts were
multiyear agreements.
approximately 90 countries and territories    
across all major functions, in every industry and
Gartner Conferences provides enterprise executives
enterprise size.
and their teams the opportunity to learn, share and
network. From our Gartner Symposium/Xpo series,
Enterprise leaders have mission-critical priorities,
which often evolve and can sometimes change both
quickly and dramatically. These leaders know they
need even more help than ever before. And Gartner
to industry-leading conferences focused on specific
business roles and topics, to peer-driven sessions,
our o   erings enable attendees to experience the
best of Gartner insight and guidance.
is uniquely positioned to help them succeed in
addressing their priorities. The breadth and depth of
Attendees experience sessions led by Gartner
our expertise enables us to deliver value on these
research experts, and the sessions include cutting-
priorities and more. We deliver our expertise through
edge technology solutions, peer exchange
our insights platform, direct engagement between
workshops, one-on-one analyst and advisor
our analysts and clients, and through our industry-
meetings, consulting diagnostic workshops,
leading conferences.
keynotes and more. Our conferences also
provide attendees with an opportunity to interact
We continue to deliver products and
services globally through three
business segments     Research,
Conferences and Consulting.
with IT and business executives from the world   s
Gartner Research is our largest and most profitable
in March 2020. Gartner successfully held 47 in-
segment. We are uniquely positioned to support
person destination conferences with more than
enterprise leaders by applying Gartner insight, drawn
75,000 attendees, including eight Symposium/Xpos.
from our forward-thinking expert analysis,
leading companies.
During 2023, we had our first full year of in-person
destination conferences since the pandemic began

Gartner Consulting serves senior executives leading
sustained double-digit growth. We have a great
technology-driven strategic initiatives as an
team across Gartner, driven by a very compelling
extension of our IT Research business. Through
associate value proposition. Moving into 2024, we
custom analysis and on-the-ground projects, we
are in an excellent position from a talent and
enable deeper support on our clients    mission-critical
tenure perspective.
priorities. We provide actionable solutions for a range
of IT-related priorities, including IT cost optimization,
digital transformation and IT sourcing optimization.
We continually renew our commitment to our
people by seeking to optimize our recruitment and
professional development processes, create
Our market opportunity is vast across all sectors,
networking and educational opportunities, celebrate
sizes and geographies, and we   re delivering more
heritage and history, celebrate community service
value than ever.
and create safe spaces for all employees. Our human
capital management strategies are developed by
Gartner is a growth company
powered by our people.
executive management and overseen by the
Our associates have fueled our sustained track
We   ve been operating with a hybrid work
record of growth, and we strive to put our people
environment for several years now. This is a key
first. We are intentional about how we bring the best
driver of our success. When it comes to a hybrid
possible talent to meet our clients    needs. We attract
work environment, Gartner is world-class. Our
and recruit a diverse talent pool, o   er a wide breadth
hybrid approach allows us to work together
of learning and career development opportunities,
virtually and in person as an integrated, global
and o   er industry-leading rewards and recognition
team. It also allows us to continue attracting and
for strong performers. In addition, we are committed
retaining top talent as we grow.
Compensation Committee of our Board of Directors.
to supporting our associates    lives outside of work
through charitable giving programs, communitybuilding initiatives, and providing generous health
and wellness benefits.
Our results were strong across the
business in 2023.
Our Research segment ended 2023 with revenue of
Gartner aims to foster a culture of lifelong learning
$4.9 billion, an increase of 6% year over year. At the
and development. We help employees unlock their
end of the year, contract value was $4.8 billion, an
full potential through mechanisms like continuous
increase of 8% year over year.
feedback and individual development plans. We
have dedicated, job-specific training programs in
addition to global programs aimed at growing and
advancing e   ective leaders. Our programs are
o   ered across multiple mediums and platforms    
both online through dynamic e-learning, or in person
through powerful shared experiences.
At December 31, 2023, we had approximately 20,000
associates globally.
Global Technology Sales (GTS) serves leaders and
their teams within IT and represents almost 80% of
our total contract value. GTS contract value at year
end was $3.7 billion, an increase of 6% versus the
prior year.
Global Business Sales (GBS) supports all the
enterprise functions beyond IT. This includes HR,
Supply Chain, Marketing, Finance, Legal, Sales and
more. GBS represents more than 20% of our total
We continue to carefully calibrate our hiring based
contract value. GBS contract value increased a
on our near-term needs and to invest for long-term,
strong 13% year over year to end 2023 at $1.1 billion.

Gartner Conferences provides great value to our
We will continue to deliver unparalleled value to our
clients. In 2023, Conferences revenue was $505
clients, staying focused on strong, operational
million, an increase of 29% for the full year as we
execution and continuous improvement and
fully returned to in-person conferences.
innovation so that we get better, faster and stronger
Consulting revenue was $515 million, an increase of
8% for the full year 2023.
every year.
Looking out over the medium term, our outstanding
financial model and expectations are unchanged.
Looking ahead, we are well-positioned
for long-term, sustained double-digit
growth, and we will continue to focus
on strong execution.
We   re well-positioned to have a strong 2024. Our
strategy, culture and people will continue to be a
source of strength. Our strategy is to be laserfocused on our clients    mission-critical priorities, to
achieve consistent execution of operational best
practices, to innovate and continuously improve
across all aspects of our business, and to inspire
lifelong careers through an environment of
exceptional professional development.
Many of the programs we   ve worked on over the past
We expect to deliver Research contract value
growth of 12% to 16% and double-digit revenue
growth. With gross margin expansion, sales cost
growing in line with CV growth over time and G&A
leverage, we can modestly expand margins from
2024. With our modest capital expenditure needs
and the benefit of clients paying us upfront for our
services, we plan to grow free cash flow at least as
fast as adjusted EBITDA. Finally, we   ll continue to
deploy our capital on share repurchases, which will
lower the share count over time, and on strategic
value-enhancing tuck-in mergers and acquisitions.
On behalf of everyone at Gartner, we thank you for
your support.
few years are positioned to have significant impact
during 2024. Our 2024 priorities set us up to
continue delivering unparalleled value. Leaders
around the world are at or near an inflection point for
their decision making following a number of
disruptions in 2023. After a period in which leaders
reacted with spending recalibration, layo   s and
leadership changes, we expect them to refocus on
their mission-critical priorities where we are uniquely
positioned to help.
In 2023, Gartner drove strong results in terms of
contract value, revenue, profits and free cash flow.
Contract value grew in the high single digits, and we
are positioned for growth to accelerate during 2024.
We   ve increased hiring to drive future growth. And
we continue to put our capital to work on behalf of
our shareholders, repurchasing more than $3 billion
worth of our stock over the past three years.
Gene Hall
Chief Executive Officer
Craig Safian
Chief Financial Officer



shareholder letter icon 4/16/2024 Letter Continued (Full PDF)
 

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