Gartner Q4 Profit Rises, But Results Miss Estimates; To Buy Back $800 Mln Stock

(RTTNews) - Gartner Inc. (IT), the leading provider of research and analysis on the global information technology industry, reported that its fourth quarter net income increased to $61.42 million or $0.65 per share, from $58.82 million or $0.61 per share in the same quarter last year. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $0.69 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

The fourth quarters of 2013 and 2012 were negatively impacted by after-tax acquisition-related charges, consisting of intangibles amortization and integration costs, of $(0.01) and $(0.02) per share, respectively.

Total revenues for the quarter rose 10% to $520.71 million from $474.75 million in the prior year quarter. Ten analysts had consensus revenue estimate of $521.18 million for the quarter.

Gene Hall, Gartner's chief executive officer, commented, "Our contract value reached an all-time high as we achieved record levels of new business and continued strong client and wallet retention. We again delivered double-digit growth in revenue, EPS and cash flow for the full year 2013. As we look ahead to 2014, we expect an acceleration in contract value growth and another year of double-digit growth in our key financial metrics."

On February 4, 2014, the Company's Board authorized $800 million to repurchase the Company's common stock. This authorization will succeed the Company's prior $500 million share repurchase plan, which has been substantially utilized.

Looking ahead for fiscal 2014, the company expects earnings per share to be in the range of $2.12 - $2.30, and total revenue of $1.940 billion - $1.985 billion. Street currently is looking for fiscal year 2014 earnings of $2.38 per share on annual revenues of $1.98 billion.