Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation (CTSH), headquartered in Teaneck, New Jersey, a professional services company, provides consulting and technology, and outsourcing services. With a market cap of $33.2 billion, the company focuses on technology strategy consulting, complex systems development, enterprise software package implementation and maintenance, data warehousing, and business intelligence. The outsourcing and technology giant is expected to announce its fiscal third-quarter earnings for 2026 before the market opens on Thursday, Oct. 29.
Ahead of the event, analysts expect Cognizant Technology Solutions to report a profit of $1.46 per share on a diluted basis, up 5% from $1.39 per share in the year-ago quarter. The company beat the consensus estimates in three of the last four quarters while missing the forecast on another occasion.
For the full year, analysts expect Cognizant Technology Solutions to report EPS of $5.74, up 8.7% from $5.28 in fiscal 2025. Its EPS is expected to rise 10.3% year over year to $6.33 in fiscal 2027.
CTSH stock has underperformed the S&P 500 Index’s ($SPX) 14.4% gains over the past 52 weeks, with shares up 3.8% during this period. Similarly, it underperformed the State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF’s (XLK) 26.6% gains over the same time frame.
Cognizant’s underperformance reflects lingering macroeconomic headwinds, cautious corporate IT spending, and investor anxiety over AI disruption to traditional headcount-heavy IT services models. However, the company is actively working to shift this narrative through an aggressive pivot to position itself as a leader in enterprise AI transformation, advanced automation, and cloud-native solutions, underpinned by strong large-deal bookings and strategic restructuring to capture next-generation tech spending.
Analysts’ consensus opinion on CTSH stock is reasonably bullish, with a “Moderate Buy” rating overall. Out of 27 analysts covering the stock, 10 advise a “Strong Buy” rating, one suggests a “Moderate Buy,” and 16 give a “Hold.” While CTSH currently trades above its mean price target of $64.91, the Street-high price target of $82 suggests an upside potential of 17.4%.
On the date of publication, Neha Panjwani did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.