Cognizant to Report Q2 Earnings: What's in Store for the Stock?

Cognizant Technology Solutions CTSH is scheduled to report its second-quarter 2026 results on July 29, 2026.The Zacks Consensus Estimate for second-quarter 2026 earnings is pegged at $1.38 per share, which has been unchanged over the past 30 days. This represents a 5.34% increase from the figure re…

Cognizant Technology Solutions CTSH is scheduled to report its second-quarter 2026 results on July 29, 2026.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for second-quarter 2026 earnings is pegged at $1.38 per share, which has been unchanged over the past 30 days. This represents a 5.34% increase from the figure reported in the year-ago quarter.

For the second quarter of 2026, Cognizant expects revenues in the range of $5.45-$5.52 billion, implying year-over-year growth of 3.8%-5.3% (3.2%-4.7% at constant currency).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for second-quarter revenues is pegged at $5.48 billion, indicating a year-over-year increase of 4.54%.

Cognizant’s earnings surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 4.81%.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation Price and EPS Surprise

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation price-eps-surprise | Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation Quote

Let’s see how things have shaped up for the upcoming announcement.

Factors to Note

Cognizant’s second-quarter performance is expected to have benefited from the ramp-up of large deals and strong bookings momentum achieved in the previous quarters. In the first quarter of 2026, CTSH signed seven large deals, including one mega deal valued at over $500 million. Bookings grew 21% year over year, and trailing 12-month bookings reached $29.6 billion, for a book-to-bill of about 1.4x, reflecting continued large-deal activity. Management emphasized that many of these large-deal transitions, initiated in the fourth quarter of 2025 and the first quarter of 2026, will begin to unlock revenues in the second quarter of 2026 and the third quarter of 2026 as they move from transition to production phases.

The company continues to gain traction in AI-led services and platform-driven delivery, supported by large-deal ramps and steady constant-currency growth. In the first quarter of 2026, the company reported more than 5,000 AI engagements and said nearly 40% of its code is AI-assisted, supported by partnerships that include Anthropic, Google Gemini and OpenAI Codex.

Another significant benefit for the second quarter of 2026 is the partial quarter contribution from recent acquisitions, particularly Astreya. CTSH completed the acquisition of Astreya, a specialist in AI infrastructure and managed services, which is expected to add a critical layer to CTSH’s AI Builder technology stack. The second-quarter guidance includes approximately 150 basis points of revenue growth from recently completed acquisitions, with Astreya providing a partial quarter contribution.

CTSH’s strong position in key verticals such as Financial Services and Health Sciences, along with healthy demand for AI, analytics, and integrated offerings, is expected to have supported second-quarter growth. Financial Services, in particular, delivered double-digit growth in the first quarter of 2026 and continues to benefit from robust investment cycles and innovation budgets. The company is also capitalizing on opportunities in predictive supply chains, agentic commerce and hyper-personalization, especially as clients seek to consolidate vendors and modernize legacy systems.

However, the company is suffering from challenging macroeconomic uncertainty, softening discretionary demand and stiff competition. These challenges are expected to have affected CTSH’s performance in the to-be-reported quarter.

What Our Model Says

Per the Zacks model, the combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy), or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat. But that is not the case here.

Cognizant has an Earnings ESP of -1.34% and a Zacks Rank #3. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Stocks to Consider

Here are some companies worth considering, as our model shows that these have the right combination of elements to beat on earnings in their upcoming releases:

Amphenol APH has an Earnings ESP of +1.12% and a Zacks Rank #1 at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Amphenol shares have gained 13% year to date. Amphenol is scheduled to report its second-quarter 2026 results on July 29.

ASE Technology ASX has an Earnings ESP of +21.21% and a Zacks Rank #1.

ASE Technology shares have surged 128.9% year to date. ASE Technology is set to report its second-quarter 2026 results on July 30.

Fortive FTV has an Earnings ESP of +2.82% and a Zacks Rank #2 at present.

Fortive shares have gained 12.9% in the year-to-date period. Fortive is set to report second-quarter 2026 results on July 29.

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