Cognizant reported fourth-quarter adjusted earnings of $1.35 per share, surpassing the consensus estimate of $1.32 and up from $1.21 a year earlier. Revenue for the quarter rose to $5.33 billion, a 4.9 percent increase year-over-year (3.8 percent in constant currency), exceeding the upper end of the guidance range of $5.25 billion to $5.31 billion. The company attributed the outperformance to strong demand for digital engineering and AI-enabled modernization projects across financial services and healthcare verticals.

For the full year, revenue grew 7.0 percent to $21.11 billion (6.4 percent in constant currency), driven in part by the acquisition of Belcan, which contributed roughly 260 basis points of growth. GAAP operating margin expanded by 140 basis points to 16.1 percent, while adjusted operating margin improved by 50 basis points to 15.8 percent. Full-year GAAP EPS increased 1 percent to $4.56, and adjusted EPS rose 11 percent to $5.28. Trailing-12-month bookings reached $28.4 billion, a 5 percent year-over-year gain led by 28 large deals signed in 2025, including 12 in the fourth quarter.

Looking ahead, management expects 2026 constant-currency revenue growth of 4.0 percent to 6.5 percent and adjusted operating margin expansion of 10 to 30 basis points to 15.9 percent–16.1 percent. Adjusted EPS is projected between $5.56 and $5.70, up 5 percent to 8 percent. The company plans to return $1.6 billion to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases, including $1 billion of buybacks, and has increased its quarterly cash dividend by 6.5 percent to $0.33 per share for Q1 2026.