IQVIA reports results on Tuesday 27 October, before the market opens. Sales are growing faster than profit: each dollar of revenue is earning less. Revenue over the twelve months to Q2 2026 was $17.0 billion, which rose 8.2% on the year before.
Source: reported quarterly EPS and aggregated third-party estimates. Historical surprises are context, not a forecast.
View chart data
| Period | Reported EPS | Analysts' estimate |
|---|---|---|
| Sep '25 | $3.00 | $2.98 |
| Dec '25 | $3.42 | $3.40 |
| Mar '26 | $2.90 | $2.82 |
| Jun '26 | $3.15 | $3.03 |
What analysts expect
Analysts have been raising their forecasts going into the report. For the quarter, the analysts’ average EPS estimate is $3.28, in a range from $3.22 to $3.54. The average revenue estimate for the quarter is $4.4 billion. Meanwhile, the analysts’ average estimate for full-year EPS is $12.96, which would be up 8.7% on last year (based on 18 analysts). That estimate has risen 1.2% over the past 90 days. Of the analysts’ recommendations, 19 are positive, 2 neutral and 0 negative.
Company guidance
In its latest earnings release, management set full-year 2026 Adjusted Diluted Earnings per Share guidance at $12.80 to $13.00. In its latest earnings release, management set full-year 2026 revenue guidance at $17.3 billion to $17.5 billion.
Earnings surprise model
The model estimates EPS could land above the analysts’ average estimate by 0.9%. Its estimated chance of an EPS beat is 75.0%, based on the last 4 quarters. The model shrinks the median recent surprise toward zero and uses a neutral prior for beat frequency; this small sample is a reference estimate, not company guidance.
Track record against estimates
The company reported EPS above the analysts’ average estimate in 4 of the last 4 quarters. Last quarter, EPS of $3.15 compared with an estimate of $3.03, above it by 3.9%.
The trends going in
That growth rate was up 0.8 percentage points on the rate a quarter earlier. The trailing operating margin was 13.0%, down 0.9 percentage points from a year earlier. At the same time, the trailing net margin was 8.1%. Net income over the twelve months was $1.4 billion, which rose 11.2% on the year before.
The cash picture
Operating cash flow over the twelve months was $2.8 billion, up 7.7% on the year before. Capital spending was $635.0 million, or 3.7% of revenue. Free cash flow, operating cash flow less capital spending, was $2.2 billion, up 8.7% on the year before. Free cash flow was 12.9% of revenue (the free-cash-flow margin), up 0.1 percentage points from a year earlier. The average diluted share count fell 4.9% over the year.
Against its own history
Set against the company’s own record: today’s free-cash-flow margin of 12.9% is higher than 85% of the company’s own past quarterly readings, which have ranged from 3.0% to 17.5%. Today’s operating margin of 13.0% is higher than 80% of past readings (5.5% to 14.3%). Today’s twelve-month revenue growth rate of 8.2% is higher than 74% of past readings (0.7% to 56.7%).
Questions this report will answer
Whether the pick-up in revenue growth continues. Whether results land above or below the analysts’ expectations set out above. Meanwhile, Whether margins hold at the trailing levels above. The next filing will show whether the trends above continue, slow or reverse.
What it means for value
For valuation, the figures matter through our model. In our model, growth 5 percentage points lower would lower the value by 31.6%, and 5 percentage points higher would raise it by 41.1%. A free-cash-flow margin 1 percentage point lower would lower it by 7.7%.
