IQV · Q2 2026 Earnings

Bullish

IQVIA

Reported July 28, 2026

30-second summary

IQVIA printed Q2 revenue of $4.368B (+8.7% YoY, 1.6% above the $4.30B consensus), non-GAAP EPS of $3.15 (4% above $3.03 consensus and $0.07 above the guide high end), and adjusted EBITDA of $994M (+9.2% YoY, $19M above the guide high end) — a three-way beat that pulled forward FY26 revenue guidance by $125M at both ends and lifted the FY EPS midpoint by $0.10 to $12.90. The Q1 book-to-bill breach (1.04x, explained away as pass-through mix) resolved cleanly with Q2 at 1.22x on $3.15B of net new bookings (+19% YoY), and management explicitly attributed ~100bps of the FY revenue raise to stronger organic growth — the first quarter in the sequence where the raise math is anchored to demand, not FX or M&A.

Headline numbers

EPS

Q2 FY2026

$3.15

+4.0% vs est.

Revenue

Q2 FY2026

$4.37B

+8.7% YoY

+1.6% vs est.

Gross margin

Q2 FY2026

32.9%

Free cash flow

Q2 FY2026

$0.36B

Operating margin

Q2 FY2026

11.6%

Key financials

Q2 FY2026

Metric	Q2 FY2026	Q2 FY2025	YoY	Q1 FY2026	QoQ
Revenue	$4.37B	$4.02B	+8.7%	$4.15B	+5.2%
EPS	$3.15	$2.81	+12.1%	$2.90	+8.6%
Gross margin	32.9%	32.9%	+0bps	32.6%	+30bps
Operating margin	11.6%	12.6%	-100bps	12.4%	-80bps
Free cash flow	$0.36B	$0.29B	+23.3%	$0.49B	-26.7%

Guidance

Strong Q2 beats across revenue, EPS, and EBITDA with full-year FY2026 guidance raised on accelerating organic growth and better-than-expected segment performance.

Guidance is issued for the full year only, refreshed each quarter. Prior and new below are the same FY updated this quarter.

Actuals vs prior guidance

Metric	Period	Prior guide	Actual	Δ	Result
Revenue	Q2 FY2026	$4,280 million to $4,340 million	$4,368 million	+$28-88 million above high end of guide	Beat
Adjusted Diluted EPS	Q2 FY2026	$2.98 to $3.08	$3.15	+$0.07 above high end of guide	Beat
Adjusted EBITDA	Q2 FY2026	$955 million to $975 million	$994 million	+$19-39 million above high end of guide	Beat

Changes to prior guidance

Metric	Period	Prior guide	New guide	Δ	Result
Revenue	FY 2026	$17,150 million to $17,350 million	$17,275 million to $17,475 million	+$125M (low end) to +$125M (high end); midpoint +$125M	Raised
Adjusted EBITDA	FY 2026	$3,975 million to $4,025 million	$4,000 million to $4,050 million	+$25M (low end) to +$25M (high end); midpoint +$25M	Raised
Adjusted Diluted EPS	FY 2026	$12.65 to $12.95	$12.80 to $13.00	+$0.15 (low end) to +$0.05 (high end); midpoint +$0.10	Raised

Segment KPIs

Q2 FY2026

Segment	Q2 FY2026	Q2 FY2025	YoY
Commercial Solutions	$1.793B	—	+8.6%
Research & Development Solutions	$2.575B	—	+8.8%

Other KPIs

Q2 FY2026

Segment	Q2 FY2026	Q2 FY2025	YoY
R&D Solutions Net New Bookings	$3.15 billion	—	—
R&D Solutions Book-to-Bill Ratio	1.22x	—	—
R&D Solutions Net New Bookings YoY Growth	19%	—	—
R&D Solutions Contracted Backlog	$34.2 billion	—	—
R&D Solutions 12-Month Backlog Expected Revenue	$9.2 billion	—	—
Adjusted EBITDA	$994 million	$910 million	—
Adjusted EBITDA YoY Growth	9.2%	—	—
Operating Cash Flow YoY Growth	26.0%	—	—

Management tone

Tone analysis is limited on this print because no transcript is yet available; observations below are drawn from the press-release language and the multi-quarter framing arc.

Q2 FY25 "see more, win more" → Q3 demand acceleration → Q4 confident reframe → Q1 FY26 AI-native operating model with "outstanding start" → Q2 FY26 organic acceleration owned as the guidance driver.

The FY guidance-raise framing shifted from operational to demand-led. In Q1 FY26 management raised EPS by $0.10 against a $0.03 Q1 revenue beat but explicitly held FY revenue and EBITDA flat — a hedge that read as sandbagging. This quarter management explicitly attributed ~100bps of the FY revenue raise to stronger organic growth, and the extraction flags qualitative statements including "stronger organic revenue growth, and changes in the M&A and foreign exchange impacts" and "approximately 100 basis points higher organic revenue growth." That is the first quarter in the sequence where the FY revenue line has been raised, and management has anchored the raise to demand rather than mechanical flow-through. The Q1 restraint is being replaced by Q2 conviction.

The book-to-bill narrative resolved from defense to offense. Last quarter management had to explain a 1.04x standalone print via pass-through mix (Baird's Coldwell validated the ~1.15x adjusted number in Q&A). This quarter the standalone print is 1.22x with $3.15B of net new bookings, so the "pass-through mix" defense doesn't need to be re-argued — the underlying booking machine has out-run any denominator concern. The absence of transcript commentary means we can't confirm the specific verbatim, but the number itself is the tone shift: 19% YoY bookings growth on top of a record-high book-to-bill effectively moots the Q1 debate.

The FY26 EBITDA raise is smaller than the revenue raise, and management is not hiding it. The FY revenue midpoint rose $125M (+0.7%) but the EBITDA midpoint rose only $25M (+0.6%) — meaning the incremental revenue is being flowed through at ~20% margin, well below the company's blended ~23% EBITDA margin. This is consistent with the FY26 "flattish EBITDA margin" framing management set at Q4 and reflects continued reinvestment or pass-through drag. Management is choosing not to over-promise on operating leverage even as demand accelerates, which is the more defensible posture given the mix-management questions that have run through the last four quarters.

Answers to last quarter's watch list

Q2 revenue landing within the $4.28–4.34B guide (implies +6.5–8.0% YoY). Q2 printed $4.368B, +$28M above the guide high end, at +8.7% YoY — above even the +8.0% high end of the guided YoY band. The high-end print keeps the FY revenue raise narrative alive; management delivered on it with the $125M FY raise anchored to organic acceleration. Status: Resolved positively.

EBITDA margin holding at or above Q1's 22.5%. Q2 EBITDA of $994M ÷ revenue of $4.368B = 22.8%, +30bps QoQ. The "operational margin expanding, masked by pass-throughs" narrative from Q1 held, and the EBITDA beat (+$19M above the high end of the guided range) was margin-accretive. Status: Resolved positively.

R&DS book-to-bill standalone returning to ≥1.10x. Q2 printed 1.22x standalone on $3.15B of net new bookings (+19% YoY). This is the highest single-quarter book-to-bill in the disclosed sequence and fully validates the Q1 pass-through-mix explanation. The concern that Q1's 1.04x might mark a structural shift is decisively resolved. Status: Resolved positively.

Whether segment-level FY26 guides (Commercial $7.2–7.3B, RDS $9.9–10.0B) reappear in disclosure. Not called out on the press-release print. The extraction contains no reference to segment-level FY26 guidance, meaning two consecutive quarters without reiteration. This is now a meaningful reduction in disclosure transparency against the new two-segment structure. Status: Resolved negatively on disclosure; Continue monitoring on whether transcript addresses it.

AI revenue attribution as a disclosed dollar figure. No AI-specific revenue disclosure in the press release. The company didn't disclose it on the print, and with no transcript yet available, we can't confirm whether Q&A pushed the question. Five quarters into the AI-native framing without a dollar attribution. Status: Continue monitoring.

EVP funding sustaining at or above the Q1 pace. Not disclosed in the press release. The company didn't call it out on the print — this is a Q&A-visible metric, so absence from the release doesn't mean absence from the call. Status: Continue monitoring, pending transcript.

What to watch into next quarter

Q3 FY26 revenue against the $4.10B Q3 FY25 base. No explicit next-quarter guide was disclosed on this print (extraction shows null on all next_quarter fields). To hit the FY revenue midpoint of $17.375B, implied H2 revenue is $8.856B (~$4.43B per quarter). A Q3 print below $4.35B would require Q4 to carry material upside — watch whether an explicit Q3 guide surfaces in the transcript and whether it clears $4.35B.

Book-to-bill sustaining above 1.10x. Q2's 1.22x is a peak print. TTM will step up meaningfully off this quarter, but the standalone Q3 print needs to hold ≥1.10x to validate that Q1's 1.04x was truly a mix optic rather than a canary. A Q3 print in the 1.10–1.15x range would be a fine consolidation; below 1.10x would reopen the debate.

EBITDA margin holding at 22.5% or above. FY26 guide midpoint of $4,025M ÷ $17.375B = 23.2% blended, which requires H2 EBITDA margins in the ~23.5% range against Q2's 22.8%. Watch whether Q3 shows the H2 margin step-up management's FY guide implicitly requires.

Segment-level FY26 guides reappearing. Two consecutive quarters of non-disclosure on Commercial Solutions ($7.2–7.3B) and RDS ($9.9–10.0B) FY26 guides. If Q3 doesn't restore them, the disclosure regression is entrenched — worth flagging to management or in sell-side questions.

AI revenue attribution. Five quarters of counts, use cases, and enterprise-win language without a revenue dollar. The gap between narrative pressure ("AI-native") and disclosure is widening. A concrete dollar figure or a stated share of Commercial Solutions revenue would resolve this; another quarter of silence starts to have credibility cost.

Whether the FY revenue raise ratchets again in Q3. Management raised FY revenue at midpoint by $125M this quarter on ~100bps of organic acceleration. If Q3 delivers another mid-high single digit organic print, the FY guide has room to move higher — the current $17.375B midpoint may already be conservative given the H2 run-rate implied.

Sources

IQVIA Q2 2026 earnings press release (SEC filing): https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1478242/000162828026049923/iqv-q2x2026earningspressre.htm
Tapebrief IQV Q1 2026 brief (prior-quarter watch list, FY26 guidance baseline, book-to-bill decomposition)
Tapebrief IQV Q4 2025 brief (FY26 initial guide framework, segment reframe context)
Tapebrief IQV Q3 2025 brief (guidance-narrowing dynamics, RFP flow trajectory)
Tapebrief IQV Q2 2025 brief (backlog / book-to-bill baseline)

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