Record Q1 Revenue and EPS Beat
Total Q1 revenue of $4.151 billion, up 8.4% year over year (6.0% at constant currency); adjusted diluted EPS of $2.90, up 7.4% year over year, both exceeding the high end of guidance.
IQVIA Holdings
· IQV
May 5th, 2026
Summary
- Earnings Call Date:
- 2026-05-05
- Change Since:
- +5.21%
- Next Earnings Date:
- 2026-07-28
Earnings Call Sentiment
PositiveThe call conveyed broad strength: record revenue, EPS beat, double-digit bookings growth in R&D Solutions, accelerating organic growth in both Commercial and R&D segments, strong free cash flow and share repurchases, meaningful customer wins and rapid AI adoption. Near-term caveats included unusually low pass-throughs that depressed a headline book-to-bill metric, a ~60 bps EBITDA margin contraction driven by FX and mix, and elevated net leverage (3.62x). Management reaffirmed revenue and EBITDA guidance and raised EPS guidance. On balance, the positives materially outweigh the negatives.
Company Guidance
IQVIA reaffirmed full‑year 2026 revenue guidance of $17.15–$17.35 billion (growth 5.2%–6.4%, 5.8% at the midpoint), assuming roughly 150 basis points from acquisitions and ~100 basis points of FX tailwind, and reiterated adjusted EBITDA guidance of $4.05–$4.25 billion (growth 4.9%–6.3%, 5.6% midpoint), while raising adjusted diluted EPS to $12.65–$12.95 (up 6.1%–8.6%, 7.4% midpoint); for Q2 they guide revenue of $4.28–$4.34 billion (up 6.5%–8%), adjusted EBITDA of $955–$975 million (up 4.9%–7.1%) and adjusted diluted EPS of $2.98–$3.08 (up 6%–9.6%), with all guidance assuming foreign exchange rates as of May 4 persist for the balance of the year.
Segment Revenue Strength
Commercial Solutions revenue of $1.754 billion, up 11.6% reported (8.5% constant currency); R&D Solutions revenue of $2.397 billion, up 6.2% reported (4.2% constant currency).
Adjusted EBITDA and Profitability
Adjusted EBITDA of $932 million, up 5.5% year over year; adjusted net income of $492 million; free cash flow of $491 million (100% of adjusted net income), a 15% increase year over year.
Strong Bookings and Backlog
R&D Solutions net new bookings of $2.5 billion, a double-digit increase year over year; total backlog of $34.2 billion (mid single-digit YoY growth) with $8.9 billion expected to convert to revenue in the next 12 months (high single-digit YoY growth).
Raised and Reaffirmed Guidance
Reaffirmed full-year 2026 revenue guidance of $17.15B–$17.35B (5.2%–6.4% growth) and adjusted EBITDA guidance of $4.05B–$4.25B; raised full-year adjusted diluted EPS guidance to $12.65–$12.95 (up 6.1%–8.6%).
Strong Q2 Outlook
Q2 guidance: revenue $4.28B–$4.34B (6.5%–8.0% YoY growth), adjusted EBITDA $955M–$975M (4.9%–7.1% YoY growth), adjusted diluted EPS $2.98–$3.08 (6.0%–9.6% YoY growth).
Material AI Progress and Adoption
Unveiled iqvia.ai and deployed 192 AI agents across 64 use cases; 19 of the top 20 pharma companies using IQVIA agents; AI cited as a driver of increased client demand and larger pipelines.
Notable Client Wins and Strategic Partnerships
Multiple multiyear and strategic wins: Pfizer regional promotion agreement (23 European countries), Boehringer Ingelheim global commercial intelligence collaboration (59 countries), top-five/top-10 pharma AI-enabled clinical and safety deals, partnership with Duke Clinical Research Institute in obesity; several EVP and patient analytics mandates.
Share Repurchase and Cash Position
Repurchased $552 million of shares in Q1; cash and cash equivalents $1.947 billion with approximately $1.2 billion of repurchase authorization remaining.
Acceleration in Organic Growth
Commercial Solutions organic growth accelerated to ~5% (roughly double last year) and R&D Solutions organic growth to ~3% (roughly triple last year), indicating improving underlying momentum.
Operator
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. 2026 Earnings Conference Call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speakers’ remarks, there will be a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question during this time, simply press star followed by the number one on your telephone keypad. As a reminder, this call is being recorded. Thank you. I would now like to turn the call over to Kerri Joseph, Senior Vice President, Investor Relations and Treasury.
Ms. Joseph, please begin your conference.
Kerri Joseph
Thank you, operator. Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining our first quarter 2026 earnings call. With me today are Ari Bousbib, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer; Michael Fedock, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer; and members of our leadership and Investor Relations teams. Today, we will be referencing a presentation that will be visible during this call for those of you on our webcast. This presentation will also be available following this call in the Events and Presentations section of our IQVIA Holdings Inc. Investor Relations website at ir.iqvia.com. Before we begin, I would like to caution listeners that certain information discussed by management during this call will include forward-looking statements.
Actual results could differ materially from those stated or implied by forward-looking statements due to risks and uncertainties associated with the company’s business, which are discussed in the company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Annual Report on Form...
Subscribe to unlock transcripts
Get The Fly Pro 7 days for free