IQV US S&P 500Russell 1000 Earnings call · transcribed from the recording
IQVIA (IQV) · Q3 2026 results and valuation
Share price: $274.53 · 2026-11-11
IQVIA provides clinical research services, commercial insights, and healthcare intelligence to the life sciences and healthcare industries. The company operates globally, offering data analytics, clinical trial support, and technology solutions to pharmaceutical companies, medical device manufacturers, and government agencies. Source: 10-K annual report (2026-02-17)
Results Q3 2026 vs Q2 2026 · previous quarter · published 27 Oct 2026 and 28 Jul 2026
Net income up 35.7% on the previous quarter. Management sounded upbeat, in its script and in answers to analysts.
1 · Numbers
+35.7%
Net income vs Q2 2026
Outlook given
Net income 350.0M vs 258.0M
Revenue +1.4%
Against the same quarter last year (Q3 2025) it is +5.7% — part of the move on last quarter is seasonal.
2 · How management spoke
Upbeat
More upbeat than 65% of company calls
Answers to analysts: typical, in line with the script.
Last call it was different: the answers were less upbeat than the script.
3 · What stood out
IQVIA's R&D Solutions net new bookings grew 15% year over year to $3.2 billion, resulting in a 1.2 book to bill ratio.
Valuation
Is IQVIA undervalued?
Reverse DCF. Free cash flow from the last full fiscal year (2025-12-31), grown for 10 years, discounted back, plus a terminal value. “Implied growth” is the rate the current price assumes.
At 4.2% growth a year (3-year revenue growth), the model's fair value is $107.36 a share — the stock trades 156% above it. Today's price assumes 12.8% growth a year.
Current price
$274.53
close of 2026-11-11
Market implies growth of iThe yearly free-cash-flow growth, for the next 10 years, that today’s share price already assumes. If you believe the company grows faster than this, the stock is cheap under this model; slower, and it is expensive.
+12.8% for 10 yrs
Fair value / share
$107.36
Buy below
$80.52
Price vs fair value
Overvalued 156%
Price vs buy-below price
Overvalued >200%
Read between the lines
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Guidance
IQV raised its full year 2026 guidance for revenue, adjusted EBITDA, and adjusted diluted earnings per share.
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Figure
Commercial solutions revenue grew 6.9% with 4% organic growth, which is double last year's organic growth rate.
Source quote
“In commercial solutions, revenue grew 6.9% of which 4% was organic, which is double last year's organic growth rate.”
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Figure
IQV reported free cash flow of 120% of adjusted net income.
Source quote
“We had strong free cash flow performance, representing 120% of adjusted net income.”
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Guidance
Total revenue exceeded the high end of the guidance range and grew 8% year-over-year on a reported basis.
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Guidance
IQV's third-quarter revenue, adjusted EBITDA, and adjusted Luda DPS exceeded the high end of their guidance.
3 more
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Key theme
IQV will use AI to optimize timelines and speed up processes to get products to market and to patients faster.
Source quote
“We will be using AI here to optimize timelines, to speed up processes, to ensure that clients get to market, the product gets to market a lot faster and to patients a lot faster.”
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Figure
IQV's organic growth rates accelerated year over year with 2x for commercial and nearly 3x for clinical.
Source quote
“Our organic growth rates year over year accelerated meaningfully. 2x for commercial and nearly 3x for clinical.”
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Key theme
IQVIA's win rates were higher in the quarter, which led to its strongest clinical bookings in four years.
Tone
How upbeat the language was, compared with other companiesiTone counts positive minus negative finance words, adjusted for length. Executives mostly speak positively, so the labels compare each call with every company's latest call: “typical” is the middle third, “very upbeat” the top tenth, “cautious” the bottom tenth.. Dot: Q3 2026. Ring: Q2 2026.
Script and answers carried a similar tone, so the script's message held up under questioning.
Sentences that drove the tone
“Organic revenue growth rates accelerated year over year across both commercial and clinical segments as demand continued to rise.”
“So to summarize, IQV has delivered an outstanding financial results with third quarter revenue, adjusted EBITDA and adjusted Luda DPS, exceeding the high end of our guidance.”
“Third quarter adjusted dilute DPS also exceeded the high end of our guidance range and increased 11.3% year over year.”
Full figures
USD · SEC EDGAR XBRL (10-Q, period end 2026-09-30)
| Metric | Q3 2026period end 2026-09-30 | Q2 2026period end 2026-06-30 | Change | Q3 2025 | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 4.43B | 4.37B | +1.4% | 4.10B | +8.0% |
| Operating income | 572.0M | 506.0M | +13.0% | 553.0M | +3.4% |
| Net income | 350.0M | 258.0M | +35.7% | 331.0M | +5.7% |
| EPS | 2.10 | 1.53 | +37.3% | 1.93 | +8.8% |
| P/E today 33.1 | 32.7 | 24.0 | +8.7 | 26.1 | +6.6 |
Topics
Most discussed now
- As previously disclosed, IQVIA implemented a new segment reporting structure that's effective January 1, 2026.
- This is a long cycle business, and I'd like to highlight that IQVIA's last 12 months net new...
- IQVIA's AI leadership continues to earn industry recognition, including multiple industry awards for AI and technology innovation across…
Faded since Q2 2026
- Dropped The author says acquiring training data has turned into 1 of the most difficult expensive, and legally fraught activities a...
- Fading On the clinical side, R&D has delivered great results with revenue growth of nearly 9% and organically, 7%.
- Fading The beat was driven entirely by strong operational performance.
- Fading Adjusted EBITDA margin began improving earlier than IQVIA had anticipated due to better operational performance.
Latest announcements
Official filings, newest first. Summaries are generated from each filing and its attachment; every figure is checked against the source.
- Results of operations · SEC 8-K
IQVIA reported third-quarter 2026 revenue of $4,428 million, up 8.0% year-over-year, with Adjusted EBITDA of $1,032 million, up 8.7% year-over-year.
- Material agreement; New financial obligation · SEC 8-K
IQVIA Inc. entered into a new indenture agreement dated September 23, 2026, involving notes with U.S. Bank Trust Company as trustee and various subsidiaries as guarantors.
- Other events · SEC 8-K
IQVIA Holdings Inc. intends to raise $2,000,000,000 through an offering of senior notes due 2034 to redeem existing notes, repay debt, and cover offering expenses.
- Results of operations · SEC 8-K
IQVIA reported second-quarter revenue of $4,368 million, up 8.7% year-over-year, with Adjusted EBITDA of $994 million, up 9.2% year-over-year.
- Material agreement; New financial obligation · SEC 8-K
IQVIA Inc. entered into a new indenture agreement dated June 11, 2026, with U.S. Bank Trust Company, National Association, as trustee of the Notes.
- Other events · SEC 8-K
IQVIA Holdings Inc. priced an offering of €950,000,000 in senior notes due 2033 with an annual interest rate of 4.625%.
- Other events · SEC 8-K
IQVIA Holdings Inc. intends to raise €950,000,000 through an offering of senior notes due 2033 to refinance existing indebtedness and pay related fees.
- Other events · SEC 8-K
IQVIA Holdings Inc. authorized an additional $2,000 million for its common stock repurchase program, bringing the total remaining authorization to $3,217 million.
Balance sheet & ownership
From SEC filings; short interest is FINRA data via Yahoo. Collected 2026-10-29.
Cash & runway
Cash & equivalents
$2.25B
2026-09-30
Short-term investments
$173.0M
Long-term investments
$48.0M
total liquidity $2.47B
Implied runway
—
operating cash flow positive over the TTM window
Dilution
weighted-average basic shares, per quarter. Change: -3.2% YoY, -0.8% QoQ.
| Quarter | Shares |
|---|---|
| Q1 2025 | 175.7M |
| Q2 2025 | 171.8M |
| Q3 2025 | 170.2M |
| Q1 2026 | 168.4M |
| Q2 2026 | 166.1M |
| Q3 2026 | 164.7M |
Shares outstanding: 164.8M (2026-10-20)
Insider transactions
Form 4 open-market trades (codes S/P), trailing 12 months. Coverage: newest 50 of 55 filings; 50 filings parsed.
Sold by insiders
158.4K shares
$38.0M · 10 transactions
Bought by insiders
0 shares
0 transactions
Net direction
net selling
Catalyst calendar
management-stated targets — from the latest earnings call; plans, not promises.
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January 1, 2026
implementation of a new segment reporting structure
Source quote
“As a reminder, we implemented a new segment reporting structure effective January 1, 2026.”
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by the end of the year
completion of acquisitions
Source quote
“This revenue guidance now assumes approximately 250 basis points of contribution from acquisitions based on acquisitions completed to date and acquisitions we expect to have completed by the end of the year.”
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December 1st
upcoming investor day
Source quote
“so i want to take this opportunity to formally invite you to our upcoming investor day on december 1st where as we normally do we will share a broad framework of what we see shaping up for next year”
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February 2027
release of full year 2026 and fourth quarter earnings and detailed guidance for 2027
Source quote
“and as always we will provide detailed guidance for 2027 concurrent with the release of our full year 2026 and fourth quarter earnings in February 2027”
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fourth quarter
net interest expense
Source quote
“we expect net interest expense for the fourth quarter to be around 210 million dollars”