Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. (CTSH)
Q3 2009 Earnings Call Transcript
November 3, 2009 8:00 a.m. ET

Executives

David Nelson - Vice President, Investor Relations
Francisco D’Souza - President and Chief Executive Officer
Gordon J. Coburn - Chief Financial and Operating Officer, Treasurer

Analysts

Bryan Keane - Credit Suisse
Rod Bourgeois - Sanford C. Bernstein
Moshe Katri - Cowen & Company
Edward Caso - Wells Fargo Securities, Llc
Jason Kupferberg - UBS
Nabil Elsheshai - Pacific Crest Securities
Glenn Greene - Oppenheimer & Co.
Joseph Foresi - Janney Montgomery Scott LLC
George Price - Stifel Nicolaus & Company, Inc.
Ashwin Shirvaikar - Citigroup Inc.

Presentation

Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Cognizant Technology Solutions third quarter 2009 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. To ask a question, please press star then the number one on your telephone keypad. To withdraw your question, press the pound sign. Thank you.

I would now like to turn the conference over to David Nelson, Vice President of Investor Relations. Please go ahead, sir.

David Nelson

Thank you, Stephanie. And good morning, everyone. By now should have received a copy of the company’s third quarter 2009 earnings release. If you have not, a copy is available on our website, cognizant .com.

The speakers we have on today’s call are Francisco D’Souza, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Gordon Coburn, Chief Financial and Operating Officer of Cognizant Technology.

Before we begin, I would like to remind that you some of the comments made on today’s call and some of the responses to your questions may contain forward-looking statements. These statements are subject to the risks and uncertainties as described in the company’s earnings release and other filings with the SEC.

I would now like to turn the call over to Francisco D’Souza. Please go ahead, Frank.

Francisco D’Souza

Thank you, David. And good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us today. We are extremely pleased to report one of the strongest quarters in the history of Cognizant. We delivered $853.5 million in revenue, well above our guidance and an increase of 16% year-over-year and 10% over last quarter.

Our revenue addition of almost $77 million over Q2 was our largest ever absolute sequential increase in revenue. As a key point, we have had many strong quarters in prior years in the midst of growth markets. But to deliver the largest ever absolute sequential increase in revenue in the company’s history in the current economic environment is particularly gratifying.

I’ll let Gordon cover the details of the financial and operating metrics for the quarter in a few minutes, which was strong across the board. Today’s results demonstrate not only that we are using this economic slowdown as an opportunity to build a stronger company but that we have extended our lead relative to others in the industry.

Of particular importance, our Q3 performance was very balanced with great consistency of results, across our industry sectors, service offering and geographies. This consistency shows the value our clients see in the Cognizant business model and experience regardless of the market that we serve.

Over the past several years, we have reinvested in our model to provide not only cost savings but increased client innovation and effectiveness on one platform. In today’s economy our clients have shared with us that this model is more relevant than ever.