Cognizant lifts annual profit forecast on strong financial services growth

Cognizant Technology on Wednesday raised its annual adjusted profit forecast after recording strong growth in its financial services business and continued operating margin expansion in the second quarter, even as enterprises remained cautious ‌about discretionary ⁠spending. Shares ⁠of the company were up 10%.

Cognizant now expects adjusted profit per share for the year in the range of $5.70 to $5.82, up from its prior forecast of $5.63 to $5.77.

“Operational efficiency and favorable currency movements more than offset higher third-party ⁠cost and ‌compensation costs, as well as the impact of our recently completed acquisitions,” finance ⁠chief Jatin Dalal said.