Cognizant’s (CTSH) shares rose about 6% during the early hours of trading on Monday after the global IT services and consulting company doubled its 2026 share repurchase goal to $2 billion from its previous $1 billion target. The New Jersey-based company also raised its overall share buyback program cap by $2 billion.
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Cognizant helps large business organizations to transform their digital infrastructure, adopt cloud computing services, develop and deploy software, and integrate data services into their workflow.
It expects to complete the additional repurchase during its fiscal second quarter.
Cognizant Stock Battles Price Slump
The company’s move comes as CTSH has dropped over 42% since the start of the year amid several challenges, including weaker demand for its products and pressure on its gross margin from upfront investments demanded to execute and deliver larger client contracts.
Some analysts have also pointed out that the company’s generative AI efforts are still at the early-stage and may demand more time before they contribute significantly to Cognizant’s revenue. A larger share buyback reduces share count and can, all things being equal, help to mechanically lift the price of CTSH and help maintain investor interest.
Cognizant Chases Growth Opportunities
However, Cognizant is not resting on its laurels. During the first three months of 2026, the company grew its revenue by 5.8% year-over-year to $5.4 billion and expanded its 12-month bookings by 11% from a year ago to $29.6 billion.
Cognizant also announced plans to acquire Astreya, an IT service and infrastructure support company that manages data center infrastructure for global tech companies. It has also made other acquisitions in recent years and months to boost its profile for growth opportunities.
Is Cognizant a Good Stock?
On Wall Street, analysts remain largely divided on Cognizant’s shares and have a Moderate Buy consensus rating on the stock. This is based on seven Buys and 11 Holds assigned by 18 analysts over the past three months.
However, the average CTSH price target of $73.06 implies about 47% upside from current trading levels.
