What Happened?

A number of stocks fell in the morning session after disappointing fourth-quarter results from industry bellwether Gartner sparked widespread concerns about a slowdown in the sector. 

The research and advisory firm reported that revenue in its Consulting segment fell 12.8%. This weak performance from a major industry player appeared to validate broader market fears about the health of the IT services and consulting industry. The negative sentiment spread quickly, with shares of other major companies like Accenture and Intuit also falling sharply. The market now seems concerned about a potential slowdown in the sector's growth rate, compounded by uncertainty over the long-term impact of artificial intelligence on existing business models.

The stock market overreacts to news, and big price drops can present good opportunities to buy high-quality stocks.

Among others, the following stocks were impacted:

• Data & Business Process Services company EXL (NASDAQ: EXLS) fell 8.9%. Is now the time to buy EXL? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
• Data & Business Process Services company TransUnion (NYSE: TRU) fell 8.3%. Is now the time to buy TransUnion? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.

Zooming In On EXL (EXLS)

EXL’s shares are not very volatile and have only had 7 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful, although it might not be something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.

The biggest move we wrote about over the last year was 6 months ago when the stock gained 7.5% on the news that the company reported strong second-quarter results that beat analyst expectations and raised its full-year financial forecast. The data and analytics company announced revenue of $514.5 million, a 14.7% increase year-over-year, while its adjusted earnings per share jumped 20.3% to $0.49, surpassing consensus estimates. Citing strong momentum and visibility, EXL boosted its full-year 2025 revenue guidance and lifted its adjusted EPS outlook. The company also revealed a new $125 million accelerated share repurchase program, signaling confidence to its investors. Adding to the positive sentiment, EXL announced a strategic collaboration with Genesys to enhance AI-driven customer engagement, underscoring the company's focus on its data and AI capabilities, which its CEO credited for the strong performance.

EXL is down 14.5% since the beginning of the year, and at $35.23 per share, it is trading 32% below its 52-week high of $51.80 from February 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of EXL’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $2,246.

While Wall Street chases Nvidia at all-time highs, an under-the-radar semiconductor supplier is dominating a critical AI component these giants can’t build without. Click here to access our full research report, it’s free.