CTSH · Earnings call · 2026Q3T · Full report

Restructuring and Headcount

COGNIZANT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS CORP · 2026-10-29 · Importance 67 · Surprise 66 · In source text

Cognizant revised expected Project Leap costs to $180 million to $250 million, down from $230 million to $320 million, primarily because employee severance and other personnel costs are lower. Approximately $160 million of the revised costs are expected in 2026, with the remainder in 2027. The company expects around $200 million of in-year savings in 2026 and extended the program timeline through the first quarter of 2027. Management said reskilling and redeploying employees reduced the program’s scope and enabled more workforce redeployment than initially anticipated.

Key facts

• Cognizant now expects total Project Leap costs of $180 million to $250 million, down from the prior estimate of $230 million to $320 million, due to lower employee severance and other personnel-related costs.
• Cognizant expects around $200 million in Project Leap in-year savings in 2026, consistent with the lower end of its prior range.
• Approximately $160 million of Project Leap costs will be spent in 2026, with the remainder coming through in 2027 on the personnel side.
• Cognizant announced that it was hiring 1,500 U.S. school graduates through a school graduate program.
• Project Leap is now expected to run through Q1 2027, with a modest scope reduction enabled by workforce reskilling and redeployment.
• Cognizant unified its payer and provider businesses during Q3 2026 to align with an increasingly integrated health care ecosystem.
• Cognizant incurred approximately $51 million of Project Leap costs in Q3 2026.

Impact estimates