Stock-Based Compensation (Tables)

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2013

Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]

Schedule of stock-based compensation expense by award type

The Company recognized the following amounts of stock-based compensation expense by award type and expense category in the periods indicated (in millions):

	Three Months Ended				Nine Months Ended
	September 30,				September 30,
Award type:	2013		2012		2013		2012
Stock appreciation rights	$	1.1	$	2.4	$	4.1	$	5.0
Common stock equivalents	0.1		0.1		0.4		0.4
Restricted stock units	6.2		6.7		22.5		22.6
Total	$	7.4	$	9.2	$	27.0	$	28.0

Schedule of stock-based compensation expense by expense category

	Three Months Ended				Nine Months Ended
	September 30,				September 30,
Amount recorded in:	2013		2012		2013		2012
Cost of services and product development	$	3.2	$	3.5	$	12.0	$	12.0
Selling, general and administrative	4.2		5.7		15.0		16.0
Total stock-based compensation expense (1)	$	7.4	$	9.2	$	27.0	$	28.0

(1) Includes charges of $1.8 million and $1.5 million for the three months ended September 30, 2013 and 2012, respectively, for awards to retirement-eligible employees since these awards vest on an accelerated basis. The nine months ended September 30, 2013 and 2012 include retirement-eligible charges of $10.6 million and $4.7 million, respectively.

Schedule of fair value assumptions of SARs

The fair value of the SARs was estimated on the date of grant using the Black-Scholes-Merton valuation model with the following weighted-average assumptions:

	Nine Months Ended
	September 30,
	2013		2012
Expected dividend yield (1)	—	%	—	%
Expected stock price volatility (2)	35	%	40	%
Risk-free interest rate (3)	0.8	%	0.8	%
Expected life in years (4)	4.5		4.6

(1) The dividend yield assumption is based on the history and expectation of the Company’s dividend payouts. Historically, Gartner has not paid cash dividends on its Common Stock.

(2) The determination of expected stock price volatility was based on both historical Common Stock prices and implied volatility from publicly traded options in the Common Stock.

(3) The risk-free interest rate is based on the yield of a U.S. Treasury security with a maturity similar to the expected life of the award.

(4) The expected life represents the Company’s weighted-average estimate of the period of time the SARs are expected to be outstanding (defined as the period between the service inception date and the expected exercise date), which is based on historical exercise data.

Stock appreciation rights (SARs)

Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]

Schedule of summary of the changes in SARS, RSUs, and CSEs outstanding

The following table summarizes changes in SARs outstanding during the nine months ended September 30, 2013:

	SARs (in millions)		Per Share Weighted- Average Exercise Price		Per Share Weighted- Average Grant Date Fair Value		Weighted Average Remaining Contractual Term
Outstanding at December 31, 2012	2.0		$	24.59	$	9.04	4.10 years
Granted	0.4		49.37		14.88		6.37
Forfeited	—		—		—		n/a
Exercised	(0.4	)	18.80		7.02		n/a
Outstanding at September 30, 2013 (1), (2)	2.0		$	30.11	$	10.46	4.18
Vested and exercisable at September 30, 2013 (2)	1.0		$	21.00	$	7.98	3.17 years

n/a=not applicable.

(1) As of September 30, 2013, 1.0 million of the SARs outstanding were unvested. The Company expects that substantially all of these unvested awards will vest in future periods.

(2) Total SARs outstanding had an intrinsic value of $59.3 million. SARs vested and exercisable had an intrinsic value of $39.8 million.

Restricted stock units (RSUs)

Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]

Schedule of summary of the changes in SARS, RSUs, and CSEs outstanding

The following table summarizes the changes in RSUs outstanding during the nine months ended September 30, 2013:

	Restricted Stock Units (RSUs) (in millions)		Per Share Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value
Outstanding at December 31, 2012	2.5		$	27.95
Granted (1)	0.6		49.82
Vested and released	(1.3	)	22.47
Forfeited	—		—
Outstanding at September 30, 2013 (2), (3)	1.8		$	38.74

(1) The 0.6 million RSUs granted in 2013 consisted of 0.3 million performance-based RSUs awarded to executives and 0.3 million service-based RSUs awarded to non-executive employees and certain board members. The 0.3 million performance-based RSUs represents the target amount of the award for the year, which is tied to an increase in the Company’s subscription-based Research contract value (“CV”) for 2013. The final number of performance-based RSUs that will be granted to executives in 2013 ranges from 0% to 200% of the target amount, with the final number dependent on the actual increase in CV for the year as measured on December 31, 2013. If the specified minimum level of achievement is not met, the performance-based RSUs will be forfeited in their entirety, and any compensation expense previously recorded will be reversed.

(2) The Company expects that substantially all of the outstanding awards will vest in future periods.

(3) The weighted-average remaining contractual term of the outstanding RSUs is approximately 1.2 years.

Common stock equivalents (CSEs)

Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]

Schedule of summary of the changes in SARS, RSUs, and CSEs outstanding

The following table summarizes the changes in CSEs outstanding during the nine months ended September 30, 2013:

	Common Stock Equivalents (CSEs)		Per Share Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value
Outstanding at December 31, 2012	100,545		$	16.89
Granted	7,449		57.45
Converted to common shares	(5,975	)	57.44
Outstanding at September 30, 2013	102,019		$	17.48