Segment Information

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2019

Our products and services are delivered through three segments – Research, Conferences and Consulting, as described below.


•	Research provides trusted, objective insights and advice on the mission-critical priorities of leaders across all functional areas of an enterprise through reports, briefings, proprietary tools, access to our research experts, peer networking services and membership programs that enable our clients to drive organizational performance.


•	Conferences provides business professionals across an organization the opportunity to learn, share and network. From our Gartner Symposium/Xpo series, to industry-leading conferences focused on specific business roles and topics, to peer-driven sessions, our offerings enable attendees to experience the best of Gartner insight and advice live.


•	Consulting combines the power of Gartner market-leading research with custom analysis and on-the-ground support to help chief information officers and other senior executives driving technology-related strategic initiatives move confidently from insight to action.

The Company evaluates segment performance and allocates resources based on gross contribution margin. Gross contribution, as presented in the table below, is defined as operating income or loss excluding certain Cost of services and product development expenses, Selling, general and administrative expenses, Depreciation, Amortization of intangibles, and Acquisition and integration charges. Certain bonus and fringe benefit costs included in consolidated Cost of services and product development are not allocated to segment expense. The accounting policies used by the reportable segments are the same as those used by the Company. There are no intersegment revenues. The Company does not identify or allocate assets, including capital expenditures, by reportable segment. Accordingly, assets are not reported by segment because the information is not available by segment and is not reviewed in the evaluation of segment performance or in making decisions regarding the allocation of resources.

The Company earns revenue from clients in many countries. Other than the United States, there is no individual country where revenues from external clients represent 10% or more of the Company’s consolidated revenues. Additionally, no single client accounted for 10% or more of the Company’s consolidated revenues and the loss of a single client, in management’s opinion, would not have a material adverse effect on revenues.

The tables below present information about the Company’s reportable segments for the years ended December 31 (in thousands).



	Research		Conferences		Consulting		Consolidated
2019
Revenues	$	3,374,548	$	476,869	$	393,904	$	4,245,321
Gross contribution	2,351,720		241,757		118,450		2,711,927
Corporate and other expenses							(2,341,840		)
Operating income							$	370,087



	Research		Conferences		Consulting		Other (1)		Consolidated
2018
Revenues	$	3,105,764	$	410,461	$	353,667	$	105,562	$	3,975,454
Gross contribution	2,144,097		207,260		102,541		65,075		2,518,973
Corporate and other expenses									(2,259,258		)
Operating income									$	259,715

	Research		Conferences		Consulting		Other (1)		Consolidated
2017
Revenues	$	2,471,280	$	337,903	$	327,661	$	174,650	$	3,311,494
Gross contribution	1,653,014		163,480		93,643		90,249		2,000,386
Corporate and other expenses									(2,006,715		)
Operating loss									$	(6,329	)


(1)	During 2018, the Company divested all of the non-core businesses that comprised its Other segment and moved a small residual product from the Other segment into the Research business and, as a result, no operating activity has been recorded in the Other segment in 2019. Note 2 — Acquisitions and Divestitures provides additional information regarding the Company's 2018 divestitures.

The table below provides a reconciliation of total segment gross contribution to net income for the years ended December 31 (in thousands).



	2019			2018			2017
Total segment gross contribution	$	2,711,927		$	2,518,973		$	2,000,386
Costs and expenses:
Cost of services and product development - unallocated (1)	17,174			12,319			9,090
Selling, general and administrative	2,103,424			1,884,141			1,599,004
Depreciation and amortization	211,779			255,601			240,171
Acquisition and integration charges	9,463			107,197			158,450
Operating income (loss)	370,087			259,715			(6,329		)
Interest expense and other, net	(92,273		)	(124,041		)	(121,488		)
(Loss) gain from divested operations	(2,075		)	45,447			—
Provision (benefit) for income taxes	42,449			58,665			(131,096		)
Net income	$	233,290		$	122,456		$	3,279


(1)	The unallocated amounts consist of certain bonus and fringe costs recorded in consolidated Cost of services and product development that are not allocated to segment expense. The Company's policy is to allocate bonuses to segments at 100% of a segment employee's target bonus. Amounts above or below 100% are absorbed by corporate.

Disaggregated revenue information by reportable segment for the three years ended December 31, 2019 is presented in Note 9 — Revenue and Related Matters. Long-lived asset information by geographic location as of December 31 is summarized in the table below (in thousands).



	2019		2018		2017
Long-lived assets (1):
United States and Canada	$	867,974	$	305,928	$	288,735
Europe, Middle East and Africa	242,729		67,306		84,840
Other International	159,037		50,800		41,674
Total long-lived assets	$	1,269,740	$	424,034	$	415,249

(1)

Excludes goodwill and intangible assets for all dates and, as of December 31, 2017, held-for-sale assets. Additionally, long-lived assets as of December 31, 2019 included $702.9 million of operating lease right-of-use assets. Note 1 — Business and Significant Accounting Policies and Note 7 — Leases provide additional information regarding the Company's leases and certain changes in lease accounting effective January 1, 2019.