Clinical research company Medpace Holdings (NASDAQ: MEDP) reported revenue ahead of Wall Street’s expectations in Q2 CY2026, with sales up 17.2% year on year to $707.3 million. The company’s full-year revenue guidance of $2.85 billion at the midpoint came in 2.6% above analysts’ estimates. Its GAAP profit of $4.25 per share was 6.6% above analysts’ consensus estimates.
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Medpace (MEDP) Q2 CY2026 Highlights:
- Revenue: $707.3 million vs analyst estimates of $689.7 million (17.2% year-on-year growth, 2.6% beat)
- EPS (GAAP): $4.25 vs analyst estimates of $3.99 (6.6% beat)
- Adjusted EBITDA: $153.4 million vs analyst estimates of $147.1 million (21.7% margin, 4.3% beat)
- The company lifted its revenue guidance for the full year to $2.85 billion at the midpoint from $2.81 billion, a 1.4% increase
- EPS (GAAP) guidance for the full year is $17.60 at the midpoint, beating analyst estimates by 3.9%
- EBITDA guidance for the full year is $630 million at the midpoint, above analyst estimates of $608.8 million
- Operating Margin: 20.8%, in line with the same quarter last year
- Free Cash Flow Margin: 19.5%, down from 23.6% in the same quarter last year
- Market Capitalization: $15.18 billion
Company Overview
Founded in 1992 as a scientifically-driven alternative to traditional contract research organizations, Medpace (NASDAQ: MEDP) provides outsourced clinical trial management and research services to help pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device companies develop new treatments.
Revenue Growth
A company’s long-term sales performance is one signal of its overall quality. Even a bad business can shine for one or two quarters, but a top-tier one grows for years. Thankfully, Medpace’s 22% annualized revenue growth over the last five years was excellent. Its growth beat the average healthcare company and shows its offerings resonate with customers, a helpful starting point for our analysis.
We at StockStory place the most emphasis on long-term growth, but within healthcare, a half-decade historical view may miss recent innovations or disruptive industry trends. Medpace’s annualized revenue growth of 17.1% over the last two years is below its five-year trend, but we still think the results suggest healthy demand. 
This quarter, Medpace reported year-on-year revenue growth of 17.2%, and its $707.3 million of revenue exceeded Wall Street’s estimates by 2.6%.
Looking ahead, sell-side analysts expect revenue to remain flat over the next 12 months, a deceleration versus the last two years. This projection doesn’t excite us and indicates its products and services will face some demand challenges. At least the company is tracking well in other measures of financial health.
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Adjusted Operating Margin
Adjusted operating margin is one of the best measures of profitability because it tells us how much money a company takes home after subtracting all core expenses, like marketing and R&D. It also removes various one-time costs to paint a better picture of normalized profits.
Medpace has been an efficient company over the last five years. It was one of the more profitable businesses in the healthcare sector, boasting an average adjusted operating margin of 20.7%.
Analyzing the trend in its profitability, Medpace’s adjusted operating margin rose by 2.3 percentage points over the last five years, as its sales growth gave it operating leverage. The company’s two-year trajectory shows its performance was mostly driven by its recent improvements. These data points are very encouraging and show momentum is on its side.
This quarter, Medpace generated an adjusted operating margin profit margin of 21.4%, in line with the same quarter last year. This indicates the company’s overall cost structure has been relatively stable.
Earnings Per Share
Revenue trends explain a company’s historical growth, but the long-term change in earnings per share (EPS) points to the profitability of that growth — for example, a company could inflate its sales through excessive spending on advertising and promotions.
Medpace’s EPS grew at 29.6% compounded annual growth rate over the last five years, higher than its 22% annualized revenue growth. This tells us the company became more profitable on a per-share basis as it expanded.
We can take a deeper look into Medpace’s earnings quality to better understand the drivers of its performance. As we mentioned earlier, Medpace’s adjusted operating margin was flat this quarter but expanded by 2.3 percentage points over the last five years. On top of that, its share count shrank by 24.3%. These are positive signs for shareholders because improving profitability and share buybacks turbocharge EPS growth relative to revenue growth. 
In Q2, Medpace reported EPS of $4.25, up from $3.10 in the same quarter last year. This print beat analysts’ estimates by 6.6%. Over the next 12 months, Wall Street expects Medpace’s full-year EPS to grow 3.1% from $17.05 to $17.57.
Key Takeaways from Medpace’s Q2 Results
It was great to see Medpace’s full-year revenue guidance top analysts’ expectations. We were also glad its full-year EPS guidance outperformed Wall Street’s estimates. Zooming out, we think this quarter featured some important positives. The stock traded up 18.6% to $625.97 immediately after reporting.
Medpace may have had a good quarter, but does that mean you should invest right now? The latest quarter does matter, but not nearly as much as longer-term fundamentals and valuation, when deciding if the stock is a buy. We cover that in our actionable full research report which you can read here (it’s free).
