IT vs PATH: Which Is the Better Buy in 2026?

Same yardstick, side by side (as of October 2026). Valuation lined up like this is most meaningful for two names in the same corner of the market, which these are. Figures are approximate; verify before investing.

The metrics above tell you which is the marginally better business. The bigger risk for most people is not picking the slightly worse stock, it is over-concentrating. IT and PATH share themes, so owning both, or adding either to what you already hold, can quietly push a large share of your portfolio into one bet.

This is the part a generic comparison page cannot answer, because it depends on what you own. Connect your brokerage and Walnut shows your real, combined IT and PATH exposure, flags overlap with your existing positions, and tells you if adding one would tip you past a concentration you are comfortable with, read-only by default, with your login staying at your broker. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

Gartner, Inc. is the world's largest independent technology research and advisory firm, selling syndicated research, analyst access, benchmarking, and advisory relationships to IT, finance, HR, supply-chain, and other corporate leaders. It operates through three segments: Business and Technology Insights (formerly Research), which is nearly 100% subscription-based and is the profit engine; Conferences, the in-person events business that ran 53 conferences with over 83,000 attendees in 2025; and Consulting, a smaller project-based advisory arm. The economics are attractive because Insights carries high gross margins, high renewal rates, and predictable recurring revenue tied to contract value (the annualized value of subscription contracts), which management watches as the core growth metric. Its forecasts still move markets: in mid-October 2026 a Gartner warning that most independent AI cloud providers would not survive sent CoreWeave, Nebius and IREN shares lower.

Full IT guide

UiPath builds and sells an integrated enterprise automation platform that combines traditional robotic process automation (RPA) with AI-powered capabilities including agentic automation, process orchestration, intelligent document processing, and governance tooling. Its core product, the UiPath Platform, enables AI agents, software robots, and human workers to collaborate in coordinated workflows across industries including financial services, healthcare, manufacturing, retail, and the public sector. The company makes money primarily through subscription and cloud software licenses, which generate high gross margins in the 83-85 percent range, supplemented by professional services revenue. ARR, the annualized value of active subscription contracts, is its primary business-health metric and stood at $1.853 billion as of January 31, 2026.

Full PATH guide

Both fit overlapping themes, but they are not interchangeable. The useful comparison is which set of drivers and risks you want exposure to.

• IT drivers: Subscription research and contract value; Cash generation and buybacks.
• PATH drivers: Agentic Automation as the Next Growth Layer; Re-accelerating Revenue Growth with a Maturing Margin Profile.

A faster-growing, richer-valued name usually swings harder, so it suits a longer horizon and a higher tolerance for volatility; a steadier, more cash-generative business suits a more conservative or income-minded investor. The honest test is which set of risks you could hold through a drawdown: The dominant risk is generative AI disintermediation: if free or cheaper AI tools can approximate the research and advice clients pay Gartner for, subscription demand and pricing power could erode, which is the primary reason the stock derated so sharply in 2026. For PATH, the central bear case is platform displacement: generative AI and agentic tools embedded into Microsoft 365, ServiceNow, and cloud hyperscaler platforms could allow enterprises to automate complex workflows without a dedicated RPA layer, gradually eroding UiPath's core value proposition.

Growth-minded investors who believe the theme has years to run tend to accept the richer multiple for more upside; value-minded investors lean toward the cheaper forward earnings and steadier profile. Pick IT if you believe its drivers more; PATH if you believe its. Many investors hold both, but since they share themes, that is a concentrated bet, not diversification. Decide deliberately and check overlap. For the full detail, see the IT and PATH guides.

IT. At about $206 on October 16, 2026, Gartner trades near 19 times trailing and 13 times forward earnings and about 2 times sales, far below the 30-plus multiples it carried for years but well above its summer low near $124. The discount reflects fear that AI erodes the research franchise plus flat revenue, not a collapse in profits, since EPS has beaten consensus four quarters running. The analyst consensus is a hold with a mean target of about $190, below the current price after the rebound.

PATH. UiPath trades near 19x trailing and 14x forward earnings and about 4x sales in October 2026, a discount to most software peers that reflects uncertainty over whether agentic AI tailwinds turn into sustained double-digit ARR growth. Trailing net income is flattered relative to operating profit (operating margin is about 9 percent), so free cash flow of roughly $474 million is the steadier gauge of the business. Consensus expects about 9 percent revenue growth this fiscal year and 17 percent next, and whether that acceleration shows up is what would close or widen the valuation gap.

Headline figures (approximate, October 2026): IT shows revenue (ttm) ~$6.46B, q2 2026 revenue growth ~-0.6% YoY (~$1.68B), gross / operating margin ~70% / ~23%, net income (ttm) ~$775M (EPS ~$11.06); PATH shows revenue (ttm) ~$1.72 billion, latest quarter (q2 fy2027, ended jul 31, 2026) Revenue ~$410 million, up ~13%; non-GAAP EPS $0.15 vs $0.15 expected, arr (as of jan 31, 2026) ~$1.85 billion, up 11%, gross margin (ttm) ~83%.

IT and PATH are related but distinct: same themes, different businesses and risks. Neither wins in the abstract; the right pick is whichever thesis you actually believe, sized so you are not over-concentrated in one theme. Walnut can show your combined IT and PATH exposure against your real portfolio. It is not an investment adviser.