Forrester Research, Inc. (FORR): BCG Matrix [Dec-2025 Updated]

You're looking for a clear-eyed view of Forrester Research, Inc.'s business portfolio as of late 2025, and honestly, the BCG matrix for a company in transition is defintely interesting; we see clear Stars driven by double-digit advisory growth and a leading AI stance, feeding the Cash Cows like the Research Segment at $72.6 million in Q3, which is powering a 21% jump in operating income. But the picture isn't all bright; the Events Segment is facing a high 20% revenue decline, landing it in the Dogs quadrant alongside the overall 6% to 9% revenue guidance drop for the year. The real wild card is the new AI Access product, a Question Mark with 22% usage growth but unproven sales conversion, so let's break down where Forrester Research, Inc. must invest, hold, or divest right now.

Background of Forrester Research, Inc. (FORR)

You're looking to map out Forrester Research, Inc. (FORR) against the BCG Matrix, so let's first ground ourselves in what the company is doing right now, as of late 2025. Forrester Research, Inc. is a global research and advisory firm, founded way back in 1983 by George F. Colony, who still serves as the Chairman and CEO. The firm is publicly traded on the Nasdaq under the ticker FORR and is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts. They help leaders across technology, customer experience, marketing, and sales functions use customer obsession to drive growth. Honestly, they've been around long enough to see a few tech cycles turn.

Forrester Research, Inc. structures its operations into three primary segments: Research, Consulting, and Events. The Research segment is where they deliver their core subscription services, including the Forrester Decisions portfolio, which aims to give business and technology leaders a proven path forward. The Consulting segment provides hands-on project work, like maturity assessments and strategy development, while the Events segment hosts various industry-focused gatherings. You should know that the company is actively pushing its generative AI tool, Izola, and recently launched Forrester AI Access, positioning itself heavily in the AI research space.

Financially, 2025 is shaping up to be a year of navigating macroeconomic headwinds. For the full year 2025, Forrester is guiding total GAAP revenues to be between $400.0 million and $410.0 million, which represents a projected decline of about 5.2% to 7.5% compared to the 2024 revenue of $432.5 million. Looking at the most recent reported quarter, the third quarter of 2025 ended September 30th, total revenues came in at $94.3 million, down from $102.5 million in the prior year period. That decline is visible across the board, with the Research segment bringing in $72.7 million in Q3 2025, a 6% drop year-over-year.

Another key metric you'll want to watch is Contract Value (CV), which is essentially the committed future revenue from subscriptions. At the end of the second quarter of 2025, the CV stood at $288.7 million, marking a 7% decrease compared to the year before. The Events business, in particular, is facing significant pressure, with the full-year decline projected to be in the high 20% range. The management team is focused on improving client retention and driving growth through targeted sales, especially for the Research business, which they anticipate will see a mid-single-digit decline for the full year 2025.

Forrester Research, Inc. (FORR) - BCG Matrix: Stars

Stars in the Boston Consulting Group Matrix represent business units or products operating in a high-growth market and commanding a high relative market share. For Forrester Research, Inc., this quadrant is characterized by areas where investment is crucial to maintain leadership and convert future success into stable Cash Cows as market growth matures.

The strategic focus on high-value, recurring revenue streams is a key indicator of Star performance, even amidst broader market softness. This is evidenced by the firm achieving an all-time high percentage of its Contract Value tied up in longer-term commitments.

The firm's positioning within the Artificial Intelligence research space is a clear example of a Star segment. AI is a high-growth market, and Forrester Research, Inc. is actively investing to maintain its leadership claim, leveraging proprietary technology to deepen client engagement.

Here's a quick look at the Q1 2025 financial snapshot for context:

The Consulting segment shows a mixed picture, where the high-growth advisory component is offsetting the overall segment revenue decline. While the Consulting business revenue was $21.4 million, down 7% year-over-year in Q1 2025, the advisory services within that segment achieved single-digit growth compared to the prior year.

The commitment to securing future revenue streams is strong, as demonstrated by the following:

• High-value, multi-year contracts reached an all-time high of 73% of total Contract Value in Q1 2025.
• The focus on larger, enterprise clients is reflected in the Contract Value per client increasing to $158,000 at year-end 2024, a 10% increase from year-end 2023.
• The Federal Government segment accounts for less than 6% of total Contract Value.

Forrester Research, Inc.'s strategic Star is its position as a leading AI research firm. This is supported by the continued expansion of its proprietary generative AI tool, Izola, which is used by technology client executives for nearly 40% of its prompts to find products or vendors in specific markets. Furthermore, the firm launched a new research stream focused on helping clients manage volatility across B2C and B2B marketing, cybersecurity, and technology strategies.

Forrester Research, Inc. (FORR) - BCG Matrix: Cash Cows

Cash Cows in the Forrester Research, Inc. portfolio represent the established, high-market-share offerings that reliably generate cash flow, even in a mature or slightly contracting market environment. These units require minimal new investment for growth but are crucial for funding the company's strategic initiatives, such as its AI advancements.

The foundation of this category is anchored by the recurring revenue stream derived from long-term client commitments. As of the third quarter of 2025, the stable, recurring Contract Value (CV) base stood at $288.1 million. This figure represents a year-over-year decline of 7%, suggesting the market for core services is mature or facing near-term headwinds, yet the base remains substantial enough to be a primary cash generator.

The core platform driving this stability is the Forrester Decisions offering. You should note that the core Forrester Decisions platform accounts for 80% of the total Contract Value. This concentration indicates a high market share for this specific, established advisory platform within its segment, fitting the high market share, low growth profile of a Cash Cow.

The focus on efficiency within these mature segments has translated directly to the bottom line. Strong cost management initiatives, which you are tracking closely, were effective in Q3 2025. These efforts drove an operating income increase of 21% for the quarter, demonstrating the ability to 'milk' these established assets for greater profitability.

While the overall revenue environment is challenging, the core Research segment remains the largest component of the top line. Total revenues for Q3 2025 were $94.3 million, down from $102.5 million in the comparable quarter in 2024. Within this, the Research revenue component experienced a decline of 6% year-over-year, excluding the impact of a prior divestiture. The ability to improve profitability despite this revenue pressure is the hallmark of a well-managed Cash Cow.

Here's a quick look at the key Q3 2025 financial metrics that underscore the Cash Cow performance:

The strategy here is clearly to maintain the productivity of these units while optimizing the infrastructure supporting them. Investments into infrastructure, like the recent launch of Forrester AI Access, are intended to improve efficiency and further boost the cash flow extracted from the existing client base, rather than fund high-growth market penetration for these specific legacy products.

You can see the focus on efficiency through the adjusted results:

• Adjusted Net Income for Q3 2025 was $7.2 million.
• This compares favorably to the $5.6 million reported for the same period in 2024.
• Adjusted diluted EPS was $0.37 for the quarter.
• The full-year 2025 adjusted operating margin is projected to be between 7.5% and 8.5%.

These Cash Cows provide the necessary capital. Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.

Forrester Research, Inc. (FORR) - BCG Matrix: Dogs

Dogs, are units or products with a low market share and low growth rates. They frequently break even, neither earning nor consuming much cash. Dogs are generally considered cash traps because businesses have money tied up in them, even though they bring back almost nothing in return. These business units are prime candidates for divestiture.

You're looking at the segments within Forrester Research, Inc. that fit this low-growth, low-return profile as of late 2025. These areas are consuming management focus without delivering commensurate returns, which is why the strategy here is avoidance and minimization. Expensive turn-around plans usually do not help when the market itself is stagnant or shrinking for that specific offering.

The overall financial outlook for Forrester Research, Inc. for the full year 2025 reflects this pressure, with the company providing guidance for total revenues between $395 million to $405 million, representing a year-over-year decline of 6% to 9%. This top-line contraction suggests that several core areas are firmly in the Dog quadrant.

Here's a quick look at the specific metrics characterizing these challenged areas:

• The Events Segment is projected to see a revenue decline in the high 20% range for the full year 2025.
• The Consulting Segment saw an 8% Year-over-Year revenue decline in Q3 2025.
• Total client count decreased by 11% year-over-year to 1,774 in Q3 2025.

The performance of the Consulting Segment in the third quarter of 2025 clearly illustrates the low-growth nature of a Dog. The revenue for this unit was $21.5 million, marking an 8% drop compared to the prior year period on an adjusted basis. This segment is facing headwinds, including a noted pullback in U.S. federal government consulting demand.

To be fair, the company is seeing some positive internal execution, like client retention holding at 74% and wallet retention improving to 86% in Q3 2025, but these improvements are not enough to offset the segment-level declines.

The following table summarizes the key financial indicators that place these business components into the Dogs category based on the latest reported figures and guidance:

The Events business is a classic Dog candidate, with management explicitly forecasting a revenue decline in the high 20% range for the full year 2025. This level of contraction in a market segment signals that investment should be minimal, focusing only on maintenance or a clear, low-cost exit strategy.

The overall client base contraction further supports the Dog classification for underperforming areas. The total client count falling to 1,774, an 11% year-over-year reduction in Q3 2025, suggests that the market share erosion is company-wide, even if concentrated in specific units like Consulting and Events.

Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.

Forrester Research, Inc. (FORR) - BCG Matrix: Question Marks

You're looking at the new initiatives at Forrester Research, Inc. (FORR) that fit squarely in the Question Marks quadrant-high potential growth markets but with currently low, unproven market share. These are the big bets consuming cash now, hoping to become tomorrow's Stars. Honestly, the entire AI-enabled research delivery system is the focus here.

The newly launched Forrester AI Access self-service product is designed to democratize research access, extending Forrester's proprietary data and guidance to more stakeholders across client organizations. This is a direct response to the market shift where more than half of large B2B transactions (US$1 million or greater) are expected to be processed through digital self-serve channels by younger buyers in 2025.

The strategic push into the government sector represents a high-potential market for these new AI-enabled tools. The company secured one of the largest research deals in Forrester's history with a large government agency, where the ability to offer an enterprise-wide pricing model via AI Access was a key differentiator.

For the new AI Access product specifically, there is a rapidly developing 'multimillion-dollar fast-growing sales pipeline' as of Q3 2025. What this estimate hides is the unproven conversion rate for this new offering, which is the core risk of any Question Mark.

The underlying generative AI tool, Izola, which launched in beta in October 2023, is showing strong user engagement, which is a positive leading indicator for AI Access adoption.

Here's the quick math on the AI tool's momentum in Q2 2025:

The overall sales organization saw the pipeline grow by 15% quarter-over-quarter between Q1 and Q2 2025. Also, multi-year contracts rose to account for 72% of the total contract value in Q2 2025, signaling progress in locking in more sustainable revenue streams.

The strategy here is clear: invest heavily to convert this pipeline and drive adoption, or risk these high-growth market entries becoming Dogs if market share isn't captured quickly. If onboarding takes 14+ days for these new AI products, churn risk rises.

• Democratizing research access via AI Access.
• Leveraging Izola's user adoption for new product sales.
• Targeting high-value government contracts.
• Converting the 15% quarter-over-quarter pipeline growth.

Finance: draft the projected cash burn for AI Access R&D versus the Q3 2025 pipeline conversion forecast by next Wednesday.