Accenture (NYSE:ACN) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.11 EPS

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 1st. The information technology services provider reported $3.29 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.18 by $0.11, Zacks reports. The firm had revenue of $18.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.03 billion. Accenture had a net margin of 11.28% and a return on equity of 26.53%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.03 EPS. Accenture updated its FY 2027 guidance to 14.390-14.810 EPS.

Here are the key takeaways from Accenture’s conference call:

• Q4 exceeded guidance: Revenue reached $18.7 billion, up 7% in local currency, with broad-based growth across regions, industries, consulting, and managed services. Bookings were strong at $22.2 billion, including 37 clients with bookings above $100 million.
• Accenture reported strong FY2026 profitability and cash generation, including 15.8% adjusted operating margin, 8% adjusted EPS growth to $13.97, and $11.6 billion of free cash flow. The company returned a record $11.5 billion to shareholders and expects share count to decline about 3% in FY2027.
• Management sees AI as a net growth tailwind, with nearly 100 additional clients starting advanced AI work in Q4 and more than 400 doing so during FY2026. Accenture ended the year with nearly 110,000 AI and data professionals and expects AI-related demand to expand as clients build digital cores, data foundations, and enterprise AI platforms.
• FY2027 guidance calls for 3%-6% local-currency revenue growth, 15.9%-16.1% operating margin, and 3%-6% EPS growth, while assuming broadly stable technology and discretionary spending. Management expects to invest approximately $5 billion in additional acquisitions, including roughly $3 billion of Cyber OT acquisitions shifted into Q1 due to regulatory timing.
• The outlook continues to reflect risks from the approximately $1 billion annualized Middle East business headwind, intense competition and lower pricing in some areas, and potential deterioration in discretionary spending. Management also expects hiring growth to slow and acknowledged that large managed-services bookings remain lumpy.

Accenture Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ACN traded down $0.78 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $207.58. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,460,242 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,986,606. The stock has a market capitalization of $138.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.30, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $183.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $173.44. Accenture has a 12-month low of $118.15 and a 12-month high of $291.09.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 13th will be given a dividend of $1.71 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 13th. This represents a $6.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. This is an increase from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. Accenture’s payout ratio is 50.44%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ACN. Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of Accenture from $153.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Accenture from $230.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 1st. TD Cowen increased their price target on Accenture from $173.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 1st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Accenture in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Accenture from $175.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Accenture has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $219.15.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 10,498 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.98, for a total transaction of $1,710,964.04. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 17,735 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,890,450.30. This trade represents a 37.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Accenture declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, June 23rd that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the information technology services provider to reacquire up to 2.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Accenture Company Profile

Accenture plc (NYSE: ACN) is a global professional services company that helps organizations improve performance, modernize operations and respond to technological and market changes. Its services span strategy and consulting, technology, operations, and managed services, with expertise across industries including communications, financial services, health care, public service, retail, manufacturing and resources.

The company provides digital transformation, cloud migration, data and artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, systems integration and technology implementation services.