Accenture (NYSE:ACN) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.21 EPS

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The information technology services provider reported $3.94 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.21, FiscalAI reports. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.45% and a net margin of 11.02%.The firm had revenue of $18.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.59 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Accenture updated its FY 2026 guidance to 13.520-13.900 EPS.

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

• Strong quarter financials with $18.7 billion revenue (up 5% L.C.), $20.9 billion bookings, adjusted EPS of $3.94 (+10% YoY), adjusted operating margin up 30 bps to 17%, and $1.5 billion free cash flow while returning $3.3 billion to shareholders.
• Advanced AI momentum continued as advanced AI bookings reached $2.2 billion (nearly double YoY) and revenue about $1.1 billion this quarter, but the company said this will be the last quarter it discloses these specific advanced AI metrics.
• Strengthening capabilities via partnerships and M&A, including a 65% stake in DLB Associates to enter the high-growth data-center engineering market and $374 million in investments across six strategic acquisitions to expand AI, cloud, security, and industry expertise.
• FY26 guidance reaffirmed with revenue growth of 2–5% in local currency (estimated 3–6% ex-federal), adjusted operating margin of 15.7–15.9%, EPS guidance of $13.52–$13.90, ~$3 billion in planned acquisitions, and at least $9.3 billion in shareholder returns.
• Business optimization charges totaled $308 million in Q1 (bringing six-month charges to $923 million), including $58 million more than expected this quarter, which weighed on GAAP EPS and the effective tax rate.

Accenture Stock Down 2.5%

Shares of NYSE:ACN traded down $6.87 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $266.87. The company had a trading volume of 897,842 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,855,859. Accenture has a 1-year low of $229.40 and a 1-year high of $398.35. The stock has a market cap of $175.72 billion, a PE ratio of 21.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.26. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $251.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $264.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th were given a dividend of $1.63 per share. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.48. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is presently 53.66%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Manish Sharma sold 6,902 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.01, for a total transaction of $1,725,569.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,860 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $465,018.60. This represents a 78.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ryoji Sekido sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.47, for a total transaction of $623,675.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,390 shares in the company, valued at approximately $346,763.30. This trade represents a 64.27% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 33,319 shares of company stock valued at $8,335,225. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Accenture

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Holt Capital Advisors L.L.C. dba Holt Capital Partners L.P. grew its position in shares of Accenture by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Holt Capital Advisors L.L.C. dba Holt Capital Partners L.P. now owns 4,416 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,089,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Accenture by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,751 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,108,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Regal Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Accenture by 1.1% during the third quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,935 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,217,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 4.0% during the third quarter. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC now owns 1,749 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $431,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC boosted its stake in shares of Accenture by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,767 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $528,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on ACN. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Accenture in a report on Wednesday. BNP Paribas Exane reduced their target price on Accenture from $300.00 to $255.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Accenture in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $251.00 price objective for the company. Susquehanna lowered their price target on shares of Accenture from $330.00 to $270.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on Accenture from $372.00 to $285.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $294.04.

About Accenture

Accenture plc, a professional services company, provides strategy and consulting, industry X, song, and technology and operation services worldwide. The company offers application services, including agile transformation, DevOps, application modernization, enterprise architecture, software and quality engineering, data management; intelligent automation comprising robotic process automation, natural language processing, and virtual agents; and application management services, as well as software engineering services; strategy and consulting services; data and analytics strategy, data discovery and augmentation, data management and beyond, data democratization, and industrialized solutions comprising turnkey analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) solutions; metaverse; and sustainability services.