Accenture (NYSE: ACN) has delivered constant quarterly income development throughout its working segments this yr, pushing each top-line and earnings above analysts’ estimates. That momentum is predicted to proceed when the skilled providers large studies its fourth-quarter outcomes subsequent week, regardless of the latest slowdown in bookings amid financial uncertainties and cautious enterprise spending.
Estimates
The Accenture management in a latest assertion mentioned it expects fourth-quarter income to be within the vary of $17.0 billion to $17.6 billion, representing a 1-5% YoY development in native foreign money. That’s broadly in keeping with analysts’ consensus income estimate of $17.34 billion for the August quarter. Market watchers are on the lookout for earnings of $2.96 per share for This autumn, vs. 2.66 per share within the prior-year quarter. The report is slated for launch on Thursday, September 25, at 6:40 am ET.
After retreating from the file highs of February this yr, Accenture’s inventory has declined round 40%, underperforming the S&P 500 index. The downturn primarily displays investor considerations over financial and geopolitical uncertainties and public sector spending cuts. Since mid-year, the shares have languished under their 52-week common of $322.40. Given the corporate’s AI-focused development technique, which positions it to faucet into rising alternatives in that space, the present inventory downturn seems short-term.
Q3 Consequence
Within the third quarter, revenues grew 8% year-over-year to $17.7 billion, and seven% in native foreign money. Internet revenue attributable to the corporate was $2.20 billion or $3.49 per share in Q3, in comparison with $1.93 billion or $3.04 per share within the prior-year quarter. Income and the underside line exceeded Wall Road’s expectations, marking the fourth beat in a row. In the meantime, new bookings, the worth of latest contracts or initiatives, declined 6% yearly to $19.7 billion within the third quarter, after dropping 3% within the prior quarter.
From Accenture’s Q3 2025 earnings name:
“Stating the plain, as we shared final quarter, we proceed to see a considerably elevated degree of uncertainty within the international financial and geopolitical surroundings as in comparison with calendar yr 2024. In each boardroom, in each business, our purchasers aren’t dealing with a single problem. They’re dealing with every thing directly. Financial volatility. Geopolitical complexity. Main shifts in buyer habits. In these occasions, our purchasers want us greater than ever. They give the impression of being to us to assist them construct resilience and ship outcomes.”
Targets
Not too long ago, the administration mentioned it’s concentrating on a income development of 6-7%, in native foreign money, for fiscal 2025. The earnings per share forecast for FY25 is within the vary of $12.77 to $12.89. It additionally raised full-year free money circulation steerage to the vary of $9.0 billion to $9.7 billion.
Accenture is navigating a posh enterprise surroundings this yr, marked by technological shifts and evolving buyer preferences. Whereas the corporate continues to profit from steady demand, the unstable macroeconomic and geopolitical circumstances stay a priority attributable to their impression on consumer spending.
On Friday, Accenture’s inventory traded close to ranges final seen 5 years in the past, as a months-long dropping streak erased its early-year positive factors. The inventory has misplaced about 26% previously six months.