Key takeaways (as of December 3, 2025)
- ACN closed around $272.85 on Dec. 3, up about 4.5% and logging its fourth straight daily gain, but the share price is still roughly 30% below its 52‑week high near $398. [1]
- New AI partnerships with OpenAI and Snowflake plus deepening ties to Google Cloud and AWS are strengthening Accenture’s pitch as an “AI-first” transformation partner. [2]
- Fiscal 2025 results beat expectations with Q4 revenue of $17.6 billion, 7% growth in U.S. dollars and record AI-related bookings – but fiscal 2026 guidance calls for only 2–5% revenue growth, which some investors view as cautious. [3]
- Wall Street’s overall view remains constructive: most analyst aggregators show a “Moderate Buy/Buy” rating and 8–10% 12‑month upside, before dividends, from current levels. [4]
- Institutions own roughly three‑quarters of the float and continue to buy the dip, while insiders have taken some profits, selling just over 33,000 shares over the last few months. [5]
Note: This article is for informational purposes only and is not investment advice. Always do your own research or consult a licensed professional before making investment decisions.
Accenture stock today: Price action and valuation snapshot
Accenture plc’s Class A shares (NYSE: ACN) ended trading on December 3, 2025, at about $272.85, up roughly 4.5% on the day and marking a fourth consecutive session of gains. Intraday trading ranged roughly between $260 and $274, with volume close to 7 million shares – well above the recent 50‑day average around 4.4 million, signaling strong interest. [6]
Despite this bounce, ACN remains deep in “drawdown” territory: the stock is still more than 30% below its 52‑week high near $398.35 and only modestly above its 12‑month low around $229.40. Year‑to‑date, performance is negative in the mid‑20s percent range, even after a roughly 9–10% rebound from recent lows. [7]
At current levels, Accenture carries a market capitalization in the low‑$160 billion range and trades at roughly 21–22x trailing earnings and a PEG ratio just above 2, a premium to many traditional IT services peers but arguably aligned with its scale, margins and AI positioning. [8]
For context, Accenture generated $69.67 billion in revenue in fiscal 2025 (year ended August 31) and employs about 779,000 people across more than 120 countries, underscoring its status as one of the largest consulting and IT services firms in the world. [9]
The big story: AI partnerships move center stage
1. OpenAI partnership and ChatGPT Enterprise rollout
On December 1, Reuters reported that Accenture will equip tens of thousands of its IT professionals with ChatGPT Enterprise under a new partnership with OpenAI. The deal aims to accelerate AI adoption both inside Accenture and across client organizations. [10]
Key elements of the OpenAI collaboration include:
- Enterprise‑scale deployment of ChatGPT Enterprise to Accenture teams for both internal workflows and client projects.
- A flagship AI program combining OpenAI’s products with Accenture’s industry and functional expertise to help enterprises in financial services, healthcare, retail, public sector and more convert legacy processes into AI‑powered workflows. [11]
- Integration with Accenture’s $865 million restructuring program, announced alongside Q4 earnings, which is re‑aligning the workforce toward AI and higher‑value digital services while phasing out roles based on skills the company considers less viable. [12]
The announcement drove an immediate reaction in the market: shares rose nearly 3% in pre‑market trading when the OpenAI partnership was first reported, highlighting how tightly investor sentiment is now linked to Accenture’s AI narrative. [13]
2. New Snowflake business group to monetize data and AI
On December 3, Accenture announced the launch of the Accenture Snowflake Business Group, expanding its long‑standing collaboration with Snowflake, the AI Data Cloud company. [14]
Highlights from the Snowflake press release:
- The new group brings together Snowflake’s AI Data Cloud and Accenture’s “AI Refinery” platform to help enterprises modernize their data estates and build AI‑ready architectures.
- Accenture is committing more than 5,000 Snowflake‑certified professionals, described as the largest certified talent pool in the Snowflake ecosystem.
- Early flagship client Caterpillar is working with Accenture and Snowflake to unlock operational data for better manufacturing quality, faster financial insights and improved knowledge management. [15]
- Accenture cites its own research showing that roughly 85% of C‑suite leaders plan to increase AI investments, with two‑thirds seeing AI primarily as a growth driver rather than just a cost‑cutting tool, a demand backdrop the Snowflake group is designed to capture. [16]
This Snowflake announcement, coming just days after the high‑profile OpenAI deal, helps explain why ACN is suddenly trending on trading platforms and search engines even though there hasn’t been a new earnings release this week. [17]
3. Google Cloud and AWS deepen the AI bench
In October, Accenture also expanded its AI alliances with the two hyperscalers that already underpin much of its cloud practice:
- With Google Cloud, Accenture is rolling out Gemini Enterprise–based “agentic AI” solutions, claiming more than 450 AI agents now available on Google Cloud Marketplace and live use cases at clients such as JCOM and Radisson Hotel Group. These deployments range from AI‑summarized customer service interactions to multilingual ad personalization with reported double‑digit revenue lifts. [18]
- With Amazon Web Services, Accenture is broadening the Accenture AWS Business Group to target public‑sector and defense organizations with AI‑powered modernization projects, including case‑management improvements for agencies like the Louisiana Department of Children & Family Services. [19]
Taken together, OpenAI + Snowflake + Google Cloud + AWS position Accenture not as a pure AI vendor, but as the systems integrator that stitches together these platforms into real‑world enterprise workflows – a role that can be extremely sticky if the company executes well.
Earnings backdrop: Q4 beat, moderate FY26 outlook
Fiscal 2025: solid growth, AI momentum
On September 25, Accenture reported Q4 fiscal 2025 revenue of $17.6 billion, up 7% in U.S. dollars and 4.5% in local currency, landing at the top end of its guidance range. Adjusted EPS came in at $3.03, up 9% year‑over‑year and slightly ahead of consensus estimates around $2.98. [20]
For the full fiscal year 2025 (ended Aug. 31):
- Revenue reached $69.7 billion, up 7% in both U.S. dollars and local currency. [21]
- New bookings totaled $80.6 billion, with $21.3 billion booked in Q4 alone. [22]
- Generative AI bookings reached $5.9 billion for the year and $1.8 billion in Q4, highlighting how quickly the AI practice is scaling. [23]
A detailed AI‑focused analysis from CRN noted that advanced AI revenue (a broader category beyond just GenAI) reached about $2.7 billion in fiscal 2025, tripling year‑over‑year, and that Accenture has now trained more than 550,000 employees on GenAI and completed over 6,000 advanced‑AI projects. [24]
Fiscal 2026 guidance: growth, but not a rocket ship
Where the market has been more cautious is the fiscal 2026 outlook. According to Accenture’s own guidance:
- The company expects full‑year revenue growth of 2–5% in local currency (3–6% if you strip out drag from its U.S. federal business). [25]
- GAAP EPS is projected between $13.19 and $13.57, with adjusted EPS of $13.52–$13.90, implying mid‑single‑digit to high‑single‑digit growth from fiscal 2025. [26]
- The company plans to return at least $9.3 billion to shareholders in fiscal 2026 via dividends and buybacks. [27]
Reuters and other outlets framed this outlook as “light” relative to prior expectations of ~5.3% revenue growth, which helps explain why ACN shares sold off sharply after the September earnings print despite the beat on Q4 numbers. [28]
At the same time, Accenture is in the middle of a six‑month, $865 million restructuring program, with about $615 million of charges already recognized in Q4 and another ~$250 million expected in the November quarter. The program is designed to rotate talent into AI‑intensive roles and trim positions tied to slower‑growth legacy services, not simply shrink the company; Accenture still expects net hiring in high‑demand skill areas. [29]
Wall Street view: Moderate Buy with single‑digit upside
Different analyst aggregators give slightly different numbers, but they all point in the same direction.
- MarketBeat: 28 analysts, with 1 Sell, 11 Hold, 15 Buy and 1 Strong Buy – a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average 12‑month price target of about $294.25 (range $215–$370), implying around 8% upside from current levels. [30]
- StockAnalysis: 22 analysts rate ACN a “Buy” with a mean target of roughly $298.82, about 9–10% above the latest price. [31]
- TickerNerd: Using a broader set of 40 Wall Street analysts, TickerNerd finds a median target near $282.50 (low $205, high $330) and a consensus rating that skews bullish: 13 Buy, 11 Hold, 1 Sell. [32]
- Benzinga: Summarizing another dataset, Benzinga cites a consensus target around $307.96 based on 26 analysts, with a high estimate of $405 and a low of $240. [33]
- MarketWatch’s analyst page adds yet another angle, listing an average target of about $278.55 and an “Overweight” average recommendation across roughly 28 ratings. [34]
When you blend these sources, the picture is consistent: Wall Street generally expects mid‑single‑ to low‑double‑digit price appreciation over the next year, plus roughly a 2.5% dividend yield following Accenture’s recent quarterly dividend increase to $1.63 per share ($6.52 annualized). [35]
Longer‑term algorithmic forecasts (for example, those collated by Benzinga from CoinCodex) show wide ranges but cluster many of their “average” cases for 2025–2026 around the high‑$270s to low‑$300s, broadly echoing human analyst targets while emphasizing that uncertainty grows quickly beyond a 12‑month horizon. [36]
Investor flows: Institutions buying, insiders trimming
Recent 13F filings and position disclosures suggest that big money is still comfortable owning Accenture at current levels, even after this year’s drawdown.
Among notable moves reported in late November and early December:
- River Road Asset Management boosted its stake by 190% in Q2, adding 35,221 shares to bring its position to 53,731 shares, worth about $16 million at the time of filing. [37]
- Westerkirk Capital Inc. initiated a new position of 17,896 shares, roughly $5.35 million in value. [38]
- Edgestream Partners L.P. increased its holdings by nearly 60% to 18,598 shares, while other funds such as BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments and the New York State Common Retirement Fund also added. [39]
- On the other side, Groupe la Francaise cut its stake by about 32%, selling 60,011 shares but still owning 125,281 shares (≈$38 million). [40]
Across these and similar filings, institutional ownership sits around 75% of outstanding shares, typical for a large‑cap professional services leader and indicative of a heavily “core‑holding” stock in many portfolios. [41]
Insider behavior, however, has been net selling. Recent MarketBeat summaries highlight that executives, including CEO Julie Sweet and another senior leader, collectively disposed of just over 33,000 shares (~$8.3 million) in the past few months, leaving insiders with a very small percentage (about 0.02%) of the float. [42]
That combination – heavy institutional ownership, modest insider selling – is typical for a mature blue‑chip. It doesn’t scream “red flag,” but it does remind investors that management is willing to take some profit even as they talk up the AI opportunity.
How AI is changing Accenture’s fundamentals
Accenture’s AI story is no longer aspirational; it already shows up meaningfully in the numbers and in how the company is organized.
From the earnings call and subsequent analyses:
- Advanced AI revenue hit about $2.7 billion in fiscal 2025, roughly triple the prior year. [43]
- GenAI bookings of $5.9 billion for the year and $1.8 billion in Q4 were called out as key contributors to record overall bookings. [44]
- Accenture has grown its AI and data workforce from ~40,000 to 77,000 in two years and trained more than 550,000 employees in GenAI fundamentals. [45]
- The company has already delivered over 6,000 advanced‑AI projects across industries, showing that this isn’t just pilot‑scale experimentation. [46]
At the same time, Accenture has spent roughly $2.3 billion on restructuring and business optimization over the last three fiscal years and into early FY26, much of it on severance, as it pivots its workforce to this AI‑first world. Even after cutting over 11,000 roles in the September quarter, headcount still rose by about 5,000 year‑over‑year, meaning the firm is simultaneously shedding old skill sets and hiring into new ones. [47]
The OpenAI and Snowflake announcements of early December, layered on top of the Gemini Enterprise and AWS public‑sector deals from October, show a company that is betting its entire strategy on being the “reinvention partner” for AI and data transformation – and increasingly uses AI tools internally at scale, not just for clients. [48]
Risks and bear‑case arguments
Despite the recent relief rally, bears and cautious holders point to a number of risks:
- Slowing top‑line growth
- After years of high‑single‑digit to low‑double‑digit expansion, the 2–5% FY26 revenue growth outlook looks modest, particularly for a stock that historically traded at a premium multiple. [49]
- Research notes from outlets like Investor’s Business Daily highlight that IT and consulting budgets, especially in the U.S., remain under pressure, with federal spending cuts and delayed projects acting as a drag. [50]
- Execution risk on restructuring and AI pivot
- The $865 million restructuring program involves large severance charges, divestitures and a complex talent realignment. If integration of AI into delivery models is slower than planned, Accenture could see margin pressure or cultural friction. [51]
- Valuation and sentiment overhang
- Even after a steep drawdown and cautious guidance, ACN still trades at above 20x trailing earnings, a level some investors argue is rich for a company guiding to mid‑single‑digit revenue growth. [52]
- Several investment letters in recent weeks have cited these concerns as reasons to trim or exit positions, even while acknowledging Accenture’s high quality franchise. [53]
- Macro and policy risk
- Reuters has noted that U.S. federal contract delays and cancellations weighed on growth, and that potential immigration‑policy changes, such as higher H‑1B visa fees, could add labor‑cost uncertainty for the broader IT services sector, even if Accenture says direct impact should be limited. [54]
For investors, the core question is whether AI‑driven mix shift and efficiency gains can offset slower legacy consulting growth and macro headwinds – and whether they’re comfortable paying a quality premium for that bet.
Bull‑case view: Why some see ACN as an AI‑leveraged recovery play
Supporters of the stock, including many of the analysts still rating it a Buy or Overweight, tend to emphasize:
- Scale and client relationships: Accenture serves about 9,000 clients, including a large portion of the Fortune Global 500, and is often embedded deeply in mission‑critical processes. That gives it a natural seat at the table as clients rethink workflows with AI. [55]
- Proven ability to monetize AI, not just talk about it: The company is already booking billions in GenAI and broader AI work, with tangible revenue and bookings growth linked directly to those deals. [56]
- Healthy balance sheet and cash returns: High free cash flow (≈$10.9 billion in FY25) plus a commitment to return at least $9.3 billion to shareholders in FY26 underpin the dividend and buyback story. [57]
- Institutional conviction: Large long‑only investors and pensions continue to accumulate shares, suggesting that many see the current valuation as a long‑term opportunity rather than a value trap. [58]
For these investors, ACN is less a speculative AI play and more a diversified “picks and shovels” provider: if AI deployments succeed widely, Accenture benefits across multiple vendors, industries and geographies.
What to watch next for Accenture shareholders
If you follow or hold ACN, here are the key catalysts and metrics to track over the coming quarters:
- Growth vs. guidance
- Does revenue land toward the high end (5–6%) or low end (2–3%) of the FY26 growth range?
- Do AI‑related bookings continue to outgrow the rest of the business, and by how much?
- Margin and cash‑flow trajectory
- AI partnership commercialization
- Evidence that the OpenAI, Snowflake, Google Cloud and AWS collaborations translate into repeatable, large‑ticket programs across multiple industries. Look for case studies, reference wins and recurring AI‑platform deals. [61]
- Macro resilience
- How Accenture performs relative to other IT services and consulting peers in a choppy macro environment, especially in U.S. public sector and discretionary consulting budgets. [62]
- Valuation re‑rating
- Whether a combination of accelerating AI revenue, stable margins and steady cash returns is enough to justify a re‑rating of the stock’s multiple back toward historical averages – or whether the market keeps ACN “on probation” until growth visibly reaccelerates. [63]
Quick FAQ: Accenture stock in December 2025
Is Accenture an AI stock or a consulting stock?
Both. Accenture is still fundamentally a consulting and IT services firm, but it increasingly earns and books revenue explicitly tied to AI and data projects, and its strategy is to be the “reinvention partner of choice” for clients building AI‑enabled digital cores. [64]
Does ACN pay a dividend?
Yes. Accenture recently raised its quarterly dividend to $1.63 per share, or $6.52 annualized. At current prices, that equates to a yield of roughly 2.3–2.6%, depending on the exact share price at any given moment. [65]
What’s the consensus 12‑month price target?
Most aggregators cluster in the high‑$280s to low‑$300s – roughly 8–10% upside from today’s price – with individual analyst targets spanning from the low‑$200s to around $330–$405 on the high end. [66]
Bottom line
As of December 3, 2025, Accenture is trading like a high‑quality, AI‑leveraged recovery story:
- The market has already punished the stock for cautious near‑term growth,
- but AI bookings, big‑name partnerships and institutional buying suggest investors haven’t given up on the long‑term thesis.
Whether ACN fits your portfolio depends on your time horizon, risk tolerance and view on enterprise AI adoption — but it’s hard to argue that this is a sleepy consulting stock anymore.
References
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