Accenture plc stock (NYSE: ACN) was lower Thursday after the consulting and IT services giant reported fiscal first-quarter 2026 results that topped Wall Street expectations—but delivered a second-quarter revenue outlook that, at the midpoint, came in slightly under analyst forecasts. As of the latest update Thursday afternoon, Accenture shares traded around $270.84, down about 1% from the prior close, after swinging between roughly $262.00 and $285.34 intraday.
The market’s reaction underscores the split narrative surrounding Accenture stock in late 2025: strong demand for AI-led work is translating into faster “advanced AI” bookings and revenue, but investors remain alert to near-term budget caution—especially in public sector work—and to questions about how AI changes the economics of consulting and managed services. [1]
Accenture earnings today: the key Q1 FY2026 numbers investors are watching
Accenture said revenues were $18.7 billion for the quarter ended Nov. 30, 2025 (up 6% in U.S. dollars and 5% in local currency). The company also reported new bookings of $20.9 billion, up 12% in U.S. dollars (10% in local currency), a key leading indicator for future revenue. [2]
Highlights from the company’s release and earnings materials include:
- Adjusted EPS:$3.94, up 10% year over year (GAAP diluted EPS: $3.54, down about 1%) [3]
- Operating margin: GAAP 15.3%; adjusted operating margin 17.0% [4]
- Advanced AI new bookings:$2.2 billion in the quarter [5]
- Free cash flow:$1.5 billion [6]
- Capital returns:$3.3 billion total (including $2.3 billion in share repurchases/redemptions and $1.0 billion in dividends) [7]
CEO Julie Sweet pointed to $21 billion in new bookings (rounded) and 33 clients with quarterly bookings above $100 million as proof points that large enterprises are still funding big transformation programs—especially those tied to AI. [8]
Why Accenture stock fell despite beating earnings estimates
In simple terms: the quarter looked strong, but the forward view was just cautious enough to cool enthusiasm.
Accenture forecast second-quarter revenue of $17.35 billion to $18.00 billion. The midpoint of that range is about $17.68 billion, which Reuters reported as slightly below the analyst expectation of $17.78 billion. [9]
That guidance gap matters because ACN stock has become highly sensitive to signs of whether enterprise spending is accelerating (bull case: “AI wave”) or staying uneven (bear case: “budget scrutiny + AI disruption”). Barron’s noted that even with a beat and reiterated full-year outlook, investors remain uneasy about whether AI could reshape parts of consulting and IT services faster than traditional firms can monetize. [10]
Consulting vs. managed services: what the mix says about demand
Accenture’s earnings deck shows a familiar pattern: managed services is growing faster than consulting.
For the quarter, the company reported approximately:
- Consulting revenue: about $9.4B, up ~3% in local currency [11]
- Managed services revenue: about $9.3B, up ~7% in local currency [12]
Total new bookings were $20.9B and management cited a book-to-bill around 1.1, signaling that demand (as captured by bookings) continues to outpace revenue recognized in the quarter. [13]
The industry-group picture was mixed, with the “Health & Public Service” group showing a -1% local-currency change in the quarter—consistent with the broader theme of public-sector unevenness. [14]
Advanced AI momentum: $2.2B bookings, $1.1B revenue—and a big reporting change
The headline AI number in today’s Accenture earnings was $2.2 billion in “advanced AI” bookings for Q1, which the company’s slides show as +76% year over year in U.S. dollars. [15]
Even more striking: the same slide shows Q1 advanced AI revenues of $1.1 billion, +120% year over year in U.S. dollars. [16]
But investors also got an important signal about where AI is going inside Accenture’s business model: the company says this will be the last quarter it separately reports advanced AI bookings and revenues, arguing that advanced AI is increasingly embedded across most client work and is becoming less meaningful to isolate. [17]
Other AI scale indicators highlighted in the deck include:
- “Nearing” a goal of 80,000 AI & data professionals [18]
- 1,300+ advanced AI clients to date [19]
- 3,000+ deployed reusable agents [20]
Reuters also reported Accenture has been investing heavily in AI, including partnerships with leading startups such as Anthropic and OpenAI, as it works to train/upskill employees and stay competitive. [21]
Accenture forecast: Q2 outlook and full-year FY2026 guidance (what management is signaling)
Accenture reaffirmed key elements of its fiscal 2026 outlook, keeping its core growth targets intact while adjusting some GAAP expectations due to business optimization impacts.
For FY2026, Accenture said it continues to expect:
- Revenue growth:2% to 5% in local currency; 3% to 6% excluding an estimated 1% impact from its U.S. federal business [22]
- Adjusted operating margin:15.7% to 15.9% [23]
- Adjusted EPS:$13.52 to $13.90 [24]
- Free cash flow:$9.8B to $10.5B [25]
- Cash returned to shareholders:at least $9.3B for the year [26]
For Q2 FY2026, the deck also shows expected local-currency revenue growth of 1% to 5% (approximately 2% to 6% excluding estimated federal impact). [27]
The public-sector question: federal spending pressure remains a headline risk
One theme consistently cited in today’s coverage: public sector demand has been softer/uneven, and the U.S. federal environment remains a swing factor for near-term confidence.
Reuters attributed part of the pressure to federal spending cuts, describing weaker demand from public sector and government clients even as commercial AI demand remains strong. [28]
This matters for sentiment because Accenture stock has spent much of 2025 digesting two overlapping concerns:
- Whether AI reduces the need for certain consulting work, and
- Whether government IT budgets remain under pressure, especially for discretionary transformation programs. [29]
Strategic context: restructuring, acquisitions, and “reinvention” positioning
Accenture’s AI push has not been just marketing—it has driven organizational changes.
Financial News London reported the company restructured in mid-2025, consolidating services into a “reinvention” model and cutting 11,000 jobs as part of an $865 million overhaul aimed at reskilling and shifting resources toward AI-led work. [30]
Meanwhile, the Q1 earnings presentation highlights acquisitions and capabilities expansion, including an agreement to acquire a 65% majority stake in DLB Associates to expand “capital projects” capabilities and deepen presence in data center consulting—positioning Accenture to benefit from the buildout of AI infrastructure as well as AI adoption. [31]
Analyst forecasts and price targets: what Wall Street is signaling for ACN stock
From an “expectations” standpoint, investor focus is now shifting from whether Accenture can win AI work (increasingly “yes”) to how that AI work scales into durable revenue growth and margins (still debated).
A Reuters/LSEG summary carried on TradingView shows:
- Median 12-month price target:$277.22 (about 1.3% above the Dec. 17 close of $273.74) [32]
- Analyst recommendation mix:16 buys, 11 holds, 1 sell/strong sell [33]
- A valuation snapshot that Accenture was trading at about 19x next 12-month earnings (similar to three months prior) [34]
FactSet-based data on MarketWatch lists an average target price of $284.41 (with 28 ratings). [35]
And in a notable intraday analyst note, MarketScreener reported RBC Capital raised its Accenture price target to $295 from $285 (headline information was available, but the full note was not). [36]
A quick valuation check using Accenture’s own guidance
Using today’s stock price (~$270.84) and the midpoint of Accenture’s FY2026 adjusted EPS guidance ($13.71), ACN stock is trading at roughly 19.8x that midpoint—squarely in the range cited by Reuters’ valuation snapshot. [37]
What to watch next for Accenture stock
For investors following Accenture plc stock into 2026, the next few catalysts are likely to be less about “AI buzz” and more about execution details:
- Conversion of AI bookings to revenue: Advanced AI revenue jumped to $1.1B in Q1, but the market will watch whether that pace holds as AI becomes embedded across engagements (and as Accenture stops breaking out the metric). [38]
- Q2 revenue versus the Street: The guided range of $17.35B–$18.00B (midpoint below estimates cited by Reuters) sets up a near-term “beat/meet/miss” narrative. [39]
- Public sector / federal impact: Management continues to incorporate an estimated federal drag in its growth framing, and the segment mix will stay under a microscope. [40]
- Margins and “business optimization” costs: With GAAP margin guided lower than adjusted, investors will watch how costs, pricing, and delivery models evolve as AI changes project economics. [41]
- Capital returns: Accenture is leaning into shareholder returns (buybacks + dividends) and expects to return at least $9.3B in FY2026. [42]
Accenture’s investor calendar lists its Q2 FY2026 earnings conference call for March 19, 2026. [43]
References
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