NEW YORK, January 1, 2026, 5:30 PM ET — Market closed
- Accenture shares last closed down about 0.6% at $268.36 on Dec. 31. 1
- U.S. stock markets were closed Thursday for the New Year’s Day holiday; trading resumes Friday. 2
- Focus shifts to Accenture’s next dividend record date on Jan. 13 and its fiscal Q2 earnings call on March 19. 3
Accenture plc shares (NYSE: ACN) last closed down about 0.6% at $268.36 on Wednesday, ahead of a New Year’s Day market holiday that left U.S. stock exchanges shut on Thursday. 1
The move matters as investors head into 2026 looking for read-throughs on corporate technology budgets, where consulting and IT services firms can act as an early barometer of demand. Accenture’s stock is also trading well below its 52-week high, keeping valuation and growth expectations in focus. 1
With markets set to reopen on Friday, traders will watch whether the stock steadies ahead of Accenture’s next dividend record date on Jan. 13 and its scheduled fiscal second-quarter earnings conference call on March 19, according to company materials and its investor events calendar. 2
Accenture’s year-end decline came in a weaker session for U.S. equities on Dec. 31, when the S&P 500 fell 0.74% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.63%, according to MarketWatch data. 4
Some IT services-linked names also fell, with DXC Technology down 1.61% on the day, as investors wrapped up year-end positioning. 4
Accenture entered the holiday with shares around one-third below their 52-week high of $398.27, based on Markets Insider data. The 52-week low was listed at $229.50. 1
Investors have largely kept attention on Accenture’s latest quarterly results and outlook, rather than fresh company-specific news in the final two sessions of the year. 3
In its most recent earnings release, furnished in an SEC filing on Dec. 18, Accenture reported first-quarter fiscal 2026 new bookings of $20.94 billion and revenue of $18.74 billion. Bookings are the value of new contracts signed, a key gauge of future revenue. 3
Chief executive Julie Sweet pointed to contract momentum, saying: “I am very pleased with our $21 billion in new bookings, including 33 clients with quarterly bookings greater than $100 million.” 3
The company also flagged “advanced AI” new bookings of $2.2 billion in the quarter and kept its full-year local-currency revenue growth outlook at 2% to 5%. Local-currency figures strip out foreign-exchange swings to show underlying growth. 3
For the fiscal second quarter, Accenture projected revenue of $17.35 billion to $18.0 billion, and reiterated adjusted earnings per share guidance for the full year of $13.52 to $13.90, the filing showed. 3
On capital returns, Accenture said it declared a quarterly cash dividend of $1.63 per share for shareholders of record as of Jan. 13, payable Feb. 13. It also reported repurchasing or redeeming 9.5 million shares for $2.3 billion in the quarter and said it had about $5.6 billion of remaining repurchase authority at Nov. 30. 3
Before the next session, investors will be watching whether the stock’s year-end dip extends when normal trading volumes return, after the holiday closure. The NYSE holiday calendar lists Thursday as closed for New Year’s Day. 2
Attention will also fall on near-term shareholder calendar items, including the Jan. 13 dividend record date, as well as any early-January updates on client demand as companies set spending plans for the year. 3
The next major scheduled checkpoint is Accenture’s fiscal second-quarter earnings conference call on March 19 at 8:00 a.m. EST, according to the company’s investor relations events calendar, with bookings and guidance likely to be the key swing factors for sentiment. 5
