Accenture shares jump 10% after quarterly revenue beat, upbeat outlook

Accenture (ACN) shares rose 19% in premarket trading on Thursday after the consulting and technology services company's Q4 beat Wall Street expectations and forecast upbeat fiscal 2027 revenue growth.

The company reported fourth-quarter GAAP earnings of $3.29 per share, beating analysts’ estimate by 11 cents. Revenue rose 6.3% year over year to $18.7B, exceeding expectations by about $660M.

New bookings totaled $22.2B in the quarter, up 4% in U.S. dollars and 5% in local currency.

For fiscal 2027, Accenture expects revenue growth of 3% to 6% in local currency. It forecasts GAAP diluted earnings per share of $14.39 to $14.81, compared with analysts’ average estimate of $14.67.

There is a view that consulting firms such as Accenture could actually benefit from wider AI adoption given their deep corporate relationships and technology expertise.

Though the shift could take time to translate into faster revenue growth as companies adjust their spending and consulting firms adapt their large workforces to AI-driven changes.

During the reported quarter, Anthropic (ANTHRO) partnered with ACN to test the safety of its advanced AI models. ACN will deploy a team of embedded evaluators to work with Anthropic's internal teams and safety partners to evaluate and red-team models, conduct alignment assessments, and test model safeguards.