The Stock of Accenture Jumps 7% as Ai Bookings Offset a Miss on Earnings

Accenture PLC’s stock surged 6% early Thursday after the consulting firm announced fiscal third-quarter earnings that featured over $900 million in bookings from generative AI, compensating for a miss in profit and revenue.

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New York-based Accenture reported a net income of $1.934 billion, or $3.04 per share, for the quarter ending May 31. This was a decline from the previous year’s $2.012 billion, or $3.15 per share. When adjusted for one-time items, earnings per share (EPS) were $3.13, slightly below the FactSet consensus of $3.16.

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Revenue also decreased, dropping to $16.467 billion from $16.565 billion, narrowly missing the FactSet consensus estimate of $16.548 billion.

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However, the company highlighted that new bookings from generative AI surpassed $900 million and reached a total of $2 billion for the fiscal year to date.

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“We achieved strong new bookings of over $21 billion, an increase of 22% from last year, and continued to accelerate our strategy to be the reinvention partner of choice. We secured another 23 clients with quarterly bookings exceeding $100 million, bringing the total to 92 year-to-date,” stated CEO Julie Sweet in her prepared remarks.

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“We also achieved two significant milestones this quarter—with $2 billion in generative AI sales year-to-date and $500 million in revenue year-to-date—demonstrating our early lead in this critical technology.”

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Looking ahead, the company expects fiscal fourth-quarter revenue to range between $16.05 billion and $16.65 billion, while FactSet projects $16.53 billion.

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For the full fiscal year, Accenture anticipates adjusted EPS to be between $11.85 and $12.00, compared to FactSet’s expectation of $12.09.

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Despite the recent positive movement, Accenture's stock has dropped 18.7% so far this year, whereas the S&P 500 has gained 15%.

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