Accenture Drops as Outlook Trails Analyst Estimates
Shares in Accenture (ACN:US), the IT services company, fell on Thursday after the company’s updated full-year outlook implies a revenue growth slowdown.
For this quarter, Accenture said it expects to generate revenue of $16.05 billion, below the $16.3 billion expected from analysts. On a full-year basis, the company is calling for revenue growth of 8-9%, below the 8-10% expected.
The full-year profit outlook is increased to the range of $11.52 to $11.63 from the prior $11.41-11.63. The company expects to generate free cash flow of $8.35 billion, up from the prior forecast of $8.25 billion.
Julie Sweet, chair and CEO, Accenture, said, “Our third quarter results reflect solid bookings and revenue and very strong adjusted operating margin, earnings per share and free cash flow, which demonstrates the rigor and discipline with which we run our business.”
For its third quarter, the company reported adjusted profit per share of $3.19 on revenue of $16.56 billion. Analysts were looking for earnings of $2.99 per share on revenue of $16.49 billion.
The company’s Communications, Media & Technology underperformed the market expectations by as much as $410 million. Bookings rose 2% year-over-year to $17.2 billion, missing the $18.23 analyst target.
Congress members were mostly buying Accenture shares in recent months. Representatives Ro Khanna, Kevin Hern, Kathy Manning, Daniel Goldman, and Michael McCaul all reported they were buying the IT services stock recently.
Accenture shares are up 13.69% year-to-date.