Accenture Beats Q4 Forecasts on Record $84.5B Bookings, Shares Head for Best Day Ever

ACN reported fiscal fourth-quarter 2026 revenue of $18.68 billion and earnings of $3.29 per diluted share on October 1, ahead of LSEG consensus estimates of $18.03 billion and $3.18. Revenue rose 6% in U.S. dollars and 7% in local currency. GAAP EPS was up 46% from $2.25 a year earlier, a comparison flattered by $0.78 of business optimization costs in the year-ago quarter; against the prior year's adjusted $3.03, the company's release puts the increase at 9%.

The bookings line did most of the work on sentiment. New bookings were $22.2 billion in the quarter and $84.5 billion for the full year, an all-time high, and the company logged a record 141 client bookings of $100 million or more in the quarter. Full-year revenue reached $74.2 billion, up 6%, with adjusted EPS of $13.97, up 8%. Accenture returned a record $11.5 billion to shareholders in fiscal 2026 and raised its quarterly dividend 5% to $1.71; its release also disclosed $6.0 billion of additional repurchase authority approved by the board in September.

The stock rose more than 22% in morning trade, on pace for its biggest one-day gain on record according to FactSet data cited by CNBC, and a 15-minute delayed quote showed it still up about 17% at $214.56 in the afternoon. Reuters reported the move spreading across IT services, with Cognizant up about 8%, Wipro and Infosys up 6% to 7%, and IBM up about 3%. Even after the jump, the shares remained down more than 18% year to date on worries that AI will disrupt core consulting and outsourcing work.

For fiscal 2027, Accenture guided revenue growth of 3% to 6% in local currency, or $76.4 billion to $78.7 billion against a $76.5 billion consensus, and EPS of $14.39 to $14.81 against $14.66. First-quarter revenue is guided to $18.95 billion to $19.60 billion. Before the report MarketBeat's tally showed a Hold consensus with a $200.52 average target, below where the shares traded after the rally, so the next test is whether analysts lift targets and whether the bookings record converts into revenue growth toward the top of the range.