The consulting company beat the top of its own revenue range, logged a record 141 bookings of $100 million or more and said AI will slow the pace of its hiring. IT services peers rallied with it.
Investors spent much of the year asking whether artificial intelligence would shrink the consulting business. Accenture's answer on Thursday was a quarter above its own forecast and a client list buying more AI work.
Revenue for the fiscal fourth quarter, which ended Aug. 31, rose 6% in dollars and 7% in local currency to $18.68 billion. That cleared the top of the company's $17.75 billion to $18.40 billion guidance range by about 1.5% and the $18.3 billion analysts expected by about 2%. Earnings were $3.29 a share under generally accepted accounting principles, against expectations of $3.18.
New bookings totaled $22.17 billion, 1.2 times revenue, split between $9.40 billion in consulting and $12.77 billion in managed services. The company recorded 141 client bookings of $100 million or more in the quarter, a record. Free cash flow was $2.8 billion.
The shares rose as much as 24% to $227.58 and were up about 17% near $214 by early afternoon.
The guide
For fiscal 2027, Accenture forecast revenue growth of 3% to 6% in local currency, GAAP earnings of $14.39 to $14.81 a share, an operating margin of 15.9% to 16.1%, free cash flow of $11.0 billion to $11.8 billion and at least $9.5 billion returned to shareholders. The quarterly dividend rises 5% to $1.71.
The earnings range has a midpoint of $14.60, a few cents below the $14.64 analysts expected. The revenue range would beat expectations only toward its upper end. Even the top of it sits a point below the 7% local-currency pace just reported.
What clients are buying
The examples Chief Executive Julie Sweet offered were measured in output. At BP, Accenture merged the work of hundreds of regional marketing teams into one engine, and she said the oil company now turns out 2.5 times as much content with 23% less effort. FedEx began as a cloud-migration client; its current work with Accenture covers AI modernization, down to programs that teach AI skills to its employees around the world. Sweet said the firm is widening its engagements with several of its biggest customers.
"These results reflect the continued trust our clients place in us to help them reinvent and create value," Sweet said in the earnings release.
Fewer new hires per dollar
Accenture ended fiscal 2026 with more than 814,000 employees, 5% more than a year before. The company still plans to bring in entry-level workers, Sweet said, but AI efficiencies mean its overall pace of hiring will slow.
The basis
Fourth-quarter GAAP earnings rose 46% from $2.25 a year earlier, but that prior-year figure carried business-optimization costs. Against last year's adjusted $3.03, growth was 9%. For the full year, adjusted earnings were $13.97 a share, up 8%, and the company returned a record $11.5 billion to shareholders.
The peers
Other IT services companies moved with Accenture. Cognizant rose 7.2%, Infosys American depositary receipts 6.5% and IBM 3.2%, though IBM also announced an AI tool of its own. The S&P 500 software index rose to its highest since November.
Two readings
One reading is that the AI-disruption fear has been overstated for the largest firms. Record large bookings and named clients expanding AI work suggest Accenture is selling the transformation rather than being displaced by it.
A second reading is that the guide concedes the deflationary math. A forecast that tops out below the pace just reported, from a company that says it needs fewer people per dollar of work, leaves open whether AI is growing the market or reshaping the margin.
Oct. 14
Accenture holds an investor day on Oct. 14. Details on AI revenue, pricing per engagement and the hiring plan would give investors the numbers to judge which reading the 17% gain is paying for.