Accenture's Q4 Earnings Soar on $1 Billion AI Bookings, Beating Expectations

Accenture: Q4 AI Bookings Hit $1 Billion

Accenture reported steady growth in its Q4 and full-year fiscal 2024 earnings. Global consulting and professional services company Accenture (ACN 5.57%) reported fourth-quarter and full-year fiscal 2024 earnings on Thursday that showed a 3% increase in revenue for the quarter and a 1% increase for the year. The company reported Q4 revenue of $16.41 billion, which fell within management's guidance range. GAAP EPS for Q4 was $2.66, bringing the full-year GAAP EPS to $11.44, aligned with management's guidance. Overall, the quarter showcased robust performance driven by strategic priorities like AI and cloud technology despite economic pressures. Accenture is a leading global professional services company providing a wide range of services in strategy, consulting, digital, technology, and operations. With capabilities at the intersection of business and technology, it helps organizations maximize their performance and achieve their vision. Accenture's key focus areas include technological innovation, ecosystem relationships, investment in talent and culture, strategic acquisitions, and sustainability practices. These factors drive its competitive advantage in the market. Accenture's recent strategies have centered around leveraging cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing, and data analytics. Its strong emphasis on building relationships with leading technology providers has enhanced its service offerings. Quarterly Highlights The small rise in Q4 revenue was primarily driven by its North American market, which reported $7.97 billion (up 5% year over year and up 6% in local currency). The Growth Markets segment saw a 9% increase in local currency revenue to $2.80 billion, though it declined by 3% in U.S. dollars. The company's focus on technological innovation is evident in its generative AI bookings, which reached $1 billion for Q4 and $3 billion for the full fiscal year. CEO Julie Sweet emphasized the transformative potential of generative AI, noting, "We continue to accelerate our leadership in Generative AI, which we believe is the most transformative technology of the next decade." Operating margin for Q4 was 14.3% on a GAAP basis, with a slight improvement to 14.8% for the full fiscal year. Adjusted operating margin was in line with management's guidance at 15.5%, showcasing operational efficiency even in challenging market conditions. Accenture also continued its strategic acquisitions strategy, investing $6.58 billion in various acquisitions throughout fiscal 2024. These investments bolster the company's capabilities and geographic reach, albeit with inherent risks if expected synergies do not materialize. Accenture raised its quarterly dividend to $1.48 per share (up 15%), underlining its commitment to shareholder returns. This is part of a long-term strategy to return excess cash to shareholders while maintaining a strong balance sheet. Accenture also repurchased 2.1 million shares for a total $628 million. This latest repurchase brought total share repurchases for the full fiscal year to 14 million at a price of roughly $4.5 billion. The company aims to achieve net-zero emissions by 2025, reinforcing its dedication to sustainability. Looking Ahead Accenture provided solid fiscal year 2025 guidance with revenue growth expectations between 3% and 6% in local currency. GAAP EPS is projected to be between $12.55 and $12.91, a 5% to 8% increase. The company anticipates a GAAP operating margin of 15.6% to 15.8% and free cash flow in the range of $8.8 billion to $9.5 billion. This guidance indicates cautious optimism, balancing expectations of further driving technological innovations with broader economic uncertainties. Investors should closely monitor Accenture's performance in its key focus areas: technological advancements, strategic acquisitions, and sustainability initiatives. These will be the primary drivers to meet its targeted financial outcomes in the upcoming quarters.

Accenture Stock Jumps as New Generative AI Bookings Power Results

Accenture also raised its quarterly dividend and share repurchase program. Accenture (ACN) shares surged Thursday when the business management consultant reported better-than-expected revenue and gave solid guidance as it boosted bookings on higher demand for generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) services. The company also increased its dividend and stock buyback program. The Dublin-based firm posted fourth-quarter revenue of $16.41 billion, up 2.6% year-over-year and ahead of consensus estimates of analysts polled by Visible Alpha. Earnings per share (EPS) of $2.66 and adjusted EPS of $2.79 matched estimates. New bookings jumped 21% to $20.1 billion. New generative AI bookings reached $1.0 billion, and $3.0 billion for the fiscal year. Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Julie Sweet said that Accenture continues "to accelerate our leadership in Generative AI, which we believe is the most transformative technology of the next decade." The company sees fiscal 2025 EPS of $12.55 to $12.91, while analysts surveyed by Visible Alpha were looking for $12.70. Accenture raised its quarterly dividend 15% to $1.48, which will be paid on Nov. 15 to shareholders of record on Oct. 10. The board also approved an additional $4.0 billion in share repurchases, bringing the total outstanding authority up to $6.7 billion. Accenture shares rose 5% to $354.07 Thursday morning, moving into positive territory for the year.

Accenture 4Q Earnings Climb on Higher Bookings, AI Demand

Accenture closed out its fiscal year with higher quarterly earnings and revenue as new bookings shot up, with $1 billion of them coming from its generative artificial-technology services. The Dublin professional-services company posted net income of $1.68 billion, or $2.66 a share, for the fiscal fourth quarter ended Aug. 31, compared with $1.37 billion, or $2.15 a share, in the same quarter last year. Stripping out one-time items, adjusted earnings were $2.79 a share. Analysts polled by FactSet expected$2.78 a share. Revenue rose 5% to $16.41 billion, ahead of analyst estimates for $16.37 billion, according to FactSet. Consulting revenue edged up 1% to $8.26 billion, while managed services revenue rose 5%. New bookings were up 21% at $20.1 billion, with new bookings tied to generative AI hitting $1 billion during the quarter. Accenture is guiding for revenue to rise 3% to 6% in the fiscal year ahead, which started Sept. 1. Earnings for fiscal 2025 are set to come in 10% to 13% higher at $12.55 to $12.91 a share, in line with current analyst projections for $12.82.

Accenture stock jumps on earnings, revenue beat By Investing.com

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) shares jumped 6.9% in early trading Thursday after the consulting and outsourcing services provider reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter results and issued an upbeat outlook for fiscal 2025. The company posted adjusted earnings per share of $2.79 for the quarter ended August 31, edging past analysts' estimates of $2.78. Revenue rose 3% YoY to $16.4 billion, also surpassing the $16.35 billion consensus forecast. New bookings hit $20.1 billion for the quarter, up 21% YoY, including $1 billion in generative AI bookings. For the full fiscal year 2024, new bookings reached a record $81.2 billion, a 13% increase from the previous year. "Our performance in fiscal year 2024 demonstrates the resilience and agility of our business model, the power of our scale and reinvention in action," said Julie Sweet, Accenture's chair and CEO. Looking ahead, Accenture expects fiscal 2025 revenue growth of 3% to 6% in local currency. The company forecasts full-year EPS of $12.55 to $12.91, representing 5% to 8% growth from fiscal 2024's adjusted EPS. Accenture also announced a 15% increase in its quarterly dividend to $1.48 per share and approved an additional $4 billion for share repurchases. The strong results and guidance appear to be driving investor optimism, as reflected in the stock's sharp rise following the earnings release.

Accenture Q4 Earnings: Revenue And Profit Beat, $20B In New Bookings, Dividend And Buyback Boost - Accenture (NYSE:ACN)

New bookings hit $20.1B in Q4, driven by consulting and managed services Accenture Plc ACN reported fourth-quarter fiscal 2024 sales of $16.41 billion compared with the analyst consensus estimate of $16.39 billion, up 3% Y/Y in U.S. dollars and 5% in local currency. Revenues were above the midpoint of the company's guided range of $16.05 billion-$16.65 billion. The adjusted EPS of $2.79 topped the analyst consensus estimate of $2.77. Revenues for the quarter reflect a negative foreign exchange impact of approximately 2%, consistent with the assumption provided in the company's third-quarter earnings release. New bookings for the quarter were $20.1 billion, with consulting bookings of $8.6 billion and managed services bookings of $11.6 billion. Adjusted operating income for the quarter was $2.46 billion, or 15.0% of revenues, versus 14.9% in the fourth quarter last year. Products revenues reached $4.95 billion, up 4% in U.S. dollars and 6% in local currency. Health & Public Service revenues increased by 10% in U.S. dollars and 11% in local currency to $3.61 billion. Financial Services revenue reached $2.87 billion, down by 5% in U.S. dollars and 2% in local currency. Resources revenue was $2.22 billion, flat in U.S. dollars and up by 3% in local currency. Communications, Media & Technology revenue was $2.75 billion, increasing 2% in U.S. dollars and 5% in local currency. Accenture generated $3.39 billion in operating cash flow and $3.18 billion in free cash flow for the fourth quarter. Dividend: Accenture declared a quarterly cash dividend of $1.48 per share, implying a growth of 15%. Buyback: The board approved $4.0 billion in additional share repurchase authority, bringing Accenture's total outstanding authority to approximately $6.7 billion. Julie Sweet, chair and CEO, Accenture, said, "We delivered full-fiscal year new bookings of $81 billion, including a record 125 quarterly client bookings of more than $100 million, and now have 310 Diamond clients, our largest relationships. We continue to accelerate our leadership in Generative AI, which we believe is the most transformative technology of the next decade, delivering $3 billion in new bookings for the year." Outlook: Accenture expects first-quarter revenues of $16.85 billion-$17.45 billion (versus consensus of $16.94 billion). Accenture expects fiscal 2025 adjusted EPS of $12.55-$12.91 versus consensus of $12.85. For fiscal 2025, the company expects revenue of $66.84 billion-$68.79 billion versus the $68.72 billion consensus. For fiscal 2025, the company reiterated operating cash flow of $9.4 billion -- $10.1 billion and free cash flow of $8.8 billion -- $9.5 billion. Price Action: ACN stock is up 3.55% at $349.01 premarket at the last check on Thursday. Photo via Shutterstock Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

Earnings Snapshot: Accenture tops FQ4 estimates; initiates FY25 outlook, raises dividend

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Accenture Q4 profit up 22%, GenAI bookings at $1 billion

Accenture follows a September-August financial year. The Accenture forecast is an important indicator of the performance of key Indian IT companies as they start reporting their quarter earnings starting from Tata Consultancy Services in early October.World's biggest technology services player Accenture on Thursday reported a 22.6% year-on-year (YoY) rise in net profit at $1.68 billion for the fourth quarter ending August 2024. This compares with $1.37 billion profit in June-August quarter 2023. The profit grew on the back of healthy growth in North America and health & public services segment aided by robust new bookings, especially generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) deals. The Nasdaq-listed IT major hiked its annual revenue growth forecast to 3-6% for 2025, including 2-3% from mergers and acquisitions (M&A). This is on the back of improvement in the macroeconomic environment and the US Federal Reserve's recent interest rate cut of 0.5%. Accenture follows a September-August financial year. The Accenture forecast is an important indicator of the performance of key Indian IT companies as they start reporting their quarter earnings starting from Tata Consultancy Services in early October. Its fourth quarter revenues of $16.4 billion, increased 3% in dollar terms and 5% in local currency driven by faster growth in managed services as compared with consulting revenues. The Ireland headquartered IT firm's consulting revenues were up by 1% in dollar terms and 3% in local currency at $8.26 billion as compared with the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023. Managed Services revenues increased to $8.15 billion, up 5% and 7% in dollar and local currency terms from a year ago. "Our performance in fiscal year 2024 demonstrates the resilience and agility of our business model, the power of our scale and reinvention in action. We delivered full-fiscal year new bookings of $81 billion, including a record 125 quarterly client bookings of more than $100 million, and now have 310 Diamond clients, our largest relationships. We continue to accelerate our leadership in Generative AI, which we believe is the most transformative technology of the next decade, delivering $3 billion in new bookings for the year," said Julie Sweet, chair and CEO, Accenture. Accenture had new bookings of $20.1 billion for Q4 (up 21% from a year ago), and $81.2 billion (up 13% YoY) for the full year, a record high for the company. New bookings indicate a key metric of the demand showing the value of customer contracts with technology spending commitments. The firm's posted GenAI new bookings at $1 billion for the quarter as compared to $900 million in the previous quarter. GenAI revenues for the full year stood at $3 billion, the company said. Missing its full year growth projection of 1.5-2.5%, Accenture's FY24 revenue stood at $64.9 billion, an increase of 1% in dollar terms and 2% in local currency. The revenue growth in key regions - North America was up 6% while the EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) growth was at 2%. Among segments, health & public services witnessed an uptick of 11%, products business at 6%, Communications, Media & Technology at 5%. Interestingly, one of the key business verticals - financial services saw a dip in growth of 2%. Its operating margin for Q4 stood at 15%, declining sequentially by 130 basis points (1.30%) and Full year operating margin increased by 10 basis points (0.1%) to 15.5%. The company's Board of Directors also approved $4.0 billion in additional share repurchase (buyback of shares), bringing Accenture's total outstanding buyback authority to approximately $6.7 billion. At August 31, 2024, Accenture had approximately 626 million total shares outstanding. During the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024, Accenture made total share buyback worth $4.5 billion by repurchasing and redemptions of 14 million shares for the full fiscal year. Accenture, which has around 3.25 lakh employees in India of its 7.74 lakh headcount, is a benchmark indicator of the broad trends for the Indian IT industry, giving a direction on the expected earnings for homegrown Indian software service providers. Last month, Nasdaq-listed Cognizant Technologies Solutions had beat the street estimates for its April-June quarter performance even as revenue came in at $4.9 billion. Bellwether Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) will kickstart the second quarter (July to September) of fiscal year 2024-25 earnings season on October 10.