Accenture Crashes Most On Record As AI Threatens Consulting Demand
Accenture shares crashed by the most on record in premarket trading on a confluence of issues. First, the company's fourth-quarter revenue outlook missed Bloomberg consensus estimates and third-quarter bookings declined, reinforcing investors' belief that consulting demand is declining in the era of AI adoption across corporate America, which is wreaking havoc in the white-collar job market.
The global consulting and technology services company, which helps large corporations and governments with strategy, IT, cloud migration, cybersecurity, and more, guided August-quarter revenue to a range of $17.75 billion to $18.4 billion, below the $18.47 billion figure that analysts tracked by Bloomberg were forecasting. Third-quarter bookings fell to $19.3 billion, down from $19.7 billion a year earlier, while revenue rose to $18.7 billion, slightly below estimates. EPS increased 9% to $3.80.
Here's a snapshot of 3Q earnings, courtesy of Bloomberg:
EPS $3.80 vs. $3.49 y/y
Revenue $18.7 billion, +5.6% y/y, estimate $18.76 billion
Communications, Media & Technology revenue $3.22 billion, +10% y/y, estimate $3.2 billion
Financial Services revenue $3.49 billion, +6.4% y/y, estimate $3.54 billion
Product revenue $5.67 billion, +6.1% y/y, estimate $5.67 billion
Health & Public Service revenue $3.85 ...
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