Accenture plc

ACN
Financial Analysis · Updated May 12, 2026 · Coverage 2026-Q2
Latest Q Revenue
$18.0B
Q2 FY2026 · +8.3% YoY
TTM ROIC
24.4%
FY2025 · NOPAT / Invested Capital (Total Assets - Cash - Non-interest-bearing liabilities) · WACC ~8.9% · Moat spread +15.5pp
Margin Profile
Gross 29%
Operating 15.6%
FCF 13.5%
FY2025
Net Cash
$5.0B
Cash $10.0B · Debt $5.0B · FY2025
Diluted Shares
625M
FY2025

Business Overview

ticker: ACN step: 01 generated: 2026-05-12 source: quick-research

Accenture plc (ACN) — Business Overview

Business Description

Accenture is the world's largest IT/business services and consulting firm, serving ~75% of the Global 500. Operating across 49 countries with 786,000 employees, Accenture provides Strategy, Consulting, Technology, and Operations services across industries. CEO Julie Sweet (since 2019) has reshaped the firm through a "reinvention" — collapsing 50-year-old organizational structures, tying every employee's promotion to AI fluency, and launching an $865M business optimization (layoff) program in late 2025 to accelerate the AI transition.

Revenue Model

  • Consulting Services (~48% of revenue): Strategy, business consulting, technology consulting (system integration), industry-specific solutions
  • Managed Services (~52%): Application management, infrastructure managed services, business process services, security operations
  • AI/GenAI revenue is reported separately (until end of FY26): currently ~$4.8B cumulative revenue from Advanced AI

Products & Services

By Capability
  • Strategy & Consulting: Business transformation, corporate strategy, M&A advisory, operating model design
  • Technology: System integration (SAP, Oracle, Salesforce, Microsoft, Workday), custom software development
  • Operations: Application managed services, IT infrastructure, business process outsourcing
  • Industry X: Engineering + R&D services for industrials (Industry 4.0, digital factory)
  • Song (Marketing): Customer experience + marketing services (formerly Accenture Interactive)
  • Federal Services: US government contracting (~10-12% of US revenue)
AI Capabilities
  • Accenture AI Refinery: End-to-end AI factory built on multi-hyperscaler partnership (AWS, Azure, GCP)
  • AI agents and automation: Custom agentic implementations
  • Cumulative AI metrics: 11,000 projects, $11.5B in bookings, $4.8B revenue from Advanced AI
  • Partnerships: Anthropic, OpenAI, Microsoft, Nvidia, AWS

Customer Base & Go-to-Market

  • Industries: Communications/Media/Tech (~22%), Financial Services (~22%), Resources (~12%), Products (~26%), Health/Public Service (~18%)
  • Top customers: All major Fortune 500 — including federal government (US Department of Defense, IRS, HHS, etc.)
  • Geographic mix: ~48% Americas (mostly US), ~35% EMEA, ~17% Growth Markets (Asia, LatAm)
  • Federal Services: Significant Trump administration / DOGE exposure — actively repositioning

Competitive Position

Accenture is the global #1 IT services firm by revenue, ahead of TCS, Infosys, Cognizant, Capgemini, Wipro. Moats: (1) global scale (786K employees enables follow-the-sun + cost arbitrage), (2) deep enterprise relationships (75%+ of Global 500 are clients), (3) certifications + IP across Oracle/SAP/Salesforce/Microsoft/Workday ecosystems, (4) #1 GenAI services provider with $11.5B+ cumulative bookings + 11K projects. Faces (1) Indian IT firms (TCS, Infosys, Wipro) on price, (2) Big 4 (Deloitte, PwC, EY, KPMG) on consulting, (3) hyperscaler professional services arms (AWS Professional Services, Microsoft Consulting), (4) existential AI risk — if AI reduces consulting hour requirements meaningfully.

Key Facts

  • Founded: 1989 (split from Arthur Andersen accounting); IPO 2001
  • Headquarters: Dublin, Ireland (legal); operational HQ NYC
  • Employees: ~786,000 (post-FY25 optimization)
  • Exchange: NYSE
  • Sector / Industry: Technology / IT Services
  • Market Cap: ~$200B (May 2026)
  • CEO: Julie Sweet (since 2019)
  • Dividend: $5.92 annual ($1.48 quarterly)
  • FY end: late August
  • FY25 bookings: $80.6B with 1.2x book-to-bill

Financial Snapshot

ticker: ACN step: 04 generated: 2026-05-12 source: quick-research

Accenture plc (ACN) — Financial Snapshot

Note: Accenture's fiscal year ends late August. "FY2025" = fiscal year ended Aug 2025.

Income Statement Summary

Metric FY2023 FY2024 FY2025 YoY
Revenue $64.1B $64.9B $69.7B +7%
Revenue Growth (local currency) +4% +1% +6%
Operating Margin (adj) 15.4% 15.5% 15.6% +10bps
Adj. EPS $11.97 $11.95 $13.20 +10%
Free Cash Flow $9.0B $8.5B $9.5B +12%

FY2026 Guidance (mgmt)

Metric FY26 Guide
Revenue Growth (local currency) 2-5%
Revenue Growth (ex-federal) 3-6%
Adjusted Operating Margin 15.7-15.9%
Adjusted EPS $13.52-$13.90
Free Cash Flow $9.8-10.5B

Q1 FY2026 Highlights (most recent reported)

Metric Q1 FY26 YoY
Revenue $18.74B +6% USD, +5% LC
Consulting Bookings $9.88B
Managed Services Bookings $11.06B
Total Bookings $20.9B
Advanced AI New Bookings $2.2B nearly doubled YoY
Advanced AI Revenue $1.1B

Q2 FY2026 Highlights

Metric Q2 FY26 YoY
Revenue $18.0B +4% LC
Total Bookings $22.1B (record)
Consulting Revenue $8.9B +3% LC
Managed Services Revenue $9.2B +5% LC

Cumulative GenAI Metrics

Metric Value
Total Advanced AI Bookings (cumulative) $11.5B
Total Advanced AI Revenue (cumulative) $4.8B
Total AI Projects 11,000
FY25 GenAI bookings (TTM Aug 2025) $5.9B
FY25 GenAI revenue $2.7B

Cash Flow & Balance Sheet (FY2025)

Metric Value
Operating Cash Flow ~$10.5B
Capital Expenditures ~$1B
Free Cash Flow $9.5B
Cash & Equivalents ~$10B
Total Debt ~$5B
Net Cash Position ~$5B

Key Ratios (approximate, May 2026)

  • P/E (forward): ~22x | EV/EBITDA: ~14x | Dividend Yield: ~1.9%
  • ROIC: ~25%
  • FCF Margin: ~13.5%

Growth Profile

FY25 revenue +7% to $69.7B with record 129 quarterly bookings above $100M. GenAI bookings tripled while overall revenue grew modestly — consulting model is being reinvented around AI. $865M business optimization charge (FY25-FY26) signals headcount reductions to accelerate the AI transition. CEO Sweet ending AI metric disclosure after FY26 — signals AI is becoming "everywhere" rather than separate.

Forward Estimates

  • FY2026E Revenue: ~$72-73B (+3-5% LC per guide)
  • FY2026E Adj EPS: $13.52-13.90 (mgmt; +3-5%)
  • FY2027E Revenue: ~$77-79B
  • FY2027E EPS: ~$14.75-15.25 (+8-10%)

Capital Return

  • Dividend $5.92 annual ($3.7B+ paid)
  • Share buybacks: ~$5-6B annual
  • Total capital return ~$10B FY25
  • Multi-year EPS growth target: 8-12%

Deeper Financial Analysis

The fundamental tier adds 9 additional research dimensions for $ACN.

Revenue Breakdown
Segment revenue, geographic mix, product-line contribution margins, and cohort dynamics.
Financial Trends
Quarter-over-quarter momentum, leading indicators, and inflection point analysis.
Balance Sheet
Debt structure, liquidity runway, dilution risk, and working capital dynamics.
Capital Allocation
Buyback cadence, M&A appetite, dividend policy, and reinvestment priorities.
Returns on Capital (ROIC)
Multi-year ROIC vs. WACC, marginal returns on reinvestment, sales-to-invested-capital efficiency, and moat spread.
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