Concerns about AI "taking away jobs" have eased! Accenture reports record orders of 84.5 billion yuan and guidance exceeding expectations, sending its stock price soaring over 20% intraday | Earnings Insights

Shares of Accenture, the global consulting and IT services giant, surged after delivering better-than-expected quarterly results, record orders, and full-year revenue guidance that exceeded market expectations.

On Thursday, October 1st, Eastern Time, Accenture (ACN) shares opened nearly 18% higher, with intraday gains exceeding 20%, reaching 23%, poised to record the company's largest single-day gain since its IPO. Accenture's surge not only boosted the share prices of peers such as IBM, Infosys, Wipro, and Cognizant, but also became an important signal that the market is re-evaluating whether AI will weaken traditional consulting demand.

Accenture's financial report shows that for the fourth fiscal quarter of 2026, ending August 31, revenue increased by 6% year-over-year to $18.68 billion, exceeding the upper limit of the company's own guidance and more than 3.5% higher than market expectations. Adjusted earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter were $3.29, more than 3.1% higher than analysts' expectations.

More attention is being paid to orders. Accenture's new orders reached $22.17 billion in the fourth quarter, nearly 11% higher than analysts' expectations, with a book-to-bill ratio of 1.2; new orders for fiscal year 2026 are projected to reach a record $84.5 billion. The company also recorded 141 customer orders of at least $100 million during the quarter, a new quarterly high.

Accenture's earnings report attracted particular market attention because investors had been concerned for the past year that generative AI and agents could reduce demand for traditional IT consulting, software development, and outsourcing services, thereby impacting Accenture's core business. The record orders and the guidance that did not show any significant slowdown have temporarily alleviated these concerns.

AI anxiety once weighed on stock prices, but corporate AI demand has become a new driver of orders.

Over the past year, as generative AI and intelligent agents have accelerated their integration into enterprise software development, data analytics, and business processes, the market has been concerned that enterprises are using AI to reduce their need for traditional consulting, IT outsourcing, and a large amount of human services, thereby impacting Accenture's core business.

This concern significantly dragged down Accenture's stock price this year. As of Wednesday's close, Accenture's stock price had fallen by more than 30% in the nine months since the beginning of the year. However, Thursday's earnings report gave a completely different signal: enterprise clients' demand for consulting and IT services has not shrunk significantly due to the rapid development of AI.

Accenture's new orders in the fourth fiscal quarter rose 4% year-over-year to $22.17 billion, far exceeding analysts' expectations of approximately $20 billion; new orders for the full fiscal year 2026 are projected to reach $84.5 billion, a record high for a fiscal year. The company also recorded 141 customer orders worth at least $100 million during the quarter, also a record high for a single quarter.

In the fourth fiscal quarter, new orders for consulting services reached $9.4 billion, while new orders for managed services reached $12.77 billion, with the latter accounting for 1.4% of revenue.

Media reports indicate that strong order and revenue performance has alleviated investors' concerns that AI may "squeeze" traditional consulting demand.

At the same time, Accenture stated that fixed-price projects now account for more than 65% of total orders, including outcome-oriented projects.

Accenture CEO Julie Sweet stated that clients are leveraging Accenture to help them build data infrastructure and AI capabilities to apply AI at a larger scale. She also mentioned that large clients such as FedEx and BP are further expanding the use of AI in their respective businesses.

This means that, at least based on the current order situation, AI has not simply become a substitute for traditional consulting needs. Instead, it is giving rise to new demands from enterprises to build data infrastructure, AI technology stacks, and related applications.

Business grew across all regions and industries, with fourth-quarter revenue exceeding the upper limit of the company's guidance.

Looking at the past quarter, Accenture's growth did not come from a single business.

Accenture reported revenue of $18.68 billion for the fourth fiscal quarter, up 6% year-over-year or 7% in local currency terms. This not only exceeded market expectations of $18.04 billion but also surpassed the company's previous guidance range of $17.75 billion to $18.4 billion.

Consulting revenue reached $9.28 billion, a 6% year-over-year increase; managed services revenue reached $9.4 billion, a 7% year-over-year increase. The GAAP operating margin for the fourth quarter reached 15.3%, an increase of 370 basis points year-over-year. Full-year revenue reached $74.2 billion, a 6% year-over-year increase.

The commentary noted that Accenture achieved revenue growth across all regional markets and industry clients, with particularly strong growth in the communications, media, and technology sectors.

The company’s adjusted EPS for the full fiscal year was $13.97, up 8% year-over-year; free cash flow reached $11.6 billion, and $11.5 billion was returned to shareholders, including $7.5 billion in share buybacks and redemptions.

Revenue is projected to grow by 3% to 6% this fiscal year, with EPS guidance covering market expectations.

What deserves more attention from the market is Accenture's outlook for fiscal year 2027.

Accenture expects revenue to grow by 3% to 6% in local currency for fiscal year 2027, exceeding the market's average expectation of approximately 3.9%; full-year GAAP diluted EPS is projected to be $14.39 to $14.81. The company also expects full-year operating margin to reach 15.9% to 16.1%, an increase of 50 to 70 basis points compared to fiscal year 2026 GAAP operating margin.

Analysts expect Accenture's revenue to be approximately $76.4 billion and EPS to be $14.64 in fiscal year 2027. Accenture's EPS guidance range covers market expectations, with the average of $14.60 roughly in line with expectations, while the upper limit of its revenue growth guidance of 6% is significantly higher than analysts' growth expectations.

In contrast, the company's guidance for the current first quarter of fiscal year 2027 is more specific: it expects revenue of $18.95 billion to $19.6 billion, while analysts had previously expected $19.35 billion. This means that the company's quarterly revenue guidance range also covers market expectations.

In terms of profitability, Accenture expects its operating margin to reach 15.9% to 16.1% in fiscal year 2027, an increase of 50 to 70 basis points from the GAAP operating margin of 15.4% in fiscal year 2026; it also expects full-year operating cash flow of $11.9 billion to $12.7 billion and plans to return at least $9.5 billion in cash to shareholders.

Human resource growth patterns may be reshaped by AI

However, AI's impact on Accenture extends beyond the demand side. This financial report does not signify that AI's long-term impact on the consulting industry has disappeared.

The Financial Times points out that AI is helping Accenture improve efficiency and revenue per employee, but it may also mean a slowdown in the growth rate of its workforce in the future. The company had previously undergone layoffs in the past year, but has recently added approximately 15,000 employees, bringing its total workforce to over 814,000.

Accenture is helping clients deploy AI while also leveraging AI to transform its own business. CEO Sweet stated that AI is making Accenture's service delivery and implementation technologies more efficient, similar to the efficiency gains brought about by previous technological waves.

The company currently has nearly 110,000 AI and data professionals and continues to expand its AI capabilities through acquisitions and collaborations. In September, Accenture also entered into a $2 billion collaboration with Anthropic, leveraging its recently acquired AI company Faculty for related work.

Therefore, the signal released by Accenture's financial report is more like: AI is reshaping the consulting industry, but so far, the large-scale adoption of AI by enterprises is also creating new demand for consulting and IT services.

This explains why, against the backdrop of market concerns that AI may undermine traditional software and service models, Accenture's earnings report, characterized by "record orders, better-than-expected results, and guidance covering expectations," received such a strong positive response from investors.

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