shares of Accenture Shares soared on Thursday after the company’s fourth-quarter results beat expectations.
The consulting giant reported earnings of $3.29 per share and revenue of $18.68 billion. This beat LSEG’s consensus estimates for earnings of $3.18 per share and revenue of $18.03 billion.
The stock price rose more than 22% at one point, but ended the day up nearly 16%.
In an exclusive interview with CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street,” Accenture CEO Julie Sweet said AI is a key growth driver for the company as it accumulates partners in key AI areas such as data centers and capital infrastructure.
“We just finished the year with $85 billion in new business heading into next year, driven by our growth strategy to focus on big transformative deals and ensure we are winners in the AI and data space,” Sweet told CNBC.
“We are now investing to not only partner with companies looking to scale across the enterprise, but also to be relevant wherever they need to enable the use of AI.”
For the full year 2026, adjusted earnings were $13.97 per share, an 8% increase from the previous year, and sales were $74.2 billion, an increase of 6%.
ACN 5 day chart
“These results reflect the continued trust our customers place in us to help them reinvent and create value, the high level of innovation we bring to the table every day, and the extraordinary commitment of our innovators to customer success,” Sweet said in a press release Thursday, pointing to broad-based growth across the business and record cash returns to shareholders.
The company also broke records for high-value customer bookings of $100 million or more. In addition, Accenture will increase its quarterly dividend by 5% to $1.71 per share, to be paid on November 13th.
For fiscal 2027, Accenture expects both revenue and adjusted earnings per share to increase 3% to 6% year over year.
Following the beat Stifel They reiterated their Buy rating on the professional services company and raised their price target from $225 to $242 per share. Analyst David Grossman said the stock has broadly outperformed due to small discretionary trades, as well as accelerating federal sector activity and demand from AI-related partners, indicating the stability of the company’s business model.
“In our view, ACN is the only large professional services provider that has demonstrated the ability to consistently reskill across different technologies and business cycles,” Grossman wrote in the memo.
Despite Thursday’s big rally, the stock remains down more than 18% year-to-date on concerns that artificial intelligence will disrupt key business areas.
Sweet told CNBC that Accenture is focused on its role as a “bridge between AI and outcomes” amid growing concerns about disruption and increased focus on the safety of AI.
“We’ve always been focused on business outcomes, and AI is a way to improve business outcomes, and that’s what our clients are focused on. It’s not about the AI itself, it’s about how you grow, how you reduce costs, how you thrive in any environment,” Sweet said.
