Accenture beats Q4 revenue guidance, projects 3-6% growth for FY27

Fourth-quarter revenue rose 6 per cent to $18.7 billion, beating guidance, while Accenture projected 3-6 per cent growth for FY27, offering some comfort to Indian IT firms

Accenture expects to grow by 3–6 per cent in its financial year 2027, higher than the 2–5 per cent it projected for the recently concluded financial year, allaying concerns about the health of the IT sector, which has been under prolonged pressure due to a macroeconomic slowdown and the squeezing of traditional revenue streams by artificial intelligence (AI).

 

For the full year, the largest IT services provider’s revenue was up 6 per cent in dollar terms to $74.2 billion. Revenue in the fourth quarter was up 6 per cent in dollar terms and 7 per cent in local currency to $18.7 billion. That beat its own guidance of $17.7–18.4 billion.

 

 

“We exceeded our fourth-quarter revenue guidance range and capped off another year of broad-based growth across our business, and reached a new high of 141 quarterly client bookings of $100 million or more,” said Accenture chairperson and chief executive officer Julie Sweet in a statement.

 

Consulting revenue, which contributes about half of the top line, was $9.3 billion in the fourth quarter, above analysts' expectations. Growth was led by communications, media and technology, which was up 10 per cent, followed by health and public service, which was up 8 per cent. The Americas led growth in terms of geography, up 7 per cent.

 

Accenture’s numbers are usually a bellwether for the industry, and a beat on the guidance could provide some comfort to its Indian counterparts that deal bookings will be better. The company’s new bookings were up 4 per cent to $22.2 billion for the fourth quarter.

 

Managed services grew faster than consulting at 7 per cent. Asia-Pacific revenue increased 3 per cent, while revenue from Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) was up 6 per cent.

 

At the end of August, Accenture’s headcount was up by 15,652 to 814,391. Quarterly voluntary attrition was 13 per cent. The company has about 110,000 AI and data professionals, exceeding its three-year goal to double the AI and data workforce from 40,000 to 80,000.