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Informist, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025

 

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--Accenture: Continue to invest significantly in workforce 
--CONTEXT: Comments by Accenture management in post-earnings investor call 
--Accenture: Momentum in adoption of advanced AI continues 
--Accenture: Nearly reached goal of 80,000 AI, data professionals 
--Accenture: Clients continue to prioritise transformational programmes 
--Accenture: Have been expanding partnerships with emerging AI, data cos 
--Accenture: Invested $374 mln in 6 strategic acquisitions in Sept-Nov 
--Accenture: Continue to invest for long-term market leadership 
--Accenture: Pace of discretionary spending same as last year 
--Accenture: See Dec-Feb revenue in $17.35 bln-$18.00 bln range 
--Accenture: See free cash flow in Sept-Aug at $9.8 bln-$10.5 bln 
--Accenture: Expect revenue per employee to moderate over the course of year 
--Accenture: Pricing has improved in several parts of co's business 
--Accenture: Not waiting for discretionary spend by clients to come back 
--Accenture: Expect to increase headcount in US, Europe throughout year 

 

MUMBAI – US-based information technology giant Accenture expects its revenue in the range of $17.35 billion-$18.00 billion in the February quarter, which would be lower than the $18.7 billion it reported for the November quarter. This assumes an approximately positive 3.5% impact from foreign exchange, compared to negative 3% impact in the second quarter of the previous financial year, the management said in a post-earnings investor call Thursday. 

 

The IT entity Thursday retained its full-year revenue growth guidance of 2-5% in local currency terms amid no major change in the macroeconomic environment. The company's top line of $18.7 billion in the latest three-month period was at the higher end of its guided range of $18.1 billion-$18.8 billion given in the previous quarter. Accenture follows a Sept-Aug financial year. 

 

The management said the pace of overall spending and discretionary spends is at the same level as the previous year. "I'm not waiting around for it (clients' discretionary spending) to come back," a top management official said. "...we are not having conversations today that would suggest that there's going to be a change in discretionary spending."  

 

The company said its clients continue to prioritise larger transformational programmes which are focused on building their digital core and driving efficiency. It has also been expanding and forming new partnerships with emerging artificial intelligence and data companies. "...These evolving partnerships are a significant competitive advantage for us," the management said. The company said that advanced AI is increasingly embedded in its large transformation programmes. There is continued momentum in the adoption of enterprise AI, it said. 

 

Accenture said it continues to invest significantly to execute its strategy to rotate its workforce. "We have nearly reached our goal of 80,000 AI and data professionals, and our people participated in approximately 8 million training hours this quarter, with a significant focus on building advanced AI, technology, and industry skills," the management said. The company also expects to increase its headcount throughout the year in the US and Europe. As a result, Accenture's revenue per person growth is expected to moderate over the course of the year, it said. 

 

The IT giant spent $308 million primarily related to employees' severance in the November quarter, aggregating such costs over the last six months to $923 million, the management said. "Our business optimisation costs impacted operating margin, tax rate, and EPS (earnings per share)." In the reporting quarter, Accenture's operating margin fell 140 basis points on year to 15.3%, its tax rate rose to 24.5% from 21.6% in the year-ago period, and earnings per share declined 1% to $3.54. The management expects the adjusted effective tax rate to be in the range of 23.5-25.5% for the full financial year compared to 23.6% a year ago.

 

The IT giant also said it invested $374 million primarily in six strategic acquisitions in the November quarter. "We continue to invest for long-term market leadership while delivering significant value for our shareholders." 

 

Asked about the pricing trends, the company said it is seeing better pricing in several parts of its business. "...we are starting to see some of that improved pricing show up in the P&L (profit and loss)...we are really pleased with that," the management said.  

 

For the full fiscal year Sept-Aug, the company expects free cash flow in the range of $9.8 billion-$10.5 billion and operating cash flow of $10.8 billion-$11.5 billion. "Our free cash flow guidance reflects a very strong free cash flow to net income ratio of 1.2," the management said. Adjusted diluted earnings per share for the year is seen at $13.52-$13.90. 

 

Following its financial results, shares of Accenture were down 2.7% at $266.42 on the New York Stock Exchange, at 2102 IST. Investors in India track earnings of Accenture to assess the likely trends in the financial performance of domestic IT players which earn a major chunk of their revenue from their US clients. American Depositary Receipts issued by Indian companies Infosys Ltd. and Wipro Ltd. were up around 1?ch at $18.46 and $2.87, respectively.  End

 

US$1 = INR 90.24

 

IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT

 

Reported by Anjana Therese Antony and Shakshi Jain

Edited by Tanima Banerjee    

 

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