Accenture unveiled a $4.0 billion share buyback and reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter revenue driven by a high demand from companies looking to adopt generative artificial intelligence (AI) technology.
Accenture hiked it’s annual revenue growth forecast to 3-6 per cent for 2025 after an improvement in macroeconomic indicators and US Federal Reserve’s supersized interest rate cut. Accenture follows a September-August financial year.
Shares of the information technology (IT) major were up nearly seven per cent in premarket trading. The Dublin-based company reported fourth-quarter revenue of $16.41 billion, an increase of three per cent in US dollars and five per cent in local currency, slightly better compared to analysts’ expectations.
The GAAP operating margin came in at 14.3 per cent, an increase of 230 basis points; adjusted operating margin of 15 per cent, which is an increase of 10 basis points.
For fiscal year 2025, Accenture expects GAAP EPS of $12.55 to $12.91, an increase of 5-8 per cent from adjusted EPS for fiscal 2024.
The IT giant’s generative AI business, which helped the company offset the slowdown in demand for tech services, continued to grow for a fourth successive quarter.
Accenture new bookings
Accenture’s new bookings, a key metric indicating the value of customer contracts with spending commitments, rose to $20.1 billion for the fourth quarter, up from $17.25 billion in the third quarter.
According to news agency Reuters, generative AI bookings contributed $1 billion to the company’s new bookings, compared to $900 million in the previous quarter.