Accenture Rallies 50% Into Earnings as Analysts Split on Ratings

Insider Monkey·29 Sep 2026·

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Analyst Earnings Price Action IT Services

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Summary · why it matters

Accenture heads into its October 1 fiscal Q4 report and October 14 investor day having rallied nearly 50% off its June lows, with all six analysts who weighed in this September raising price targets even as two downgraded their ratings. The bull case rests on fiscal third-quarter revenue of $18.72 billion, EPS growth of 9% to $3.80, free cash flow of $3.6 billion, and 104 bookings of $100 million or more year to date, up 13%, plus September deals including a $480 million Department of War contract, an Anthropic partnership on AI safety evaluation, a new AWS collaboration through Accenture Edge, and a new Accenture Construct business. The cautious camp points to new bookings falling 2% year over year to $19.32 billion, a roughly $100 million Middle East-related revenue hit plus a $400 million sales impact tied to the same conflict, and managed services deals slipping into fiscal 2027. Guggenheim downgraded to Neutral from Buy and pulled its price target, Deutsche Bank raised its target to $175 from $136 on higher peer multiples while staying at Hold, and Wells Fargo downgraded to Equal Weight with a $194 target, saying neither the October 1 earnings report nor the October 14 investor day is likely to be a positive catalyst. Hedge fund ownership rose to 69 funds from 64, led by Pzena Investment Management's 114% increase to a $639.9 million stake and AQR Capital Management's 245% jump to $451.1 million, while Greenhaven Associates opened a new $421.2 million position.

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