Accenture Earnings Wow Investors

By Chris Lange Updated Jan 13, 3:00AM EST · Published Sep 29, 11:15AM EDT

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Accenture Earnings Wow Investors — © Thinkstock

Accenture PLC (NYSE: ACN) reported its fiscal fourth-quarter financial results before the markets opened on Thursday. The company posted $1.31 in earnings per share (EPS) on $8.5 billion in revenue. Thomson Reuters has consensus estimates of $1.30 in EPS on revenue of $8.43 billion. The same period of last year reportedly had EPS of $1.15 and $7.89 billion in revenue.

The board of directors declared a semi-annual cash dividend of $1.21 per share, an increase of $0.11 per share, or 10% over its previous semi-annual dividend, declared in March.

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New bookings for the fourth quarter were $9.0 billion and reflected a negative 2% foreign exchange impact compared with new bookings in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2015:

Consulting new bookings were $4.8 billion, or 53% of total new bookings.
Outsourcing new bookings were $4.2 billion, making up the remainder.

In terms of the outlook for the first quarter, the company expects to have revenue in the range of $8.40 billion to $8.65 billion. The consensus estimate is $8.59 billion in revenue.

Pierre Nanterme, Accenture’s board chair and chief executive, commented on earnings:

We are very pleased with our excellent financial results for both the fourth quarter and the full fiscal year 2016. For the year, we delivered double-digit revenue growth in local currency and gained significant market share, generated strong new bookings, expanded operating margin, and delivered outstanding earnings per share. We also generated excellent free cash flow and returned more than $4 billion in cash to our shareholders.

Shares of Accenture hit a new 53-week high of $124.96 on Thursday morning. The consensus analyst price target is $124.64, and the 52-week low is $91.40.

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About the Author Chris Lange →

Chris Lange is a writer for 24/7 Wall St., based in Houston. He has covered financial markets over the past decade with an emphasis on healthcare, tech, and IPOs. During this time, he has published thousands of articles with insightful analysis across these complex fields. Currently, Lange's focus is on military and geopolitical topics.

Lange's work has been quoted or mentioned in Forbes, The New York Times, Business Insider, USA Today, MSN, Yahoo, The Verge, Vice, The Intelligencer, Quartz, Nasdaq, The Motley Fool, Fox Business, International Business Times, The Street, Seeking Alpha, Barron’s, Benzinga, and many other major publications.

A graduate of Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, Lange majored in business with a particular focus on investments. He has previous experience in the banking industry and startups.