Cognizant, Salesforce and IBM shares were trading higher on Wall Street in Thursday’s trade, following Accenture’s better-than-expected fiscal fourth-quarter performance, which boosted sentiment across the sector.
The gains were led by Cognizant, whose shares jumped 12.70% to a day’s high of $64.74 apiece, while IBM shares gained 6.5% to $234.27. Likewise, Salesforce advanced 1.3% to $239.45.
Meanwhile, Accenture shares opened sharply higher in trade at $215.98 and sustained the momentum to hit $227.63, their highest level since February. The results also boosted Infosys ADRs, which rose 10.40% to a day’s high of $11.88, while Wipro ADRs gained 12.12% to $1.85.
Accenture Q4 revenue, bookings beat estimates as 2027 outlook stays upbeat
For the fiscal fourth quarter, the company reported revenue of $18.7 billion, an increase of 6% in US dollars and 7% in local currency. Analysts were expecting revenue of $18.04 billion, according to estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
It posted annual revenue of $74.2 billion, an increase of $4.5 billion, or 6%, in US dollars and 5% in local currency.
Consulting revenue totalled $9.28 billion in the fourth quarter, above analysts’ expectations, while revenue from its communications, media, and technology segment jumped 11% to $3.26 billion during the quarter, the Dublin-headquartered firm said in a statement on Thursday.
In terms of bookings, the company reported $22.2 billion, beating the roughly $20 billion analysts had estimated. During the fourth quarter, Accenture announced separate deals with Alphabet Inc.’s Google Cloud, Anthropic PBC, and Amazon.com Inc.’s Amazon Web Services unit.
For fiscal 2027, Accenture expects revenue growth of 3% to 6% in local currency. It forecasts GAAP diluted earnings per share of $14.39 to $14.81, compared with analysts’ average estimate of $14.67.
The forecast suggests Accenture’s consulting business has held up despite macroeconomic uncertainty and the threat of disruption from AI that has battered its stock.
Accenture Chair and CEO Julie Sweet said, “We exceeded our fourth-quarter revenue guidance range and capped off another year of broad-based growth across our business, grew adjusted EPS 8%, returned a record $11.5 billion to shareholders, and reached a new high of 141 quarterly client bookings of $100 million or more.”
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