Accenture plc

Q4 revenue was $18.7 billion, up 6% in U.S. dollars and 7% in local currency. Q4 gross margin was 32% versus 31.9% a year ago; operating margin was 15.3%, up 20 basis points from adjusted Q4 FY25; and diluted EPS was $3.29, up 9% from adjusted $3.03. Full-year revenue was $74.2 billion, up 5% in local currency; adjusted operating margin was 15.8%, up 20 basis points; adjusted EPS was $13.97, up 8%; and free cash flow was $11.6 billion, up 7%. For FY27, Accenture guided Q1 revenue to $18.95 billion to $19.6 billion, or 2% to 6% local-currency growth, and full-year revenue growth of 3% to 6% in local currency. Full-year FY27 guidance also includes operating margin of 15.9% to 16.1%, EPS of $14.39 to $14.81, operating cash flow of $11.9 billion to $12.7 billion, and free cash flow of $11 billion to $11.8 billion.

Julie Sweet framed the quarter as evidence that Accenture is executing well on its reinvention strategy, with growth broad-based across markets, industries, and both consulting and managed services. She emphasized that AI is not just a theme but is already embedded across large client transformations, while noting many clients are still early in their AI journeys. Her tone was confident and upbeat, but grounded in a recognition that the macro backdrop remains dynamic and competition is intense.

Angie Park highlighted solid operating execution: Q4 bookings were $22.2 billion with a 1.2 book-to-bill, consulting bookings were $9.4 billion, and managed services bookings hit a record $12.8 billion. She cited Q4 gross margin of 32%, operating margin of 15.3%, tax rate of 27.3%, EPS of $3.29, and free cash flow of $2.8 billion; for the full year she pointed to $84.5 billion in bookings, $74.2 billion in revenue, 15.8% adjusted operating margin, $11.6 billion in free cash flow, and $11.5 billion returned to shareholders. For FY27 she guided to 15.9% to 16.1% operating margin, a 24.5% to 26.5% tax rate, and said the company expects about $5 billion of additional acquisitions, at least $9.5 billion returned to shareholders, and roughly 3% share-count reduction.

Analysts focused on what drove the Q4 upside, how much conservatism sits in FY27 guidance, pricing pressure, managed services lumpiness, headcount trends, the Middle East headwind, AI-driven deflation, and the federal business outlook. Management said no single factor drove the beat, but cited large-scale reinventions, ecosystem strength, AI, small-deal uptick, faster mobilization of new work, and some federal overdelivery. On guidance, they said FY27 assumes a stable-to-slightly-improving discretionary spend backdrop at the top end, deterioration at the low end, continued competitive pricing pressure, steady AI efficiency gains, and the Middle East remaining a roughly $1 billion annualized headwind. They also said federal should be a significant contributor in FY27, while managed services bookings remain inherently lumpy and should be read over longer periods.