Accenture Plc (NYSE:ACN) shares came under pressure in early trading on Friday, even after the company reported upbeat results for its fiscal fourth quarter.
The company reported its results amid an exciting earnings season. Here are some key analyst takeaways.
Piper Sandler On Accenture
Analyst Arvind Ramnani upgraded the rating from Neutral to Overweight while lifting the price target from $329 to $395.
Accenture reported $1 billion in GenAI-related bookings, bringing the total GenAI bookings to $3 billion for fiscal 2024, of which $900 million were converted into revenues during the year, Ramnani said in the upgrade note.
Both bookings and revenues from GenAI grew by 10x in the year, he added.
The analyst stated he was bullish on "the underlying metrics," which includes conservative guidance, robust bookings of $20.2 billion and a significant increase in hiring.
"Overall, we believe owning ACN is attractive, given improving top-line metrics, a conservative guide and that it is a key beneficiary of GenAI-related work," he further wrote.
Check out other analyst stock ratings.
RBC Capital Markets On Accenture
Analyst Daniel Perlin maintained an Outperform rating while raising the price target from $377 to $389.
Accenture reported revenues of $16.41 billion and earnings of $2.79 per share, excluding charges, versus consensus of $16.38 billion and $2.79 per share, respectively, Perlin said.
Operating margins, excluding charges, expanded 10 basis points (bps) year-on-year to 15.5%, versus Street expectations of 15.1%, he added.
The midpoint of management's guidance for fiscal 2025 implies revenues of $68.79 billion and adjusted earnings of $12.73 per share, versus consensus of $68.16 billion and $12.78 per share, the analyst stated.
"We believe ACN is uniquely positioned to help clients migrate to a digital core in order to take advantage of opportunities with AI and GenAI holistically," he further wrote.
BMO Capital Markets On Accenture
Analyst Keith Bachman reiterated a Market Perform rating while raising the price target from $380 to $390.
Accenture delivered quarterly results that were "largely in line with our estimates," Bachman said. "We think the guide of 3%-6% y/y CC, including 3+ % of M&A, is the right starting point," he added.
"Accenture has been inconsistent in meeting the mid-point of guidance the past few years, and we envision in-line results with upside tension to this range," the analyst wrote.
He further stated that both Accenture and IBM can gain share in AI workloads.
ACN Price Action: Shares of Accenture had declined by 0.49% to $354.01 at the time of publication on Friday.
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