Accenture beats on profit and revenue, raises dividend and buyback

Fourth-quarter revenue reached $18.68bn, ahead of the $18.21bn Wall Street had expected

Accenture reported fourth-quarter earnings of $3.29 a share on a GAAP basis, $0.08 above estimates. Revenue came in at $18.68bn, above the $18.21bn forecast.

For fiscal 2027, Accenture guided to revenue growth of 3% to 6% in local currency, with diluted earnings per share of $14.39 to $14.81. That range represents a 6% to 9% increase over fiscal 2026 GAAP earnings and a 3% to 6% increase over fiscal 2026 adjusted earnings. For the first quarter of fiscal 2027, the company guided to revenue of $18.95bn to $19.60bn, implying 2% to 6% local-currency growth.

The board raised the quarterly dividend to $1.71 a share from $1.63, a 5% increase, payable November 13, 2026. It also authorized an additional $6.0bn in share buybacks, lifting total outstanding repurchase authority to about $6.9bn. Accenture said it expects to return at least $9.5bn to shareholders in fiscal 2027.

The guidance and the size of the planned cash return point to bookings tied to generative AI work turning into results rather than staying at the pilot stage, a question that has hung over consulting firms as they chase AI-related contracts. Accenture's push around Google Cloud's Gemini Enterprise platform, disclosed on September 8, and its evaluation of Anthropic's technology, reported on September 18, suggest the work behind this quarter's beat is spread across more than one AI platform. The scale of the buyback and dividend increase also signals that management believes it has enough visibility into demand to commit capital to shareholders while continuing to invest in AI delivery capacity.