Accenture becomes first IT services company to call out macro uncertainty

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Dublin, Ireland-headquartered Accenture Plc became the first IT industry major to call out macroeconomic uncertainty in the US, the world’s top technology market, during a post-earnings interaction with analysts on Thursday. The early alert, coming in the backdrop of disappointing quarterly earnings in the second quarter (December-February) of the world’s biggest information technology (IT) services company, signals possible tough times ahead for both global as well as the Indian IT industry.

Accenture follows a September-August financial calendar. “In recent weeks, we are seeing an elevated level of what was already significant uncertainty in the global economic and geopolitical environment, marking a shift from our first quarter FY25 earnings report in December," said Julie Sweet, chief executive of Accenture, as part of her prepared comments in the company’s post-earnings call. Accenture’s revenue in the first quarter fell 5.8% sequentially to $16.66 billion, although it did increase 5.4% year-on-year.

In the third quarter (March to May), the company expects revenues between $16.9 billion and $17.5 billion. Also read | What Accenture’s hiring spree means for Indian IT industry At the same time, the company did not raise the upper end of its growth guidance of 7% for the full year, reflecting its views on the macroeconomic environment. Accenture expects to spend up to $3 billion on acquisitions in the fiscal, which translates to almost half of its projected growth this year.