Accenture down as 2024 revenue outlook cut offsets Q2 earnings beat

investing.com:

Shares of Accenture (NYSE:ACN) fell 5% in premarket trading Thursday after the professional services company reduced its revenue growth outlook for the full fiscal 2024 year.

For the fiscal Q2 2024, the company reported earnings per share (EPS) of $2.77, surpassing the analysts' forecast of $2.66. The company's revenue reached $15.8 billion, slightly below the expected $15.84 billion.

The operating cash flow for the quarter was $2.10 billion, marking a 9.8% decline from the previous year, and above the consensus estimates of $2.75 billion.

Looking ahead to the third quarter of fiscal 2024, Accenture anticipates revenues to fall between $16.25 billion and $16.85 billion. This forecast suggests a change ranging from a 1% decline to a 3% increase in local currency, with a projected negative 1% impact from foreign exchange, compared to the same quarter last year.

For the entire fiscal year 2024, Accenture has adjusted its revenue growth outlook to 1% to 3% in local currency, a revision from the previously forecasted 2% to 5%.

The company's adjusted operating margin is expected to be 15.5%, accounting for an estimated $450 million in business optimization costs for fiscal 2024. This is slightly adjusted from the previously stated range of 15.5% to 15.7% and represents a 10 basis point increase from fiscal 2023.

Accenture maintained its forecast for operating cash flow for fiscal 2024 to be between $9.3 billion and $9.9 billion.

“In an uncertain macro environment, we remain the trusted partner to our clients for reinvention with a record 39 clients with quarterly bookings of over $100 million,” said Julie Sweet, chair and CEO of Accenture.

“We also extended our early lead in generative AI with $1.1 billion in new bookings in