Accenture Plc delivered a stronger-than-expected fourth quarter, with revenue growth coming in above the top end of its guidance and new bookings showing continued demand for technology and transformation services.
According to a research note by Nuvama Research, Accenture's Q4FY26 revenue rose 6.2% year-on-year, or 7% in constant currency, to $18.7 billion. The performance exceeded both Street expectations and the company's own guidance.
Revenue growth was broad-based across its two main businesses. Consulting and managed services both grew 7% year-on-year in constant currency, with technology managed services and operations recording high-single-digit growth.
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New bookings stood at $22.2 billion, up 5% in constant currency from a year earlier. Consulting bookings were $9.4 billion, while managed services bookings came in at $12.77 billion. Accenture had 37 clients with quarterly bookings of more than $100 million, taking the total number of such clients to 141.
According to Nuvama, the company's overall book-to-bill ratio stood at about 1.2 times in the quarter. The ratio was 1.4 times for managed services and 1.0 times for consulting.
For the full financial year, Accenture's revenue rose 5% in constant currency to $74.2 billion. Bookings increased 3% in constant currency to more than $84 billion, while the company ended FY26 with 317 diamond clients.
For FY27, Accenture expects revenue growth of 3-6%, with acquisitions expected to contribute around 2-2.5% to growth. The company has guided for an adjusted operating margin of 15.9-16.1%.
For the first quarter, Accenture expects revenue growth of 2-6% year-on-year in constant currency.
Nuvama reported that Accenture expects consulting to grow at a pace similar to managed services in FY27. Consulting had matched managed services growth in the fourth quarter after 16 quarters, according to the brokerage.
The company also expects federal business to be a significant contributor to FY27 growth. However, the Middle East remains a headwind, with the annualised impact estimated at around $1 billion.
Artificial intelligence continues to be an important part of Accenture's growth strategy. More than 100 additional clients began their first advanced AI work during Q4, taking the FY26 total to more than 400.
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Accenture now has around 110,000 AI and data professionals. Management said AI-related revenue opportunities are expected to outweigh productivity and cannibalisation effects, while lower AI costs could encourage wider adoption.
Accenture spent about $4.9 billion across 17 acquisitions in FY26, including $1.9 billion in the fourth quarter. It expects acquisition spending to remain elevated at around $5 billion in FY27.
Nuvama said the results, bookings and guidance were slightly positive for Indian IT, while noting that a recovery in consulting could indicate early signs of improvement in discretionary technology spending, although a near-term recovery is not expected.
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