Accenture shares surge 20%; Infy, Wipro ADRs rise on strong AI-led growth

Bengaluru: Accenture shares surged nearly 20% on NYSE on Thursday after the company reported a stronger-than-expected fourth quarter, signalling renewed demand momentum and higher revenue per employee. The strong performance also lifted US-listed shares of Infosys and Wipro on NYSE and Cognizant on Nasdaq, which gained around 6-8%.Accenture reported a 6% year-on-year rise in fourth-quarter revenue to $18.7 billion for the quarter ended August, while full-year revenue rose 6% to $74.2 billion. Accenture follows a September-August financial year.“We did so in a very dynamic macro environment which we expect to continue. For the full year, we delivered revenue of $74 billion, growing approximately 5% in local currency and adding approximately $4.5 billion of revenue over FY25,” Accenture CEO Julie Sweet said during an earnings call. “We delivered these results while absorbing an approximately 1 percentage point impact from our federal business, which sunset at the end of Q3. We had bookings of more than $84 billion, up 5% in US dollars and 3% in local currency.”Sweet said nearly 100 additional clients initiated their first advanced AI work with Accenture in the fourth quarter, taking the total for FY26 to more than 400. Investments in platforms and new solutions were enabling the company to embed advanced AI earlier into large-scale reinvention projects, she said.Fourth-quarter new bookings increased 4% to $22.2 billion, taking full-year bookings to $84.5 billion.Accenture invested $4.9 billion in strategic acquisitions, $1 billion in R&D and $1 billion in learning and development in FY26 as it continued to upskill and reskill employees for the AI era. Employees completed 46 million hours of training, while the company’s AI and data workforce grew to nearly 110,000, exceeding its three-year target of doubling the workforce from 40,000 to 80,000.For FY27, Accenture expects revenue growth of 3-6% in local currency, including an estimated 2.5% contribution from inorganic growth. It expects operating margin of 15.9-16.1%, a 30-basis-point expansion over FY26 levels, although quarterly performance could vary.“We do expect to see variability by quarters on our way to 10 to 30 basis points of expansion,” Sweet said.On hiring, Sweet said Accenture expects to continue recruiting across markets, although at a lower level than this year. “We increased revenue per person this year. So, you are seeing an increase in revenue per person, which is what you would expect in part due to AI, but we’re also in growth mode,” she said.The company also expects to continue hiring at the entry level, while changing the nature of work performed by entry-level employees as it prepares them for the AI era. “Next year we do expect higher revenue per person, but it will be at a lower rate in part due to AI,” Sweet added.You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.