Accenture Shares Fall After Q3 Results, Analysts Cut Targets

Accenture plc shares fell 7.1% to $118.88 on Monday following a fiscal third-quarter report that prompted a fresh round of analyst price-target cuts and downgrades. The decline extended a selloff that began after the company released results last week.

The stock had dropped 18% on Thursday after Accenture reported results and announced a series of cybersecurity acquisitions. The share move left the stock down nearly 25% for the week, its largest weekly decline on record.

TD Cowen analyst Bryan Bergin downgraded Accenture to Hold from Buy and cut his price target to $150 from $258. Bergin pointed to a 3% quarter-on-quarter fall in bookings and wrote that the drop “was not on our bingo card.” He argued management’s explanation that some deals were pushed into fiscal 2027 did not fully account for the decline and said managed-services bookings would have fallen even after assuming a $1 billion shortfall tied to delayed contracts.

Jefferies analyst Surinder Thind trimmed his price target to $130 from $185 while keeping a Hold rating. Thind cited lower revenue and earnings estimates for calendar 2027 and referenced comments from CEO Julie Sweet that geopolitical tensions in the Middle East had reduced discretionary client spending. He also noted that advances in artificial intelligence are reshaping Accenture’s addressable market, particularly for larger clients.

RBC Capital kept an Outperform rating but lowered its target to $175 from $253. The firm pointed to macroeconomic headwinds including an estimated $100 million impact from the Middle East conflict, longer decision cycles in Europe and postponed managed-services deals. RBC said Accenture started about 100 new advanced AI projects during the quarter and that its roughly $9 billion in operational-technology cybersecurity acquisitions and the Accenture Edge platform could contribute to revenue in fiscal 2027 and create higher-growth opportunities in fiscal 2028.

Bookings, a measure of signed contracts expected to convert into future revenue, fell in the quarter. Management told investors that several large deals were deferred into the next fiscal year, which partially explained the bookings drop. Analysts cautioned that the decline raised questions about near-term demand and the company’s growth trajectory.

Accenture continues to invest in artificial intelligence and has partnerships with OpenAI and Anthropic while developing agentic AI offerings for clients. Several analysts noted that visibility into near-term revenue is limited and that the shares may be sensitive to additional headlines and future earnings reports as clients decide on the pace of AI adoption.

FactSet data show mixed ratings among firms covering Accenture: 17 of 30 rate the shares Buy or Overweight, 13 recommend Hold and none issue a Sell rating. The recent volatility follows Accenture’s strategy to expand cybersecurity capabilities and AI services while some core bookings and discretionary client spending have softened.