TL;DR

Accenture’s shares climbed 22% on Thursday 1 October, heading for their biggest one-day gain on record, after the consultancy forecast faster revenue growth than analysts had expected. The outlook eased fears that AI would hollow out IT services and lifted rival stocks. Accenture also said its prices were lower in many areas, a sign that clients expect to share in AI’s savings.

The numbers

For fiscal 2027 Accenture expects revenue to rise by between 3% and 6%. The 4.5% midpoint beats the 3.9% analysts had pencilled in, according to LSEG figures cited by Reuters. Fourth-quarter sales reached $18.68bn, ahead of the $18.03bn consensus, with consulting up 7% to $9.28bn. New bookings grew 4% to $22.17bn.

Chief executive Julie Sweet told analysts the firm expects to spend “another approximately $5 billion in acquisitions” during fiscal 2027. That follows three cybersecurity purchases worth $4.18bn in June, among them a majority investment in Dragos.

Rivals rallied with it. Cognizant gained roughly 8% and IBM around 3%, while the US-listed shares of Indian groups Wipro and Infosys rose 6% to 7%.

Why the stock had fallen

Accenture had lost about a third of its value this year before Thursday. Software shares sold off early in 2026 after Anthropic launched new tools that stoked fears AI could replace what those firms sell. Software has largely bounced back since, but IT services companies had not.

Interactive Brokers’ chief market analyst, Steve Sosnick, said many investors felt “underinvested in software” and were now rethinking their view of Accenture.

The catch

The price cuts deserve more attention than the share move. Lower pricing across many areas means clients are already negotiating to keep part of the efficiency AI delivers. In our view, that is the real shape of AI disruption for consultancies: not fewer clients, but thinner margins on routine work, offset by demand for help putting AI into practice.

The firm also has a foot in AI safety testing. In September it agreed to evaluate Anthropic’s frontier models from inside the company, with each side committing at least $1bn over five years.

Looking forward

For UK clients of the big consultancies, falling prices on AI-assisted work are a negotiating point worth pressing. Our report on Deloitte UK’s return to growth earlier this week offers a domestic comparison. The next test is whether Accenture’s bookings growth outpaces its pricing pressure through 2027.