Accenture Earnings Lift Software and IT Services Stocks: Cognizant, IBM, Wipro Rise on Thursday

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) reported fourth-quarter fiscal 2026 results on Thursday that beat Wall Street estimates, and software and IT services stocks rose in response. Accenture stock traded 19% higher at $217.63 in Wednesday trading. The company also issued fiscal 2027 revenue guidance above analyst estimates. Investors have questioned whether artificial intelligence (AI) could disrupt labor-intensive services businesses and Accenture’s stock had fallen about 32% in 2026 before Thursday’s move. Accenture Q4 Earnings Beat Estimates Accenture reported earnings of $3.29 per share, compared with the analyst estimate of $3.18. Revenue rose 6% year over year to $18.70 billion, above the $18.03 billion consensus estimate. New bookings totaled $22.2 billion, up 4% from a year earlier. CEO Julie Sweet said Accenture exceeded its fourth-quarter revenue guidance. She cited a quarterly record of 141 client bookings worth at least $100 million each. Read Also: Nvidia's Jensen Huang, Other CEOs Privately Confront Anthropic's Dario Amodei Over AI Doomsday Warnings Amid Trump's Tech Summit: Report Fiscal 2027 Outlook Tops Estimates Accenture expects fiscal 2027 revenue of $76.43 billion to $78.65 billion, compared with the $76.41 billion analyst estimate. It projects adjusted earnings of $14.39 to $14.81 per share, against the $14.63 estimate. The company plans to return at least $9.5 billion to shareholders in fiscal 2027. Software And IT Services Stocks Move Higher Peers also traded higher on Thursday: StockPrice% ChangeCognizant (NASDAQ:CTSH)$64.1611.70%ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW)$139.163.83%Salesforce (NYSE:CRM)$235.522.58%IBM (NYSE:IBM)$231.695.32%Infosys (NYSE:INFY)$11.668.62%%Wipro (NYSE:WIT)$1.776.95% Analysts Differ On AI Growth Pace Susquehanna told Bloomberg it remains cautious because systems integration and application development make up nearly half of Accenture’s revenue, and AI could disrupt those areas. William Blair analyst Maggie Nolan downgraded Accenture to Market Perform from Outperform in June, citing, in part, the lack of meaningful revenue acceleration from AI-related work. JPMorgan said Accenture is following its established approach of acquiring capabilities early and scaling them into larger growth platforms. Sweet has described AI as a growth opportunity. Investors have been cautious on software and IT services stocks this year because of concerns that AI tools could reduce demand for paid software licenses. Jefferies strategist Jeffrey Favuzza coined the term “SaaSpocalypse” after a sharp selloff in software-as-a-service (SaaS) stocks that began after Anthropic released Claude Cowork in January. The selloff intensified when Anthropic released Cowork plugins for legal, financial and sales workflows. Read Also: Getty Images Avoids Default With Last-Minute Bond Payment After NYSE Moves to Delist Shares Image via Shutterstock