Shares in IT services and consulting firm Accenture (ACN:NYSE) have been on the slide for the last three months, losing 26% of their value and cutting the market value of the company by almost $70 billion.
In its second-quarter earnings report in March, the group disappointed analysts by posting flat revenue and a 2% decrease in bookings compared with a 14% increase in the first quarter.
Worse, the company lowered its full-year outlook for both revenue growth and earnings, with revenue now seen rising by 1% to 3% instead of 2% to 5%, while adjusted earnings per share are seen between $11.97 and $12.20 rather than $11.97 and $12.32 as the firm shaved the top end of guidance.
Investors are therefore on guard to see whether there is a further cut to the outlook when the firm reports third-quarter earnings on 20 June.
Accenture has talked up its ‘early lead’ in generative AI, with over $1 billion of bookings in the first half, and last week it deepened its collaboration with long-term software partner SAP (SAP:ETR).
The proof is in the pudding, however, and in the last three months analysts have trimmed their earnings expectations, but the question is, is it enough?
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