Results
Accenture Reports Fourth-Quarter and Full-Year Fiscal 2026 Results
Accenture delivers fourth-quarter revenue above the high end of the company’s guided range, with broad-based growth across all geographic markets, industry groups and types of work, and strong EPS, free cash flow and profitability growth
Management commentary
2“We exceeded our fourth-quarter revenue guidance range and capped off another year of broad-based growth across our business, grew adjusted EPS 8%, returned a record $11.5 billion to shareholders and reached a new high of 141 quarterly client bookings of $100 million or more.
These results reflect the continued trust our clients place in us to help them reinvent and create value, the high level of innovation we bring every day and the extraordinary commitment of our Reinventors to our clients’ success.”
Results
Fourth Quarter and Full Year Fiscal 2026 Key Metrics
3New bookings of $22.2 billion, an increase of 4% in U.S. dollars and 5% in local currency for the quarter, and $84.5 billion for the year • Revenues of $18.7 billion for the quarter, an increase of 6% in U.S. dollars and 7% in local currency; and $74.2 billion for the year, an increase of $4.5 billion or 6% in U.S. dollars and 5% in local currency • Fourth quarter GAAP operating margin of 15.3%, an increase of 370 basis points, and an increase of 20 basis points over adjusted 1 operating margin in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025 • Full year GAAP operating margin of 15.4%, an increase of 70 basis points; adjusted operating margin of 15.8%, an increase of 20 basis points • Fourth quarter GAAP diluted EPS of $3.29, a 46% increase, and a 9% increase over adjusted EPS in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025 • Full year GAAP diluted EPS of $13.56, a 12% increase; adjusted EPS of $13.97, an 8% increase • Free cash flow of $2.8 billion for the quarter and $11.6 billion for the year • Total cash returned to shareholders of $11.5 billion for the year, an increase of 38%, reflecting $7.5 billion in repurchases or redemptions, including $2 billion in additional share repurchases in the fourth quarter
Outlook
Fiscal Year 2027 Business Outlook Highlights
5Company expects full-year revenue growth of 3% to 6% in local currency • Expects full-year GAAP diluted EPS of $14.39 to $14.81, a 6% to 9% increase, and a 3% to 6% increase over adjusted EPS • Company expects to return at least $9.5 billion in cash to shareholders in fiscal year 2027
Results
Q4 FY26 Financial Review
Q4 New Bookings
New bookings for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026 were $22.17 billion, an increase of 4% in U.S. dollars and 5% in local currency over the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025, with a book-to-bill of 1.2. • Consulting new bookings were $9.40 billion, with a book-to-bill of 1.0. • Managed Services new bookings were $12.77 billion, with a book-to-bill of 1.4.
Q4 Revenues
Revenues for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026 were $18.68 billion, an increase of 6% in U.S. dollars and 7% in local currency, and were above the company’s guided range of $17.75 billion to $18.40 billion, or 1% to 5% growth in local currency.
Revenues reflect a foreign-exchange impact of approximately negative 0.8%, compared to the approximately negative 0.5% assumption provided in the company’s third-quarter earnings release.
Q4 FY26 Financial Review
Q4 Operating Margin and Operating Income
GAAP operating margin (operating income as a percentage of revenues) for the quarter was 15.3%, compared with GAAP operating margin of 11.6%, and adjusted operating margin of 15.1% for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025. • GAAP operating income for the quarter increased 40% to $2.86 billion compared with GAAP operating income of $2.05 billion, and adjusted operating income of $2.67 billion for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025.
Gross margin (gross profit as a percentage of revenues) for the quarter was 32.0%, compared with 31.9% for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025.
Selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expenses for the quarter were $3.12 billion, or 16.7% of revenues, compared with $2.95 billion, or 16.7% of revenues, for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025.
The company’s GAAP effective tax rate for the quarter was 27.3%, compared with 30.1% for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025.
The adjusted effective tax rate was 27.9% for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025.
GAAP net income for the quarter was $2.03 billion, compared with $1.45 billion for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025.
Adjusted net income was $1.94 billion for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025.
Q4 Earnings Per Share
6GAAP diluted EPS for the quarter were $3.29, a 46% increase over $2.25 for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025. • GAAP diluted EPS increased 9% over adjusted EPS of $3.03 for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025, which excludes a $0.78 decrease for business optimization costs.
Q4 Year over Year Increase in Earnings Per Share
Fourth Quarter Fiscal 2025 Adjusted EPS$3.03
Higher revenue and operating results$0.22
Lower share count$0.13
Lower effective tax rate$0.03
Higher net income attributable to noncontrolling interests$(0.01)
Lower non-operating income$(0.11)
Fourth Quarter Fiscal 2026 GAAP EPS$3.29
Q4 FY26 Financial Review
Q4 Cash Flow
Fourth Quarter Fiscal 2026 (in billions)Fourth Quarter Fiscal 2025 (in billions)
Operating Cash Flow$3.10$3.91
Less: Property & Equipment Additions$(0.25)$(0.11)
Free Cash Flow$2.85$3.81
Days services outstanding, or DSOs, were 50 days at August 31, 2026, compared with 47 days at August 31, 2025.
Accenture’s total cash balance at August 31, 2026 was $12.8 billion, compared with $11.5 billion at August 31, 2025.
Full Year Fiscal 2026 Financial Review
Fiscal 2026 New Bookings
New bookings for fiscal 2026 were $84.54 billion, an increase of 5% in U.S. dollars and 3% in local currency compared with fiscal 2025, with a book-to-bill of 1.1. • Consulting new bookings were $40.86 billion, with a book-to-bill of 1.1. • Managed Services new bookings were $43.67 billion, with a book-to-bill of 1.2.
Fiscal 2026 Revenues
Revenues for fiscal 2026 were $74.18 billion, an increase of 6% in U.S. dollars and 5% in local currency, and were above the company’s guided range of 3% to 4% growth in local currency.
Revenues reflect a foreign-exchange impact of approximately positive 2%, consistent with the assumption provided in the company’s third-quarter earnings release.
Fiscal 2026 Operating Margin and Operating Income
4GAAP operating margin (operating income as a percentage of revenues) for fiscal 2026 was 15.4%, compared to GAAP operating margin of 14.7%, and adjusted operating margin was 15.8%, compared with adjusted operating margin of 15.6% for fiscal 2025. • GAAP operating income for fiscal 2026 increased 12% to $11.41 billion compared with GAAP operating income of $10.23 billion, and adjusted operating income increased 8% to $11.71 billion compared with adjusted operating income of $10.84 billion for fiscal 2025.
Gross margin (gross profit as a percentage of revenues) for fiscal 2026 was 32.0% compared with 31.9% for fiscal 2025.
Selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expenses for fiscal 2026 were $12.06 billion or 16.3% of revenues, compared with $11.39 billion, or 16.4% of revenues, for fiscal 2025.
The company’s GAAP annual effective tax rate for fiscal 2026 was 25.1%, compared with 23.7% in fiscal 2025.
The adjusted effective tax rate for fiscal 2026 was 24.9%, compared with 23.6% in fiscal 2025.
7GAAP net income for fiscal 2026 was $8.52 billion, compared with $7.83 billion in fiscal 2025.
Adjusted net income for fiscal 2026 was $8.77 billion, compared with $8.32 billion in fiscal 2025.
Full Year Fiscal 2026 Financial Review
Fiscal 2026 Earnings Per Share
1GAAP diluted EPS for fiscal 2026 were $13.56, a 12% increase over $12.15 for fiscal 2025. • Adjusted EPS for fiscal 2026 were $13.97, an increase of 8% over adjusted EPS of $12.93 for fiscal 2025, which excludes $0.41 and $0.78 for business optimization costs in fiscal 2026 and fiscal 2025, respectively.
Fiscal 2026 Year over Year Increase in Adjusted Earnings Per Share
Fiscal 2025 Adjusted EPS$12.93
Higher revenue and operating results$1.05
Lower share count$0.33
Lower non-operating income$(0.10)Guidance lowered
Higher effective tax rate$(0.24)Guidance lowered
Fiscal 2026 Adjusted EPS$13.97
Fiscal 2026 Cash Flow
Fiscal 2026 (in billions)Fiscal 2025 (in billions)
Operating Cash Flow$12.36$11.47
Less: Property & Equipment Additions$(0.74)$(0.60)
Free Cash Flow$11.62$10.87
Capital return
Cash Return to Shareholders
Accenture continues to return significant cash to shareholders through cash dividends and share repurchases.
In fiscal 2026, the company returned $11.5 billion to shareholders, including $7.5 billion in share repurchases and $4.0 billion in cash dividends.
Dividend
On August 14, 2026, a quarterly cash dividend of $1.63 per share was paid to shareholders of record at the close of business on July 9, 2026. ◦ These cash dividend payments totaled $974 million, bringing dividend payments for the full year to $3.99 billion, compared with $3.70 billion in fiscal 2025. • Accenture plc has declared another quarterly cash dividend of $1.71 per share for shareholders of record at the close of business on October 13, 2026. ◦ This dividend, which is payable on November 13, 2026, represents a 5% increase over the quarterly dividend rate in fiscal 2026.
Share Repurchase Activity
During the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026, Accenture repurchased or redeemed 17.6 million shares for a total of $2.3 billion, which were primarily repurchased in the open market.
Total share repurchases and redemptions for the full fiscal year were 39.9 million shares for a total of $7.5 billion, including 37.5 million shares repurchased in the open market. • Accenture’s total outstanding authority is approximately $6.9 billion, which includes $6.0 billion in additional share repurchase authority approved by the company’s Board of Directors in September 2026. • At August 31, 2026, Accenture had approximately 596 million total shares outstanding.
Outlook
Business Outlook
First Quarter Fiscal 2027 Outlook
Revenues$18.95B – $19.60B
Revenue Growth (Local Currency)2% – 6%
Foreign-Exchange Impact on Resultsapprox. negative 1%
Full Year Fiscal 2027 Outlook
Revenue Growth (Local Currency)3% – 6%
Foreign-Exchange Impact on Resultsflat
Operating Margin15.9% – 16.1% 50 bps – 70 bps expansion over FY26 GAAP operating margin 10 bps – 30 bps expansion over FY26 adjusted operating margin
Annual Effective Tax Rate24.5% – 26.5%
8Diluted Earnings Per Share$14.39 – $14.81 6% – 9% increase over FY26 GAAP EPS 3% – 6% increase over FY26 adjusted EPS
Operating Cash Flow$11.9B – $12.7B
Property & Equipment Additions$900M
Free Cash Flow$11.0B – $11.8B
Capital return
Capital Returnat least $9.5B
Outlook
Accenture plc
Results
Consolidated Income Statements
(1) Comprised primarily of noncontrolling interest attributable to the noncontrolling shareholders of Avanade, Inc.
Summary of Revenues
Operating Income by Geographic Market
(1) Costs recorded in connection with business optimization actions initiated during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025 and completed during the first quarter of fiscal 2026, primarily for employee severance.
(1) Costs recorded in connection with business optimization actions initiated during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025 and completed during the first quarter of fiscal 2026, primarily for employee severance.
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