Accenture raised its full-year net revenue forecast well above analysts' expectations and reported better-than-expected quarterly revenue and profit, led by strong growth in its consulting business, especially in North America.
Shares of the company, whose competitors include IBM and India's Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services, rose as much as 5.1 per cent to a record high of $113.18 in early trading on Thursday.
Accenture has been investing heavily to boost its digital operation, which offers analytics, content management, social media and cloud services to businesses.
“The company is very well positioned for newer, more discretionary projects, particulary around digital initiatives, where it’s certainly taking share,” Atlantic Equities analyst Christopher Hickey said.
Healthcare and banking
Accenture is also less exposed to the healthcare and banking industries than some of its competitors, Mr Hickey said
The company, which is incorporated in Ireland, said it now expected full-year net revenue to increase by 8-10 pe rcent in local currency terms, up from its previous estimate of 6-9 percent.
That implies revenue of $33.53 billion-$34.15 billion, well above the average analyst estimate of $32.20 billion.
Revenue in the company’s consulting division rose to $4.29 billion in the second quarter ended February 29th, an increase of 12 per cent in dollar terms and 18 per cent in local currency.
The business accounted for a little more than half of Accenture’s revenue, with the rest coming from its outsourcing business. Outsourcing revenue was $3.65 billion, flat in dollar terms but up 6 percent in local currency.
