March 19 (Reuters) - Accenture beat quarterly revenue estimates on Thursday on strong demand for services that help businesses adopt artificial intelligence and move to the cloud, lifting the IT consulting firm's shares more than 3%.
Global consulting firms such as Accenture and Cognizant are seeing robust demand from companies seeking external technology partners to automate complex tasks. Cognizant forecast annual revenue above estimates last month.
Acquisitions of fast-growing firms and AI-focused assets will account for roughly $5 billion in spending this year, Accenture CEO Julie Sweet said, as the company leverages its strong finances to scale up.
Accenture has also made the use of AI tools and employee contributions to AI‑driven work a formal part of performance evaluations, Sweet added.
Investors have been closely watching Accenture's ability to translate the AI boom into profitable growth. In the second quarter, the company reported $22.1 billionin bookings.
“Record bookings show that Accenture is being sought out by companies to help them navigate the complex new world that puts AI at its heart but there are huge question marks about how that spend might ebb and flow over the coming year," said Danni Hewson, head of financial analysisat AJ Bell.
Revenue rose 8.3% to $18.04 billion in the quarter ended February 28, beating estimates of $17.84 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG. Profit came in at $2.93 per share, compared with $2.82 per share in the same quarter last year.
The company expects a 1% revenue hit in fiscal 2026 from reduced federal spending, though CFO Angie Park said the business should return to growth in the fourth quarter.
Accenture also raised the lower end of its annual revenue growth forecast to 3% from 2%, while keeping the upper end at 5%. But the new forecast was below analysts' expectations of 6.1%.
The company said its forecast reflects its best view of the potential impact of the conflict in the Middle East.
(Reporting by Anhata Rooprai in Bengaluru; Editing by Leroy Leo)
