Accenture Plc (NYSE:ACN) stock rose 6.38% (As on December 19, 11:43:53 AM UTC-4, Source: Google Finance) after the company surpassed the Wall Street revenue estimates, as the company announced its first-quarter results. Net income for the quarter came to $2.28 billion, compared with $1.97 billion ($3.10) a year earlier. New bookings for the quarter were $18.7 billion, with consulting bookings of $9.2 billion and managed services bookings of $9.5 billion. GAAP operating income was $2.95 billion, a 15% increase compared to $2.56 billion for the first quarter of fiscal 2024, and an increase of 9% compared to adjusted operating income of $2.70 billion for the first quarter last year. Operating margin was 16.7%, an increase of 90 basis points compared to operating margin of 15.8% for the first quarter of fiscal 2024, and flat compared to adjusted operating margin of 16.7% for the first quarter last year. Operating cash flow for the quarter was $1.02 billion, and property and equipment additions were $152 million. Free cash flow, defined as operating cash flow net of property and equipment additions, was $870 million. For the same period last year, operating cash flow was $499 million; property and equipment additions were $69 million; and free cash flow was $430 million. Days services outstanding, or DSOs, were 50 days at November 30, 2024, compared with 46 days at August 31, 2024 and 49 days at November 30, 2023. Accenture’s total cash balance at November 30, 2024 was $8.3 billion, compared with $5.0 billion at August 31, 2024.
ACN in the first quarter of FY 25 has reported the adjusted earnings per share of $3.59, beating the analysts’ estimates for the adjusted earnings per share of $3.42. The company had reported the adjusted revenue growth of 9 percent to $17.7 billion in the first quarter of FY 25, beating the analysts’ estimates for revenue of $17.12 billion. Consulting revenues for the quarter were $9.05 billion, an increase of 7% in U.S. dollars and 6% in local currency compared with the first quarter of fiscal 2024. Managed Services revenues for the quarter were $8.64 billion, an increase of 11% in both U.S. dollars and local currency compared with the first quarter of fiscal 2024.
The IT firm raised its annual revenue forecast to grow between 4 to 7 per cent, compared to the analysts’ expectation of a 5.63 per cent revenue growth. The company earlier anticipated a growth of 3 to 6 per cent. Due to currency effects, however, the company is lowering its full-year earnings per share (EPS) forecast to $12.43-12.79 from $12.55-12.91 previously.
The revenues for the second quarter are expected to be around $16.2 billion to $16.8 billion.