Global professional services company Accenture (NYSE:ACN) reported revenue ahead of Wall Street’s expectations in Q3 CY2025, with sales up 7.3% year on year to $17.6 billion. The company expects next quarter’s revenue to be around $18.43 billion, close to analysts’ estimates. Its GAAP profit of $2.25 per share was 24.5% below analysts’ consensus estimates.
Is now the time to buy Accenture? Find out by accessing our full research report, it’s free.
Accenture (ACN) Q3 CY2025 Highlights:
- Revenue: $17.6 billion vs analyst estimates of $17.37 billion (7.3% year-on-year growth, 1.3% beat)
- EPS (GAAP): $2.25 vs analyst expectations of $2.98 (24.5% miss)
- Revenue Guidance for Q4 CY2025 is $18.43 billion at the midpoint, roughly in line with what analysts were expecting
- Operating Margin: 11.6%, down from 14.3% in the same quarter last year
- Free Cash Flow Margin: 21.6%, up from 19.4% in the same quarter last year
- Market Capitalization: $148.9 billion
Company Overview
With a workforce of approximately 774,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries, Accenture (NYSE:ACN) is a professional services firm that helps organizations transform their businesses through consulting, technology, operations, and digital services.
Revenue Growth
A company’s long-term sales performance is one signal of its overall quality. Any business can experience short-term success, but top-performing ones enjoy sustained growth for years.
With $69.67 billion in revenue over the past 12 months, Accenture is a behemoth in the business services sector and benefits from economies of scale, giving it an edge in distribution. This also enables it to gain more leverage on its fixed costs than smaller competitors and the flexibility to offer lower prices.
As you can see below, Accenture’s 9.5% annualized revenue growth over the last five years was impressive. This shows it had high demand, a useful starting point for our analysis.
We at StockStory place the most emphasis on long-term growth, but within business services, a half-decade historical view may miss recent innovations or disruptive industry trends. Accenture’s recent performance shows its demand has slowed significantly as its annualized revenue growth of 4.2% over the last two years was well below its five-year trend. 
This quarter, Accenture reported year-on-year revenue growth of 7.3%, and its $17.6 billion of revenue exceeded Wall Street’s estimates by 1.3%. Company management is currently guiding for a 4.2% year-on-year increase in sales next quarter.
Looking further ahead, sell-side analysts expect revenue to grow 4.7% over the next 12 months, similar to its two-year rate. This projection is underwhelming and suggests its newer products and services will not catalyze better top-line performance yet.
Here at StockStory, we certainly understand the potential of thematic investing. Diverse winners from Microsoft (MSFT) to Alphabet (GOOG), Coca-Cola (KO) to Monster Beverage (MNST) could all have been identified as promising growth stories with a megatrend driving the growth. So, in that spirit, we’ve identified a relatively under-the-radar profitable growth stock benefiting from the rise of AI, available to you FREE via this link.
Operating Margin
Operating margin is a key measure of profitability. Think of it as net income - the bottom line - excluding the impact of taxes and interest on debt, which are less connected to business fundamentals.
Accenture’s operating margin might fluctuated slightly over the last 12 months but has generally stayed the same, averaging 14.7% over the last five years. This profitability was top-notch for a business services business, showing it’s an well-run company with an efficient cost structure.
Looking at the trend in its profitability, Accenture’s operating margin might fluctuated slightly but has generally stayed the same over the last five years. This raises questions about the company’s expense base because its revenue growth should have given it leverage on its fixed costs, resulting in better economies of scale and profitability.
In Q3, Accenture generated an operating margin profit margin of 11.6%, down 2.7 percentage points year on year. This contraction shows it was less efficient because its expenses grew faster than its revenue.
Earnings Per Share
We track the long-term change in earnings per share (EPS) for the same reason as long-term revenue growth. Compared to revenue, however, EPS highlights whether a company’s growth is profitable.
Accenture’s solid 9% annual EPS growth over the last five years aligns with its revenue performance. This tells us it maintained its per-share profitability as it expanded.
Like with revenue, we analyze EPS over a more recent period because it can provide insight into an emerging theme or development for the business.
For Accenture, its two-year annual EPS growth of 6.2% was lower than its five-year trend. We hope its growth can accelerate in the future.
In Q3, Accenture reported EPS of $2.25, down from $2.66 in the same quarter last year. This print missed analysts’ estimates, but we care more about long-term EPS growth than short-term movements. Over the next 12 months, Wall Street expects Accenture’s full-year EPS of $12.15 to grow 13.3%.
Key Takeaways from Accenture’s Q3 Results
It was good to see Accenture narrowly top analysts’ revenue expectations this quarter. On the other hand, its EPS missed. Looking ahead, revenue guidance was in line with expectations. Overall, this was a mixed quarter. The stock remained flat at $239 immediately following the results.
Accenture’s latest earnings report disappointed. One quarter doesn’t define a company’s quality, so let’s explore whether the stock is a buy at the current price. If you’re making that decision, you should consider the bigger picture of valuation, business qualities, as well as the latest earnings. We cover that in our actionable full research report which you can read here, it’s free.