June 20-24 | Accenture: strong growth, strong profits?

News

The macroeconomic background hasn’t changed much since our last update. The story remains the same with high inflation in the eurozone, and rising interest rates in the hopes of taming it. Meanwhile, there’s the looming threat of stagflation (the combination of slow growth and inflation) in the US. This week we’ll also get an earnings report from Accenture, a multinational that often makes the headlines.

Consultancy and growth: the pillars of Accenture

You’ve probably heard of Accenture, the consulting giant that works with 89 of the Fortune Global 100 companies. Accenture, which now focuses mainly on technology trends, is also considered one of the world’s top 50 ‘most admired companies’ by Fortune. This Thursday, June 23rd, the company will publish its results for the third fiscal quarter after a very strong year. With that in mind, let’s take a closer look at Accenture’s outlook.

A company that hits the headlines

Accenture is considered a multinational company with activities all around the world. So if you’re looking for a stock with growth prospects, this could be right for you (or your portfolio).

• Recently, the company has been on a shopping spree. Accenture acquired an engineering and sustainability consultancy firm called Greenfish in early June. It also acquired Allgemeines Rechenzentrum, an Austrian banking services provider. 
• On top of that, Accenture just opened a brand new advanced technology centre in Indore, India, thus strengthening its presence in emerging Asian countries.

Accenture strongly believes in the power of the metaverse! The company has trained more than 150,000 employees in metaverse technology, in order to offer training to its clients. Accenture also aims to invest a lot of money in this sector.

What results can we expect?

Accenture is expected to report earnings of $2.84 per share, which would represent year-on-year growth of 18.33%. Additionally, the most recent estimate calls for quarterly revenue of $16.06 billion, up 21.12% from the same period a year earlier.

And for the full year, analysts expect earnings of around $10.80 per share and revenue of $62.08 billion. If true, these figures would represent increases of +22.73% and +22.85% year-on-year.

Accenture is on track for strong growth if the estimates are correct! We’ll find out on June 23rd when the company reveals its figures. You can even follow the conference online. 

Spotlight on female leadership

Back in March, we explained how companies run by women are often more profitable than those run by men. Well, did you know that Accenture is led by a female CEO (still a rarity for S&P 500 companies!) Julie Sweet has been the head of the company since 2019. A brilliant former lawyer, she is also very committed to the defence of women’s rights, as well as ESG and sustainability. 

We also wrote about the advantages of investing in companies with a high ESG score (environmental, social and governance criteria). They allow you to have a positive impact both for the planet, for society, and for your portfolio since ESG investing can offer similar or even higher returns than traditional funds.

With that in mind, Accenture is developing a consulting strategy to help companies improve their ESG scores, while committing to environmental and social issues themselves. The takeover of Greenfish, mentioned earlier, also aims to boost the sustainability aspect of its activities!

Economic and earnings calendar

Monday – US stock markets will be closed in observance of the Juneteenth holiday.

Tuesday – Quarterly results from Lennar and Nordex.

Wednesday – Dutch Consumer Confidence Index (June). Non-monetary meeting of the European Central Bank.

Thursday –  Meeting of the Council of the European Central Bank. PMI manufacturing and services index in France, Germany, the euro zone and the United States (June). US weekly unemployment figures. Accenture and FedEx quarterly results.

Friday – GDP growth in the Netherlands and Spain (first quarter). Unemployment figures in France (May). Meeting of the Council of the European Central Bank.

We’ll be back next week with another edition of the BUX Breakdown. In the meantime, have a great week on the markets!

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This BUX Breakdown was written by Clémentine Pougnet.

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All views, opinions, and analyses in this article should not be read as personal investment advice and individual investors should make their own decisions or seek independent advice. This article has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and is considered a marketing communication.