Accenture Booked $18.7 Billion in Three Months. It Guided Next Year to 3% to 6% Growth.

Accenture reported fourth-quarter and full-year results for fiscal 2026 on October 1. The quarter ended August 31. Revenue was $18.7 billion, up 6% in US dollars and 7% in local currency, which the company said exceeded the top of its own guidance range. New bookings for the quarter were $22.2 billion, up 4% in dollars and 5% in local currency — bookings grew more slowly than revenue, which is the figure to watch in a services business, because bookings are the revenue of future quarters.

The Quarter

• Revenue: $18.7 billion, +6% in USD, +7% in local currency.
• New bookings: $22.2 billion, +4% in USD, +5% in local currency.
• GAAP operating margin: 15.3%, up 370 basis points year on year.
• Adjusted operating margin: up 20 basis points year on year.
• GAAP diluted EPS: $3.29, up 46%. Adjusted EPS up 9%.
• Free cash flow: $2.8 billion.

Where the 46% Came From

GAAP earnings per share rose 46% while adjusted earnings per share rose 9%. That is a 37-point gap, and it is not operating performance. The GAAP operating margin improved 370 basis points; the adjusted margin improved 20. A swing of that size between the two measures means the prior-year quarter carried a charge that the adjusted figures exclude and the GAAP figures do not — so the GAAP comparison is flattered by a weak base rather than lifted by a strong quarter. The 9% adjusted figure and the 20-basis-point adjusted margin improvement are the closer read on how the business actually performed.

The Full Year

• Revenue: $74.2 billion, +6% in USD, +5% in local currency.
• New bookings: $84.5 billion, +5% in USD, +3% in local currency.
• GAAP operating margin: 15.4%, up 70 basis points. Adjusted: 15.8%, up 20 basis points.
• GAAP diluted EPS: $13.56, up 12%. Adjusted: $13.97, up 8%.
• Free cash flow: $11.6 billion.
• Headcount: approximately 814,000 people.

Full-year bookings of $84.5 billion grew 5% in dollars but only 3% in local currency, against local-currency revenue growth of 5%. A book-to-bill above one still means the backlog is growing, but bookings growing more slowly than revenue in constant currency is the pattern that precedes slower revenue, not faster.

Capital Returned

Accenture returned $11.5 billion to shareholders over the year, 38% more than the prior year, including $7.5 billion of share repurchases covering 39.9 million shares and $4.0 billion of dividends. The release reported the quarterly dividend raised to $1.71 a share, up 5%.

Fiscal 2027 Guidance

• Revenue growth: 3% to 6% in local currency, against 5% delivered in fiscal 2026.
• GAAP diluted EPS: $14.39 to $14.81, an increase of 6% to 9%.
• Operating margin: 15.9% to 16.1%.
• Cash returned to shareholders: at least $9.5 billion, below the $11.5 billion returned in fiscal 2026.

We exceeded our fourth-quarter revenue guidance range and capped off another year of broad-based growth across our business.