Accenture shares drop on Q4 guidance, $4bn cyber spending spree

18th Jun 2026 12:41

(Sharecast News) - Shares in Accenture were falling sharply in pre-market trade on Thursday after the consultancy firm disappointed with current-quarter guidance and went on a spending spree of over $4bn to beef up its cyber operations.

The Dublin-based company said it expects to generate revenues of $17.75bn-18.40bn for the fiscal fourth quarter, representing 1-5% growth in local currencies but short of the consensus forecast of $18.47bn.

For the full year, the firm is now guiding to revenue growth of 3-4%, compared with a March forecast of 3-5%, though its adjusted EPS guidance was raised slightly to $13.78-13.90, from $13.65-13.90.

For the third quarter ended 31 May, revenues rose 3% year-on-year to $18.7bn, though new bookings slipped to $19.3bn from $19.7bn a year earlier. Nevertheless, the company said it delivered a "strong quarter".

"Demand for large-scale reinvention remains strong - 104 quarterly client bookings of $100 million or more year-to-date, up 13% - and we are seeing more large-scale AI transformation programs, while executing our strategy to capture new areas of growth," said chair and chief executive Julie Sweet.

Separately, Accenture announced plans to strengthen its cybersecurity division, which is already a $10bn business for the consultancy. This includes the acquisition of a majority stake in operating tech cyber firm Dragos and outright acquisitions of asset intelligence and exposure assessment company runZero and device security and software supply chain security outfit NetRise.

The firm didn't disclose details of each transaction but said the combined enterprise value of the three assets was $4.18bn.

"In an age when AI-driven cyber threats and geopolitical risk are evolving at a rapid pace, our cybersecurity practice is growing by double-digits and has a strong track record of leveraging inorganic opportunity to fuel organic growth," Sweet said.

"Our clients across industries and regions are asking us how to be more proactive and integrated in their approach to cybersecurity. The addition of Dragos, complemented by runZero and NetRise, fills this important need."

The stock was down around 17% at $129.52 in pre-market activity.