Accenture (ACN) Tops Q2 EPS by 14c, Offers Q3 and FY Guidance

Accenture (NYSE: ACN) reported Q2 EPS of $2.03, $0.14 better than the analyst estimate of $1.89. Revenue for the quarter came in at $12.1 billion versus the consensus estimate of $11.82 billion.

GUIDANCE:

Accenture sees Q3 2021 revenue of $12.55-12.95 billion, versus the consensus of $12.18 billion.

• Accenture expects revenues for the third quarter of fiscal 2021 to be in the range of $12.55 billion to $12.95 billion, 10% to 13% growth in local currency, reflecting the company’s assumption of a positive 4.5% foreign-exchange impact compared with the third quarter of fiscal 2020.

Accenture sees FY2021 EPS of $8.32-$8.50, versus the consensus of $8.23.

• Accenture’s business outlook for the full 2021 fiscal year continues to assume that the foreign-exchange impact on its results in U.S. dollars will be positive 3% compared with fiscal 2020.
• For fiscal 2021, the company now expects revenue growth to be in the range of 6.5% to 8.5% in local currency, compared with 4% to 6% previously, including a reduction of approximately 1 percentage point from a decline in revenues from reimbursable travel costs.
• Accenture now expects operating margin for the full fiscal year to be in the range of 15.0% to 15.1%, compared with 14.8% to 15.0% previously, an expansion of 30 to 40 basis points from fiscal 2020.
• The company continues to expect its annual effective tax rate to be in the range of 23.0% to 25.0%.
• The company now expects GAAP diluted EPS to be in the range of $8.67 to $8.85, compared with $8.17 to $8.40 previously. Excluding gains on an investment of $0.35 in fiscal 2021 and $0.43 in fiscal 2020, the company expects adjusted fiscal 2021 EPS to be in the range of $8.32 to $8.50, an increase of 12% to 14% over adjusted fiscal 2020 EPS of $7.46.
• For fiscal 2021, the company now expects operating cash flow to be in the range of $7.65 billion to $8.15 billion, compared with $6.65 billion to $7.15 billion previously; continues to expect property and equipment additions to be $650 million; and now expects free cash flow to be in the range of $7.0 billion to $7.5 billion, compared with $6.0 billion to $6.5 billion previously.
• The company now expects to return at least $5.8 billion in cash to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases, compared with at least $5.3 billion previously.

For earnings history and earnings-related data on Accenture (ACN) click here.

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