Accenture Beats Estimates, Guides Higher

Accenture ACN just came out with earnings, and they beat Wall Street estimates, and raised full year earnings guidance. The consulting company reported quarterly earnings of 93 cents per share on $6.7 billion in revenues. Wall Street had been expecting earnings of 90 cents on revenues of $6.43 billion. In addition to the better than expected earnings, Accenture said it expects full year earnings of $3.36-$3.40 per share. Wall Street is expecting earnings of $3.27 per share. New bookings for the quarter were $7.1 billion, with consulting bookings of $3.7 billion and outsourcing bookings of $3.4 billion. Accenture said it expects net revenues for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2011 to be between $6.4 billion and $6.6 billion. Pierre Nanterme, Accenture's chief executive officer, said, “We are very pleased with our third-quarter results. The continued momentum in our business and the focused execution of our growth strategy enabled us to achieve our highest quarterly revenues ever, of more than $6.7 billion. Four of our five operating groups, and all three geographic regions, saw double-digit revenue growth in both U.S. dollars and local currency. We also achieved record quarterly EPS of $0.93, and we have a very strong balance sheet. “We continue to gain market share, and demand for our services remains robust, as demonstrated by third-quarter bookings in excess of $7 billion. Our focus remains on driving sustainable and profitable growth through technology leadership and industry differentiation, and delivering superior value to our clients and shareholders.” At last check, shares of Accenture were up $1.41 to $57.10‎, a gain of 2.5% in after-hours trading.