Jefferies Gives Earnings Preview On Accenture Plc

With Accenture's ACN domestic IT job openings up sharply QoQ and YoY, Jefferies feels the strong P&L momentum it witnessed in FQ1 should continue in FQ2 in the form of better than expected revenue and margins. The trajectory of IT job board listings have historically been a good concurrent indicator of demand for more discretionary IT services such as ACN's consulting business. As stated for some time now, Jefferies has found IT job board listings to be a good concurrent indicator of demand for more discretionary IT services such as ACN's consulting business. As such, this recent uptick in IT job board listings bodes well for FQ2 results both in revenue and margin outperformance. Solid bookings trends seem to be following better job board data as well, with double digit booking growth the last couple of quarters. After such strong P&L performance in Q1 following on the heels of solid bookings last FQ4, Jefferies feels the trend for some outperformance could continue again this quarter, given that FQ1 bookings were again very strong. Jefferies has a $58 (from $54) PT and Buy rating on ACN ACN closed Monday at $50.35