ACN FY2026 Q2 Improving

Accenture PLC earnings call

Mar 19, 2026 · 04:00 ET Alexia QuadraniAngie ParkJulie Sweet earningscall_biz

Buzzberg read

Record Q2 bookings of $22.1 billion, third consecutive $20B+ quarter

Accenture reported a strong Q2 with revenue at the top end of guidance, record bookings, and raised full-year guidance. Management emphasized AI as a broad tailwind, highlighted partnerships with Palantir and SAP, and disclosed strategic acquisitions pivoting toward non-FTE revenue models and AI enablers. Q2 revenue $18bn (+4% organic), record bookings $22.1bn, 74 clients with >$100M bookings in H1 (up 12 YoY).

Buzzberg read Record Q2 bookings of $22.1 billion, third consecutive $20B+ quarter Accenture reported a strong Q2 with revenue at the top end of guidance, record bookings, and raised full-year guidance. Management emphasized AI as a broad tailwind, highlighted partnerships with Palantir and SAP, and disclosed strategic acquisitions pivoting toward non-FTE revenue models and AI enablers. Q2 revenue $18bn (+4% organic), record bookings $22.1bn, 74 clients with >$100M bookings in H1 (up 12 YoY). Read full analysisCollapse analysis

Raised FY26 revenue growth guidance to 3-5% local currency (ex-federal 4-6%), and free cash flow guidance to $10.8-11.5bn (+$1bn).
Explicitly called out Palantir as an emerging ecosystem partner; acquired two firms to accelerate growth with Palantir.
Completed acquisitions of Faculty (AI services with product revenue), Ookla (network intelligence, non-FTE model), and DLB Associates (data center engineering) – signaling pivot to IP/non-FTE revenue.

Revenue$18.0441B-4% QoQ

EPS$2.93-26% QoQ

Gross margin30.26%Reported

Operating margin13.82%Reported

6 grounded callouts

What matters now

The highest-signal changes from the call.

Demand

Record Q2 bookings of $22.1 billion, third consecutive $20B+ quarter

Guidance

Full-year revenue guidance raised to 3-5% local currency growth

M&A

M&A spend expected to reach $5 billion, up from prior plan

Show 3 more callouts

Cash Flow

Free cash flow guidance raised by $1 billion to $10.8-11.5B

AI/data professional count exceeds fiscal 2026 goal early

Enterprise AI adoption moving from proofs of concept to production

Reported period

Actuals

Metric	Reported	Change
Revenue	$18.0441B	-4% QoQ
EPS	$2.93	-26% QoQ
Gross margin	30.26%	Reported
Operating margin	13.82%	Reported
Free cash flow	$3.668B	Reported
Capex	$0.1497B	Reported

Forward-looking

Forward guidance

Metric	Period	Range	Midpoint	Status
Capex	FY2026	$0.7B	$0.7B	Guided
EPS	FY2026	$13.65–$13.90	$13.78	Guided
Free cash flow	FY2026	$10.8B–$11.5B	$11.15B	Raised
Operating margin	FY2026	15.7%–15.9%	15.8%	Guided
Revenue	FY2026	3%–5%	4%	Guided
Revenue	FY2026 Q3	$18.35B–$19B	$18.675B	Guided

AI, capex & demand read

Management read

Tone

Upbeat

Management repeatedly highlighted record bookings, strong margin expansion, and raised free cash flow guidance, while expressing confidence in AI-driven growth and market share gains despite geopolitical uncertainty.

Management AI read

Management positions AI as a broad tailwind across nearly all work, driving demand for reinvention, data modernization, and new offerings like agentic commerce and mainframe modernization. They emphasize early leadership, ecosystem partnerships, and a large funnel of future work as clients move from proofs of concept to production, with AI increasingly embedded in core workflows and the delivery m

Capex

Investment and capacity

Management raised full-year free cash flow guidance by $1 billion and slightly lowered property and equipment additions to approximately $700 million, reflecting strong operational efficiencies rather than increased capital spending. The capex outlook is not a major focus; the company is prioritizing M&A and shareholder returns instead.

all 3 named companies below

Companiesreturns since call

Customers

EL +3.0%

Customers

Estee Lauder is a client example of large-scale digital and AI transformation, reflecting continued enterprise spending on reinvention programs.

Evidence

“A good example of these demand trends is how we are partnering with the Estee Lauder companies, a global prestige beauty company, to advance its new one operating ecosystem”

Julie Sweet

Partners

PLTR +5.5%

Partners

Accenture is explicitly accelerating its partnership with Palantir via acquisitions and expects to more than double bookings from emerging AI ecosystem partners in FY26, directly boosting Palantir's enterprise adoption. — This signals that Palantir is gaining traction as a core platform for government and enterprise AI deployments, with Accenture acting as a key implementation partner, driving revenue growth for Palantir.

Evidence

“We also acquired two companies to accelerate our growth with Palantir, an emerging ecosystem partner, Deco in the UK, which focuses particularly in defense and public sector markets, and Ranger Data in the US, which works across industries.”

Julie Sweet

SAP +7.1%

Partners

Accenture, SAP, and Palantir are collaborating on product development, indicating deepening multi-party partnerships in the AI and ERP ecosystem.

Evidence

“just last week we were at AIPCon Palantir's conference with SAP Palantir and Accenture on stage saying we're going to develop those products.”

Julie Sweet

External signals

Supply-chain alpha · 1returns since call

Accenture is explicitly accelerating its partnership with Palantir via acquisitions and expects to more than double bookings from emerging AI ecosystem partners in FY26, directly boosting Palantir's enterprise adoption.

Julie Sweet

PLTR+5.5%

Evidence

“We also acquired two companies to accelerate our growth with Palantir, an emerging ecosystem partner”

Methodology & coverage

Management-only analysis. All 3 validated company mentions are shown. Reported actuals and forward guidance are kept separate. Public evidence is limited to eight short attributed quotes. AI-generated analysis can be incomplete or wrong; verify important claims against the original source.