Accenture (ACN) Q1 2026 earnings summary

Executive summary

• Q1 FY26 revenue reached $18.7 billion, up 6% in USD and 5% in local currency, with strong growth in Asia Pacific and solid performance in Americas and EMEA.

• New bookings totaled $20.9 billion, up 12% in USD and 10% in local currency, with 33 clients exceeding $100 million in bookings.

• Adjusted operating margin expanded to 17.0%, while GAAP margin declined to 15.3% due to $308 million in business optimization costs.

• Adjusted EPS grew 10% to $3.94, while GAAP EPS decreased 1% to $3.54 due to optimization costs.

• $3.3 billion was returned to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases, an 83% YoY increase.

Financial highlights

• Gross margin improved to 33.1% from 32.9% year-over-year.

• Free cash flow was $1.5 billion; $3.3 billion returned to shareholders via buybacks and dividends.

• Adjusted operating income was $3.18 billion, up from $2.95 billion YoY; GAAP operating income was $2.87 billion, down 3% YoY.

• Cash and cash equivalents at quarter-end were $9.6 billion, down from $11.5 billion at the prior fiscal year-end.

• Dividend per share was $1.63, with $1.0 billion paid in dividends during the quarter.

Outlook and guidance

• FY26 revenue growth expected at 2%-5% in local currency (3%-6% excluding federal/AFS), with 1.5% inorganic contribution.

• Adjusted operating margin for FY26 expected at 15.7%-15.9%, a 10-30 basis point expansion.

• Adjusted EPS guidance for FY26 is $13.52-$13.90, or 5%-8% growth.

• Free cash flow guidance for FY26 is $9.8 billion-$10.5 billion; at least $9.3 billion to be returned to shareholders.

• Q2 FY26 revenue guidance: $17.35 billion-$18.0 billion, 1%-5% local currency growth.