Accenture (ACN) To Report Q1 Earnings: What's In The Cards?

Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) is scheduled to report first-quarter fiscal 2020 results on Dec 19, before market open.

While the top line is likely to have benefited from strength across all segments, the bottom line is expected to have gained from higher revenues and operating results.

So far this year, shares of Accenture have gained 45.4% compared with 36.6% growth of the industry it belongs to and 25.2% rise of the Zacks S&P 500 composite.

Let’s check out the expectations in detail.

Strength Across Segments to Boost Revenues

Strength across all the segments — Communications, Media & Technology, Financial Services, Health & Public Service, Products and Resources — is likely to have driven Accenture’s first-quarter fiscal 2020 revenues. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenues is pegged at $11.14 billion, indicating growth of 5.01% year over year. Notably, the consensus estimate lies within the company guided range of $10.9-$11.2 billion. In fourth-quarter fiscal 2019, net revenues of $11.06 billion increased 5% year over year.

Going by segments, the consensus estimate for Communications, Media & Technology revenues stands at $2.27 billion, indicating year-over-year growth of 6.5%. The segment is likely to have benefited from strength in Software & Platforms across all geographic regions, led by North America.

The consensus mark for Financial Services revenues is pegged at $2.18 billion, indicating a year-over-year increase of 2.9%. The segment is expected to have benefited from strength in Insurance across all geographic regions and banking & capital markets in Growth Markets, which is likely to have partially offset the decline in banking & capital Markets in Europe.

The consensus estimate for Health & Public Service revenues stands at $1.86 billion, indicating year-over-year growth of 6.3%. The uptick is likely to have come from growth in Public Service in North America and Europe, and Health in North America.

The consensus estimate for Products revenues is pegged at $3.13 billion, indicating a year-over-year increase of 6.9%. Segmental revenues are expected to have been driven by strength in Life Sciences in North America and Consumer Goods, Retail & Travel Services in Europe and Growth Markets.

The consensus mark for Resources revenues stands at $1.69 billion, indicating year-over-year growth of 2.3%. Strength across all industry groups and geographies might have boosted the segment.

Earnings Expectations

Higher revenues and operating results, and lower effective tax rate and share count are likely to have benefited Accenture’s first-quarter fiscal 2020 earnings. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings per share is pegged at $2 per share, indicating year-over-year growth of 2.04%.

In fourth-quarter fiscal 2019, adjusted earnings of $1.74 per share came ahead of the year-ago figure by 10 cents.

What Our Model Says

Our proven Zacks model does not conclusively predict an earnings beat for Accenture this time around. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat. But that’s not the case here. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Accenture has an Earnings ESP of -1.00% and a Zacks Rank #3.

Stocks to Consider

Here are a few stocks that investors may consider as our model shows that these have the right combination of elements to beat on earnings in their upcoming release:

The Simply Good Foods Company (NASDAQ:SMPL) has an Earnings ESP of +4.76% and a Zacks Rank #1.

Commercial Metals Company (NYSE:CMC) has an Earnings ESP of +21.62% and a Zacks Rank #3.

Winnebago Industries, Inc. (NYSE:WGO) has an Earnings ESP of +11.70% and a Zacks Rank #3.

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