Accenture Expands Innovation Hub Footprint, Now In Zurich

Accenture Plc (NYSE:ACN) recently announced its plan of opening an innovation hub in Zurich, Switzerland. Accenture defines its innovation hub as a place where clients can “work side-by-side” with the company’s professionals “to ideate, rapidly prototype and launch solutions”, in order to meet the requirements of the fast-evolving digital world.

Innovation hub is an integral part of Accenture Innovation Architecture which brings in “together capabilities – from research, ventures and labs to studios, innovation centers and delivery centers – to develop and deliver disruptive innovations for clients, and to scale them faster.”

The Zurich innovation hub will house all the five key elements — Accenture Studios, Accenture Interactive Studio, Fjord Studio, Liquid Studio and Accenture Extended Reality. The facility which is located at St. Annagasse 9 is just a seven-minute walk from the company’s city headquarter at Fraumünsterstrasse.

Accenture’s recent move is believed to be part of its broader strategy to open new facilities across different parts of the world to provide clients access to its deep industry knowledge, leading technology capabilities and business acumen. Earlier this January, the company opened two innovation hubs — one in Tokyo, Japan, and the other in Boston, the United States.

This strategy will help Accenture have more offices near client headquarters. We believe with these footprint-expansion moves, the company will be able to help clients create, manage, integrate and analyze value-focused solutions, thereby reducing cost and giving clients increased response to change.

The company’s long-term prospects look promising, driven by continued focus on innovative product roll outs, continued investments in enhancing digital and marketing capabilities, along with major acquisitions. In addition, we believe regular acquisitions will significantly contribute to the company’s revenue stream.

Accenture’s shares have appreciated 28.7% in a year’s time, outperforming 17.7% growth recorded by the industry it belongs to.

Currently, Accenture carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Some better-ranked stocks in the broader technology sector are Mellanox Technologies, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MLNX) , Advanced Semiconductor Engineering, Inc. (NYSE:ASX) and Broadcom Limited (NASDAQ:AVGO) . Mellanox Technologies sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), while Advanced Semiconductor Engineering and Broadcom carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The long-term expected EPS growth rates for Mellanox Technologies, Advanced Semiconductor Engineering and Broadcom are 15%, 7.9% and 13.8%, respectively.

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