Accenture Opens 11th North America Innovation Hub In Atlanta

Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) yesterday opened an innovation hub in Atlanta, GA. The company and its clients will work together to innovate, design and develop new products and services for the digital economy.

The hub is situated on Georgia Tech’s campus at Technology Square (NYSE:SQ). Accenture will leverage its connections with Georgia Tech’s Advanced Technology Development Center and Engage Ventures to help its clients get access to emerging technologies.

Georgia — being the global hub for trade, technology and innovation — further raises optimism about growth opportunities for Accenture.

To help people of under-represented communities easily get through digital-economy jobs, Accenture has also expanded its U.S. apprenticeship program in Atlanta and teamed up with Year Up and other community organizations to boost program continuance.

This hub is the latest addition in the network of Accenture’s innovation hubs in North America, which include Boston, Chicago, Columbus, metro Detroit, Houston, New York, metro San Francisco, metro Washington, D.C, Seattle and Toronto. Internationally, recent openings include Canberra (August) and Tokyo (January) in 2018. Accenture’s hubs are connected to more than 100 locations around the world.

Julie Sweet, chief executive officer at Accenture North America, stated, “With our network of innovation hubs across North America, we’re bringing innovation to our clients’ doorsteps to help them compete and win in the digital economy.”

So far this year, shares of Accenture have gained 3.7% against 1.3% decline of the Zacks S&P 500 composite.

Our Take

The innovation hub is expected to complement Accenture’s robust growth in North America.

Revenues from North America increased 11% year over year on a reported basis and in local currency in fourth-quarter fiscal 2018. The region contributed the largest chunk (around 46%) to Accenture’s net revenues in fourth-quarter fiscal 2018.

The same improved 10% year over year on a reported basis and 9% in local currency in fiscal 2018 and contributed around 45% to the company’s net revenues.

Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider

Currently, Accenture is a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) stock. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

A few other top-ranked stocks in the broader Zacks Business Services sector are The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) , Automatic Data Processing Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) and Navigant Consulting, Inc. (NYSE:NCI) , each carrying a Zacks Rank #2. Long-term expected EPS (three to five years) growth rate for Interpublic, Automatic Data Processing and Navigant is 7.5%, 12.5% and 13.5% respectively.

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