New Delhi. American tech company Accenture’s fourth quarter results (Q4 Results) were better than expected. On this occasion, the company announced a share buyback of $4 billion on Thursday. This strong performance is attributed to the high demand for Accenture’s services that help businesses adopt generative AI technology. The IT major’s generative AI business is growing rapidly, outperforming its other core businesses.
Generative AI bookings have posted impressive quarter-on-quarter growth over the past four quarters, totaling $3 billion for the year. Meanwhile, Accenture shares rose 3.3 percent in pre-market trading, recovering from a nearly 4 percent decline over the full year. The company reported earnings of $2.79 per share excluding items, higher than the estimated $2.78 per share, according to LSEG data.
The company’s new bookings increased
According to news agency Reuters, generative AI bookings contributed $1 billion to the company’s new bookings, while it was $900 million in the previous quarter. Bookings have seen quarter-on-quarter growth in the last four quarters, reaching $3 billion this year.
However, despite the positive results, Accenture’s projected growth of 3% to 6% fell short of analysts’ average estimate of 5.9 percent growth. Analysts at JPMorgan said they are not as optimistic for the sector as last year, saying clients will continue to hold back discretionary spending. Ahead of Accenture’s results, Morgan Stanley said overall demand for IT services is likely to be lower than expected in the coming quarters.