Accenture (ACN) Stock Drops Despite Market Gains: Important Facts to Note

Accenture (ACN) ended the recent trading session at $205.93, demonstrating a -1.34% change from the preceding day's closing price. This change lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.04%. Elsewhere, the Dow lost 0.15%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 0.36%.

The consulting company's shares have seen a decrease of 20.83% over the last month, not keeping up with the Computer and Technology sector's loss of 5.15% and the S&P 500's loss of 1.33%.

The upcoming earnings release of Accenture will be of great interest to investors. The company's earnings report is expected on March 19, 2026. The company's earnings per share (EPS) are projected to be $2.87, reflecting a 1.77% increase from the same quarter last year. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $17.74 billion, up 6.51% from the year-ago period.

For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates project earnings of $13.87 per share and a revenue of $73.9 billion, demonstrating changes of +7.27% and +6.06%, respectively, from the preceding year.

It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for Accenture. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. Hence, positive alterations in estimates signify analyst optimism regarding the business and profitability.

Our research suggests that these changes in estimates have a direct relationship with upcoming stock price performance. To utilize this, we have created the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model that integrates these estimate changes and provides a functional rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), possesses a remarkable history of outdoing, externally audited, with #1 stocks returning an average annual gain of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.02% higher. Accenture currently has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

In terms of valuation, Accenture is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 15.05. This signifies a premium in comparison to the average Forward P/E of 12.75 for its industry.

Investors should also note that ACN has a PEG ratio of 2.01 right now. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. ACN's industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.2 as of yesterday's close.

The Computers - IT Services industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 80, putting it in the top 33% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Keep in mind to rely on Zacks.com to watch all these stock-impacting metrics, and more, in the succeeding trading sessions.