“We believe AI will be a tailwind for our company and our expanding industry, as it is a catalyst for reinvention, creating new opportunities for growth and efficiency for our customers and us,” said Julie Sweet, CEO of Accenture.
Accenture reported strong growth in the third quarter, with revenue up $1 billion year over year, even as geopolitical tensions in the Middle East weighed on results.
The company’s shares have fallen about 50% since the beginning of the year, but were down more than 18% to $127.30 in Thursday trading.
The Dublin-based solution provider, which ranks No. 1 on CRN’s Solution Provider 500 list, generated $3.4 billion in additional revenue year-to-date compared to fiscal 2025, while also delivering margin expansion, higher earnings per share and strong free cash flow.
The company’s CEO, Julie Sweet, said on a conference call with investors Thursday that quarterly revenue was about $100 million lower than expected due to the war in Iran and the resulting turmoil in the Middle East. He said the impact primarily affected consulting businesses and was evenly split between direct impact within the region and indirect impact across global markets.
Sales were also affected, with approximately $400 million in sales impacted in the Middle East, parts of Europe, the Middle East and Africa due to delays in customer decision-making.
[Related: Accenture CEO: AI Tools Are Helping Us ‘Become The Most AI-Enabled Company In The World‘]
“The indirect impact has really started in recent weeks and is primarily due to discretionary spending, so we believe there will be a larger impact in the fourth quarter,” he said. “Of course, it’s difficult to predict exactly how everything will unfold.”
Despite these challenges, Sweet said the company is helping customers move beyond AI experimentation to large-scale initiatives, and executives remained optimistic about the growth opportunities AI creates.
“We believe AI will be a tailwind for us and our industry as we expand, as it is a catalyst for reinvention and creates new opportunities for growth and efficiency for our clients and ourselves,” she said.
The company is also expanding its relationships with leading AI and data providers, including Anthropic, Databricks, Google Gemini, Mistral AI, Nvidia, OpenAI, Palantir, and Snowflake. Sweet said these partnerships are expected to double bookings.
Alongside its AI push, Accenture made its largest cybersecurity investment to date by acquiring a majority stake in Dragos and full ownership of runZero and NetRise.
Both businesses are valued at approximately $4.175 billion and will create what Sweet calls a “first-of-its-kind operational technology cybersecurity platform” focused on protecting infrastructure such as power grids, pipelines, manufacturing facilities and data centers.
“You can’t have an AI revolution without critical infrastructure, and you can’t have an AI revolution without OT security, and that’s where the world is most vulnerable today,” she said. “This is about long-term growth, and it’s a really huge market,” she said. “We see a huge opportunity because it fills such an important need. You can’t succeed with AI without security.”
Third-quarter sales were $18.7 billion, up 6% from the same period last year. The company generated $19.3 billion in new bookings and $3.6 billion in free cash flow during the quarter.
