Consulting Giant Is Headed for Its Best Day on the Stock Market: AI Has Boosted Business, Not Crippled Demand

Shares of Accenture, the world's largest consulting firm, surged 22% on Thursday following the release of its earnings report. This marks the biggest single-day gain in Accenture's history as a publicly traded company, according to Reuters. The company reported that revenue growth could accelerate this year, despite concerns that AI would undermine demand for its services. This announcement had a ripple effect across the entire industry: for example, shares of IBM—which has a consulting division—and Cognizant, a major U.S. IT services and consulting firm, rose in price.

Accenture, which employs about 800,000 people, saw its net income rise 8% to $8.4 billion for the fiscal year that ended August 31. Revenue rose 4% to $74.2 billion, thanks to a stronger-than-expected final quarter. This was driven by cost reductions, and Accenture itself stated that AI is helping it boost per-employee performance.

The company said that its revenue could grow faster in the new fiscal year, despite concerns about how AI is changing the consulting industry. Accenture forecasts that sales will increase by 3–6%. Wall Street had expected the midpoint of that range to be around 4%.

During trading on October 1, the company’s stock price jumped 22%, but had lost a small portion of those gains by the close. Following this rally, Accenture’s market capitalization exceeded $135 billion. During the boom in consulting services following the COVID-19 pandemic, its market capitalization exceeded $200 billion, but earlier this year it fell below $80 billion, the FT notes. Since January, the stock has lost 20%.

Previous technological revolutions benefited consulting firms, as clients turned to them for advice on how to adapt to innovations. However, investors feared that AI could backfire if businesses began redirecting spending toward their own AI projects and expected consultants to perform tasks with fewer employees and at lower prices.

In early 2026, AI models emerged that were capable of taking over some of the work previously performed by consultants: Anthropic released Claude Opus 4.6 with tools for automating legal tasks and financial analysis, and subsequently expanded Claude Cowork to include investment banking, human resources, and other corporate functions. This heightened fears that AI could replace some of the labor-intensive work done by consulting firms and undermine their traditional business model.

Due to these concerns, Accenture’s stock fell to a nine-year low in June, the Financial Times notes. Now, CEO Julie Sweet has stated that her company is gaining market share from competitors despite the challenging market conditions. “Our clients believe that AI will help them achieve much more than before across all areas of their business, but their level of readiness varies greatly,” the FT quotes her as saying. “A significant portion of our growth today is linked to the further development of their digital infrastructure. Many are just beginning their journey into AI.”

Sweet stated that Accenture will continue to expand its hiring of entry-level professionals, but overall workforce growth will slow. “We’re seeing revenue growth per employee, which was partly to be expected thanks to AI,” she told analysts during a conference call.

Competitors have pointed to continued weakness in demand in recent months, according to the FT. Deloitte reported last week that technology consulting had been its slowest-growing division over the past year.

Accenture’s results were “significantly better than expected,” Jefferies analyst Surinder Tind told the FT. “Although overall growth remains weak compared with historical levels, perhaps the most important takeaway is that the outlook suggests the situation isn’t deteriorating as much as one might have expected given the concerns surrounding AI.”

Accenture's report provided a boost to the stocks of other consulting firms. IBM shares rose 2.6% after five consecutive sessions of decline. Cognizant Technology Solutions shares jumped 6.7%.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor