What happened
Shares of Accenture (NYSE:ACN) are soaring today, pushed skyward by a strong second-quarter earnings report. The stock posted a brief 17.6% spike in the early morning before settling down to a milder gain of 6.3% at 1 p.m. EDT.
So what
The global business consulting and outsourcing veteran saw second-quarter revenues rise 6.6% to $11.1 billion, right in line with Wall Street's consensus projections. Earnings increased by 10% to $1.91 per diluted share, comfortably ahead of the analyst target at $1.72 per share. Looking ahead, Accenture lowered its full-year revenue targets to account for slowdowns related to the coronavirus crisis. At the same time, the company collected $14.2 billion of new order bookings in the quarter -- a company record, pointing to strong revenues in the long term.
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Now what
This solid report broke Accenture's coronavirus fall, which had been tracking very close to the broader market over the last month. The stock still trades 29% lower from a 30-day perspective, so investors don't seem quite ready to accept the bullish implications of Accenture's strong order bookings. In other words, Accenture's stock looks undervalued even after Thursday's big jump.
