Accenture's Stock Gains After Revenue Beats Expectations

Shares of Accenture PLC rose 0.8% in light premarket trade Thursday, after the business consulting company beat fiscal third-quarter revenue expectations, while matching profit forecasts. For the quarter ended May 31, earnings rose to $939.8 million, or $1.41 a share, from $840.0 million, or $1.24 a share, in the same period a year ago. The FactSet consensus for earnings per share was $1.41. Total revenue grew to $8.97 billion from $8.28 billion, above the FactSet consensus of $8.75 billion, as 9% growth in revenue before reimbursements to $8.43 billion exceeded expectations of $8.29 billion. New bookings totaled $9.1 billion. The company expects current-quarter revenue before reimbursements of $8.25 billion to $8.50 billion, surrounding the FactSet consensus of $8.35 billion. The stock has run up 14% year to date through Wednesday, while the S&P 500 has gained 2%.