Barclays Maintains an 'Equalweight' on Accenture plc (ACN); 1Q Likely To Show Strength, but Risks to Discretionary Spend Worth Watching

Barclays maintains an 'Equalweight' on Accenture plc (NYSE: ACN) price target lowered from $61 to $58.

Barclays analyst says, "We believe industry trends continue to support solid revenue and bookings trends through the end of ACN's fiscal 1Q. We are modeling ~11% constant currency growth in 1Q (comfortably within implied ~9-13% in guidance, albeit with FX a more modest Y/Y tailwind than initially anticipated), and think the 7-10% range for FY 2012 can be maintained at this stage, if likely biasing toward the lower half (we are modeling ~8%). That said, data points related to business activity in the U.S. and Europe that we track as indicators for ACN's future quarters have softened further in recent months, presenting some potential risks to growth for the full year. Based on some deterioration in the fundamental outlook, combined with likely FX-related headwinds in 2H FY 2012, we trimmed our FY/CY 2012 estimates and reduced our price target."

Barclays lowers FY11 EPS estimate from $3.84 to $3.78 and FY12 from $4.30 to $4.22.

For an analyst ratings summary and ratings history on Accenture plc click here. For more ratings news on Accenture plc click here.

Shares of Accenture plc closed at $58.54 yesterday.

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