Accenture (NYSE: ACN) reported Q3 EPS of $1.90, $0.05 better than the analyst estimate of $1.85. Revenue for the quarter came in at $10.99 billion versus the consensus estimate of $10.87 billion.

GUIDANCE:

Accenture sees FY2020 EPS of $7.57-$7.70, versus the consensus of $7.58.

• Accenture’s business outlook for the full 2020 fiscal year continues to assume that the foreign-exchange impact on its results in U.S. dollars will be negative 1.5% compared with fiscal 2019.
• For fiscal 2020, the company now expects revenue growth to be in the range of 3.5% to 4.5% in local currency, compared with 3% to 6% previously.
• Accenture now expects operating margin for the full fiscal year to be 14.7%, an expansion of 10 basis points from fiscal 2019. The company previously expected operating margin to expand 10 to 20 basis points.
• The company now expects its annual effective tax rate to be in the range of 23.5% to 24.5%, compared with 23.5% to 25.5% previously.
• The company now expects diluted EPS to be in the range of $7.57 to $7.70, compared with $7.48 to $7.70 previously.
• For fiscal 2020, the company now expects operating cash flow to be in the range of $6.45 billion to $6.95 billion, compared with $6.15 billion to $6.65 billion previously; continues to expect property and equipment additions to be $650 million; and now expects free cash flow to be in the range of $5.8 billion to $6.3 billion, compared with $5.5 billion to $6.0 billion previously.

Accenture expects revenues for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2020 to be in the range of $10.6 billion to $11.0 billion, or negative 3% to positive 1% growth in local currency, reflecting the company’s assumption of a negative 1% foreign-exchange impact compared with the fourth quarter of fiscal 2019.

For earnings history and earnings-related data on Accenture (ACN) click here.