Accenture unveils $4 bln share buyback as AI powers strong quarterly revenue

IT services firm Accenture has unveiled a $4.0 billion share buyback and reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter revenue thanks to demand from companies looking to adopt generative artificial intelligence technology.

Shares of the company were up nearly 7 per cent in premarket trading.

The Dublin-based company reported fourth-quarter revenue of $16.41 billion, compared with analysts expectations of $16.38 billion, according to LSEG data.

Its generative AI business, which helped the company offset the slowdown in demand for IT services, continued to grow for a fourth successive quarter.

Accenture’s new bookings, a key metric indicating the value of customer contracts with spending commitments, rose to $20.1 billion for the fourth quarter, up from $17.25 billion in the third quarter.

Generative AI bookings contributed $1 billion to the company’s new bookings, compared to $900 million in the previous quarter.