Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Accenture's (NYSE:ACN) Consulting to Continue to Give Them Edge

Assuming sustainability of a recovery in the services market, the consulting unit of Accenture (NYSE:ACN), continues to give them an edge in the sector.

Barclays (NYSE:BCS) said, "ACN will report fiscal 1Q11 earnings results after market close on Thursday, December 16. Business confidence data points broadly support our estimates for 10% local currency growth in fiscal 1Q11 and nearly 8.5% growth in FY 2011, as do our ongoing discussions with a number of industry players (most recently at our Global Tech conference last week, where the tone on consulting/outsourcing services was constructive).

"...We continue to view ACN as a key beneficiary of the services market recovery at this point in the cycle given its strong consulting edge, and see considerable upside to earnings power over time from ongoing growth, margin expansion (may be variable quarter-to-quarter due to timing of investments, but supported by strong consulting revenues and increasing scale through the GDN), and potential capital structure opportunities."

Barclays reiterates an "Overweight" rating on Accenture plc, which closed Tuesday at $46.58, up $0.68, or 1.48 percent. Barclays has a price target on them of $52.

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