Accenture plc (ACN – Free Report) is one of world’s leading providers of management consultancy, technology and outsourcing services. The company is steadily gaining traction in its outsourcing business primarily backed by a rise in demand for technology to improve operating efficiencies and save costs.

Furthermore, considering the growing need for digital marketing, we commend Accenture’s efforts to enhance its digital marketing capabilities through acquisitions which should positively impact second-quarter results.

However, increasing competition from Cognizant Technology Solutions and International Business may temper its growth prospects to some extent. Additionally, Accenture’s plan of creating 15K new jobs in the U.S. by 2020 and investment of $1.4 billion for employee training and opening of 10 innovation centers across the U.S. cities may dent its bottom-line results in our opinion.

Accenture has a decent history when it comes to recent earnings reports as the stock has beaten estimates in all the last four quarters, making for an average positive surprise of approximately 3%. Currently, Accenture has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Accenture PLC Price

 We have highlighted some of the key stats from this just-revealed announcement below:

Earnings: Accenture beats on earnings. The Zacks Consensus Estimate called for EPS of $1.50 per share, and the company reported non-GAAP EPS of $1.58 per share.

Revenue: Revenues surpassed. Accenture posted revenues of $9.6 billion, compared to the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $9.3 billion.

Key Stats: The company witnessed year-over-year growth in revenue, primarily aided by an increase in Consulting and Outsourcing revenues.

3Q18 Outlook: For 3Q18, Accenture expects revenue to be in the range of $9.9 billion to $10.15 billion.