Valued at $241.5 billion by market cap, Dublin, Ireland-based Accenture plc (ACN) is a global leader in professional services. Accenture partners with top businesses, governments, and organizations worldwide to enhance their digital foundations, optimize operations, accelerate revenue growth, and improve public services.

Accenture has significantly underperformed the broader market over the past year. ACN stock has gained 4.1% over the past 52 weeks lagging behind the S&P 500 Index’s ($SPX) 20.7% surge during the same time frame. However, in 2025, ACN stock has soared nearly 10%, substantially outpacing SPX’s 3.1% gains on a YTD basis.

Narrowing the focus, while Accenture has lagged behind the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund’s (XLK) 13.7% gains over the past year, it has outpaced XLK’s 1.6% returns in 2025.

Accenture’s stock prices soared 7.1% after the release of its impressive Q1 results on Dec. 19. Driven by the broad-based revenue growth across all markets and industry groups, Accenture’s topline surged more than 9% year-over-year to $17.7 billion exceeding the Street’s expectations by 3.1%. Furthermore, its new bookings increased to a staggering $18.7 billion, while registering $1.2 billion in new Gen AI bookings. Meanwhile, the company also observed notable margin expansion, leading to a solid 15.5% year-over-year surge in net income to shareholders totaling $2.3 billion. Moreover, its EPS of $3.59 beat analysts’ consensus estimates by 6.2%, boosting investor confidence.

For the current fiscal 2025, ending in August, Accenture is expected to deliver a 6.5% year-over-year growth in EPS to $12.73. The company has a mixed earnings surprise history. While it has surpassed the Street’s bottom-line estimates thrice over the past four quarters, it has missed expectations on one other occasion.

Among the 25 analysts covering the ACN stock, the consensus rating is a “Moderate Buy.” That’s based on 16 “Strong Buy,” one “Moderate Buy,” and eight “Hold” ratings.

This configuration is notably more bullish than three months ago when 14 analysts gave “Strong Buy” recommendations.

On Dec. 19, Piper Sandler analyst Arvind Ramnani reiterated an “Overweight” rating on ACN, while raising the price target to $429.

ACN’s mean price target of $402.75 indicates a 4.1% premium to current price levels, while its Street-high target of $455 suggests a 17.6% upside potential.