Accenture has announced first quarter (Q1) revenues of $18.74bn for fiscal year 2026 (FY26), up from $17.6bn in the same period a year earlier.

The reported increase represents a 6% rise in US dollars and a 5% rise in local currency. This puts revenue at the upper end of the company’s guidance range of $18.1bn–18.75bn.

Net income on a Generally Accepted Accounting Practice (GAAP) basis reached $2.24bn for the quarter, compared with $2.32bn in Q1 FY25. Adjusted net income for the period came to $2.49bn.

Accenture reported gross margin at 33.1%, slightly higher than the 32.9% recorded a year ago.

Selling, general and administrative expenses were $3.02bn, or 16.1% of revenues, versus $2.87bn (16.2% of revenues) for the corresponding period last year.

New bookings for the quarter totalled $20.9bn. Of that figure, advanced AI new bookings accounted for $2.2bn.

The company’s GAAP operating margin stood at 15.3%, down from 16.7% in the previous year’s first quarter, a decrease of 140 basis points.

Adjusted operating margin increased by 30 basis points to reach 17%. Diluted earnings per share under GAAP declined by 1% to $3.54 from $3.59 in the same period last year, while adjusted earnings per share rose by 10% to $3.94.

Free cash flow for the quarter amounted to $1.5bn, and Accenture returned a total of $3.3bn to shareholders through share repurchases or redemptions totalling $2.3bn and dividend payments amounting to $1bn, or $1.63 per share.

Accenture chair and CEO Julie Sweet said: “I am very pleased with our $21bn in new bookings, including 33 clients with quarterly bookings greater than $100m.

“We delivered revenue growth of 5% in local currency, at the top of our guided range, while continuing to gain market share.”

For the full fiscal year, Accenture continues to project revenue growth of between 2% and 5% in local currency terms, with an expectation of 3–6% growth, excluding an estimated 1% impact from its US federal business operations.

The company now anticipates a GAAP operating margin of between 15.2% and 15.4%, reflecting an expansion of 50–70 basis points, and maintains its outlook for an adjusted operating margin of between 15.7% and 15.9%, an expansion of 10–30 basis points.

Accenture now expects GAAP diluted earnings per share for the year to be in the range of $13.12–13.50, reflecting an increase of between 8% and 11%.

The company also continues to expect adjusted earnings per share of between $13.52 and $13.90, representing an increase of between 5% and 8%.