ACN Testing Price Floor: Time to Load Up?

-16.28%
Downside
269
Market
226
Trefis
ACN: Accenture logo
ACN
Accenture

Accenture (ACN) should be on your watchlist. Here is why – it is currently trading in the support zone ($233.40 – $257.96), levels from which it has bounced meaningfully before. In the last 10 years, the stock received buying interest at this level 5 times and subsequently went on to generate 35.9% in average peak returns.

  Peak Return Days to Peak Return
11/16/2020 8.7% 32
3/4/2021 69.7% 300
9/27/2022 18.7% 65
12/19/2022 15.6% 45
3/15/2023 67.0% 693

But is the price action enough alone? It certainly helps if the fundamentals check out. For ACN Read Buy or Sell ACN Stock to see how convincing this buy opportunity might be.

Here are some quick data points:

  • Revenue Growth: 6.2% LTM and 4.8% last 3 year average.
  • Cash Generation: Nearly 15.0% free cash flow margin and 15.4% operating margin LTM.
  • Recent Revenue Shocks: The minnimum annual revenue growth in last 3 years for ACN was 1.5%.
  • Valuation: ACN trades at a PE multiple of 21.0
  • Opportunity vs S&P: Compared to S&P, you get lower valuation, higher LTM revenue growth, and lower margins

Accenture provides strategy, consulting, technology, and operations services, including application modernization, agile transformation, AI, data management, intelligent automation, and talent and organizational consulting.

Relevant Articles
  1. Is Wall Street Underestimating Accenture Stock’s Potential?
  2. Accenture Stock Looks Undervalued, Ready to Move Up?
  3. Has Accenture Stock Quietly Become a Value Opportunity?
  4. Is Accenture Stock Poised for a Rally?
  5. Is the Market Overlooking Accenture Stock’s Next Move?
  6. A Decade of Rewards: Accenture Stock Returns $57 Bil to Investors

  ACN S&P Median
Sector Information Technology
Industry IT Consulting & Other Services
PE Ratio 21.0 23.5

   
LTM* Revenue Growth 6.2% 5.0%
3Y Average Annual Revenue Growth 4.8% 5.8%
Min Annual Revenue Growth Last 3Y 1.5% -0.3%

   
LTM* Operating Margin 15.4% 18.8%
3Y Average Operating Margin 14.7% 17.7%
LTM* Free Cash Flow Margin 15.0% 13.2%

*LTM: Last Twelve Months

That is one way to look at stocks. Trefis High Quality Portfolio evaluates much more, and is designed to reduce stock-specific risk while giving upside exposure

What Is Stock-Specific Risk If The Market Crashes?

That said, Accenture isn’t immune to big drops. It fell about 38% during the Global Financial Crisis, 40% in the 2022 inflation shock, and 33% through the Covid pandemic. The 2018 correction also cut it by 23%. Strong fundamentals matter, but even solid stocks like ACN can take significant hits when the market shakes.

But the risk is not limited to major market crashes. Stocks fall even when markets are in good shape – think events like earnings, business updates, outlook changes. Read ACN Dip Buyer Analyses to see how the stock has recovered from sharp dips in the past.

The Trefis High Quality (HQ) Portfolio, with a collection of 30 stocks, has a track record of comfortably outperforming its benchmark that includes all 3 – the S&P 500, S&P mid-cap, and Russell 2000 indices. Why is that? As a group, HQ Portfolio stocks provided better returns with less risk versus the benchmark index; less of a roller-coaster ride, as evident in HQ Portfolio performance metrics.