NEW YORK, Feb 17, 2026, 14:26 EST — Regular session
Accenture plc shares fell 1.6% to $220.61 by 2:11 p.m. ET, giving back an earlier rise after a Wells Fargo upgrade failed to steady the stock. The shares traded between $217.41 and $229.33, with about 4.9 million shares changing hands.
The moves matter because Accenture is treated as a bellwether for corporate tech budgets and outsourcing demand, especially in consulting-heavy parts of the market. A weak reaction to a bullish call can signal that investors want harder proof in the numbers, not just better language from analysts.
Bookings — the value of new contract signings that can translate into future revenue — sit at the center of that debate. Bulls argue the pipeline is improving; bears keep pressing on whether project timing and mix will cooperate.
Wells Fargo analyst Jason Kupferberg upgraded Accenture to “Overweight” from “Equal Weight,” an analyst label that signals expected outperformance versus the firm’s coverage universe, while keeping his $275 price target. He pointed to two consecutive quarters of improved bookings growth and wrote that concerns about Accenture’s AI risk are “overblown.” (TipRanks)
Zacks Equity Research also moved Accenture to a Rank #2 (Buy) on Tuesday, citing upward revisions in earnings estimates — the engine of its rating model. Zacks pegged the consensus earnings estimate for the fiscal year ending August 2026 at $13.87 a share and said that figure has risen about 0.7% over the last three months. (Finviz)
Accenture’s decline came with a softer tone in IT services even as the broader market held up. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF was up about 0.3%, while IBM fell 1.3%, Cognizant dropped 2.4%, Infosys slid 0.6% and EPAM Systems lost 2.7%.
In its last update, Accenture forecast second-quarter revenue of $17.35 billion to $18.0 billion and maintained its full-year revenue growth outlook of 2% to 5% in local currency. (Accenture Newsroom)
That guidance leaves room for an upside story if bookings keep building and work converts on time. But it also leaves little cover if the mix shifts back toward slower-starting projects or pricing tightens again.
There’s also a simpler risk: the upgrade wave fades fast if client decision cycles lengthen and discretionary spending stays on a leash. In that case, “second-half acceleration” becomes a moving target, and the stock can keep trading heavy.
The next major catalyst is Accenture’s fiscal second-quarter earnings conference call, scheduled for March 19 at 8:00 a.m. EST. Investors will listen for bookings trends, margins and any change to the company’s revenue outlook. (Accenture)
