AI Threat Intensifies, Accenture Stock Price Falls to Lowest Level Since 2017

BlockBeats News, June 20th. According to the Financial Times, consulting firm Accenture's stock price fell 18% on Thursday, closing at its lowest level since 2017. The company had previously lowered its revenue outlook, raising investor concerns that the rapid advancement of AI is eroding the traditional IT consulting and outsourcing business model.

Accenture stated that in the three months ending in late May, the company's new bookings dropped to $19.3 billion, a 3% decrease year-on-year. The company expects full-year revenue growth to be no more than 4%, below the previous guidance range of 3% to 5%. Accenture's market value has dropped from over $200 billion post-pandemic consulting boom to less than $80 billion.

Accenture CEO Julie Sweet mentioned that the company is still winning enterprise AI adoption-related consulting business, but investors are worried that AI will lead clients to reduce reliance on consultants or introduce new competition from AI startups. She also noted that the impact of the Middle East conflict on the recent quarter's revenue was $100 million more than expected and resulted in slower decision-making by clients in other regions.

Accenture is seeking new growth areas and significantly increasing its acquisition budget, which will reach $9 billion this fiscal year. The company announced three cybersecurity-related acquisitions on Thursday, including the purchase of vulnerability assessment company runZero, device security firm NetRise, and a controlling stake in operational technology cybersecurity company Dragos, with the three transactions totaling an enterprise value of $4.2 billion.