BENGALURU: Accenture’s decision to lower its FY26 revenue growth guidance has intensified concerns over the pace of recovery in the global technology spending environment. Brokerages warn that Indian IT services companies could face a prolonged period of weak demand stretching into FY27.The Dublin-based IT services giant cut the upper end of its FY26 revenue growth guidance by 100 basis points, now expecting revenue growth of 3-4%, or 2.5-3.5% on an organic basis excluding the impact of federal services. The outlook disappointed investors, sending Accenture shares down as much as 18% on Thursday to around $129 on the NYSE. US financial markets were closed on Thursday for the Juneteenth holiday.The guidance downgrade overshadowed an otherwise resilient third-quarter performance. Revenue for the quarter ended May 31 rose 6% year-on-year to $18.7 billion in dollar terms, while local-currency growth stood at 3%—Accenture’s slowest growth rate in eight quarters.The commentary has renewed concerns for Indian IT companies, many of which derive a significant share of revenues from discretionary technology spending. Analysts at Ambit Institutional Equities said weakness at Accenture—widely viewed as the strongest player in global IT services—has a negative read-across for demand prospects across India’s tier-1 IT firms and suggests a weaker-than-expected start to FY27.CLSA said the guidance cut and softer managed-services order book appeared to reflect a challenging macroeconomic environment rather than disruption from AI.
