Accenture’s sharp 19% stock fall and trimmed FY26 revenue guidance shook global markets and triggered heavy selling in Indian IT shares. The Nifty IT index dropped 3.65%, making it the weakest sector of the day. Infosys fell 6.5%, TCS 3.06%, HCLTech 2.23% and Wipro 1.28%. Mid‑cap firms also suffered, with LTIMindtree down 3.95%, Tech Mahindra 2.33% and Mphasis 2.94%.
The rout followed Accenture’s third‑quarter results showing weak client spending. New bookings slipped 1.9% year‑on‑year to 19.3 billion dollars. Delays in West Asia deals worth 400 million dollars and postponement of large managed‑services contracts into FY27 worsened sentiment. The company cut its FY26 revenue growth outlook to 3–4% from 3–5%, implying organic growth of only 1.5–2.5%.
Analysts highlighted outsourcing bookings down 14.7% year‑on‑year while AI revenues remain limited. Persistent macroeconomic uncertainty, geopolitical tensions and AI‑driven disruption continue to weigh on discretionary technology budgets. Accenture’s acquisitions of cybersecurity firms Dragos, runZero and NetRise failed to calm investor nerves about near‑term growth.
Experts believe the lowered guidance signals caution among global enterprises, with clients becoming selective in committing new technology spending. For Indian IT companies, which rely on similar global clients, the warning raises concerns about prolonged slowdown and earnings pressure.
