Calling someone a "consultant" seems about as vague as walking up to Shaquille O'Neal and saying, "Gee, you're tall, Shaq." I was talking to an IT specialist last night, and we both agreed that consultants are specialists that allow a company to focus on what it does best. The great demand for consultants these days has increased productivity for companies but has put a strain on consulting firms to efficiently complete companies' non-core tasks.
One such organization is Accenture
In an industry where business can look like chain-saw juggling, Accenture has been successful in making the balancing act between present and future demand look like child's play. A case in point: An outsourcing downfall caused new bookings to drop 35% in the third quarter, but the company signed a five-year contract with the Department of Homeland Security a month ago worth as much as $10 billion.
Demand for outsourcing and consulting continues to accelerate as competitors such as Electronic Data
Accenture shares, which are currently trading at about 20 times the expected earnings for fiscal 2005 of $1.37, are moving in line with the company's expected growth rate. However, following the firm's first significant growth in consulting revenues in nearly two and a half years combined with the Homeland security contract, the shares look quite attractive here.
Fool contributor Phil Wohl spent more than 12 years on Wall Street and now concentrates his writing on more fictional characters. He has no stake in any firm mentioned above.