Shares of Accenture Ltd. jumped Friday after the outsourcing and consulting firm gave what one analyst called a "surprisingly positive" outlook and said its fiscal third-quarter profit jumped 36 percent.
On Thursday, the company raised its full-year earnings outlook above Wall Street's expectations and issued a fourth-quarter sales outlook also above estimates.
Its profit and sales for the third quarter were above analysts' estimates as well, helped by higher revenue from its outsourcing and consulting services and lower expenses.
"Importantly, consulting segment showed continued strength and no signs of (broader economic) impact," Stifel Nicolaus analyst George Price wrote in a note to investors, reiterating a "Buy" rating on the stock.
Price noted that, "surprisingly," the company's Americas segment saw the strongest growth on a constant-currency basis, ahead of Asia and Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Accenture's strong results followed a solid quarter from business software maker Oracle Corp. _ though Oracle's tepid outlook disappointed investors.
Still, Kaufman Bros. analyst Karl Keirstead said that the results from the two companies show that technology spending by large corporations "is holding up remarkably well given the economic slowdown."
"Clearly, the strong Accenture and Oracle results will force everyone to reassess their (second half of 2008) and 2009 outlooks," the analyst wrote. He rates Accenture "Hold."
Shares of the Bermuda-based company rose $1.92, or 4.9 percent, to $40.77 in late morning trading. The stock has traded in a 52-week range of $31.91 and $44.
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