What happened
Shares of Accenture (ACN -1.04%) are soaring today, pushed skyward by a strong second-quarter earnings report. The stock posted a brief 17.6% spike in the early morning before settling down to a milder gain of 6.3% at 1 p.m. EDT.
So what
The global business consulting and outsourcing veteran saw second-quarter revenues rise 6.6% to $11.1 billion, right in line with Wall Street's consensus projections. Earnings increased by 10% to $1.91 per diluted share, comfortably ahead of the analyst target at $1.72 per share. Looking ahead, Accenture lowered its full-year revenue targets to account for slowdowns related to the coronavirus crisis. At the same time, the company collected $14.2 billion of new order bookings in the quarter -- a company record, pointing to strong revenues in the long term.
Now what
This solid report broke Accenture's coronavirus fall, which had been tracking very close to the broader market over the last month. The stock still trades 29% lower from a 30-day perspective, so investors don't seem quite ready to accept the bullish implications of Accenture's strong order bookings. In other words, Accenture's stock looks undervalued even after Thursday's big jump.