Accenture Stock Drops 50% Amid AI Disruption and IT Spending Shift

Accenture is experiencing a significant downturn in its consulting business as enterprise IT spending shifts away from services and toward servers, storage, and memory. This reprioritization of IT budgets, which began in June, has combined with risks associated with AI disruption to trigger a massive selloff, driving the company's stock down more than 50% from its previous highs.

Weak bookings trends and a tepid demand environment are expected to persist. To maintain execution during the fourth quarter, the company is allowing employees to carry unused leave into fiscal year 2027. While this measure supports immediate delivery, it may shift capacity risks into the first quarter of the next fiscal year.