Accenture Spikes Down On Outlook; Analyst Sees Q4 Miss Of Current Consensus

Accenture ACN shares spiked lower Thursday after the company cut its 2014 outlook suggesting a fourth-quarter earnings miss.

Accenture's updated guidance implies fourth-quarter earnings of $1.06 to $1.10 per share. This compares to the analyst consensus of $1.15 before the update.

Accenture, which offers consulting and outsourcing, cut the high end of its fiscal 2014 outlook from $4.50-$4.64 to $4.50-$4.54. It didn't provide a fourth-quarter estimate.

The company also reduced its full-year operating margin estimate to 14.3 percent, which is the low end of its previous forecast.

On Wednesday, Accenture beat third-quarter expectations by a nickel, posting earnings of $1.26 per share. Revenue grew seven percent to $7.74 billion.

Accenture traded recently at $82.25 per share, down 0.95 percent. Earlier Wednesday, it hit $79.77, a low for the past four weeks.

Editor's note: An earlier version of this story cited Bank of America's Sara Gubins maintaining an $84 price target, based on a new outlook that implies fourth quarter earnings of $1.09 to $1.13 per share.