Is Accenture (ACN) Now An Opportunity After A 40.9% One Year Share Price Decline

Simply Wall St

Sun, February 15, 2026 at 1:08 AM GMT+9 7 min read

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If you are wondering whether Accenture's current share price still reflects its long term potential, it becomes essential to look closely at what you are paying for each dollar of value.

The stock closed at US$224.23 recently, with returns of a 6.8% decline over 7 days, 22.3% decline over 30 days, 13.7% decline year to date, 40.9% decline over 1 year, and 14.6% and 4.4% declines over 3 and 5 years respectively. These figures can change how investors think about both risk and opportunity.

Recent coverage has focused on how global consulting and IT services companies such as Accenture are being reassessed by the market as clients review technology spending and transformation projects. This context helps explain why investors are paying closer attention to what they get in return for each dollar invested in the shares.

Accenture currently has a valuation score of 6/6, which means it screens as undervalued across all six of Simply Wall St's checks. Next, we will look at how traditional methods like P/E, DCF and comparables stack up against a more detailed way to think about valuation by the end of this article.

Find out why Accenture’s -40.9% return over the last year is lagging behind its peers.

Approach 1: Accenture Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) Analysis

A DCF model takes the cash a company is expected to generate in the future, then discounts those cash flows back to today to estimate what the business might be worth now.

For Accenture, Simply Wall St uses a 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity model. The latest twelve month free cash flow is about $11.52b. Analysts provide free cash flow estimates for several years, and beyond that Simply Wall St extrapolates the projections. By 2030, projected free cash flow is $15.11b, with a full set of yearly estimates between 2026 and 2035 forming the core of the model.

Discounting those future cash flows back to today produces an estimated intrinsic value of US$362.24 per share. Compared with the recent share price of US$224.23, the model implies a 38.1% discount, which suggests the shares screen as undervalued on this DCF view alone.

Result: UNDERVALUED

Our Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) analysis suggests Accenture is undervalued by 38.1%. Track this in your watchlist or portfolio, or discover 53 more high quality undervalued stocks.

ACN Discounted Cash Flow as at Feb 2026

Head to the Valuation section of our Company Report for more details on how we arrive at this Fair Value for Accenture.

Approach 2: Accenture Price vs Earnings

For a profitable business like Accenture, the P/E ratio is a useful way to think about what you are paying for each dollar of current earnings. Investors usually accept a higher P/E when they expect stronger growth or see lower risk, and a lower P/E when they expect slower growth or see higher risk.

Story Continues  

Accenture currently trades on a P/E of 18.13x. That sits below the broader IT industry average P/E of 23.23x and also below the peer group average of 19.38x, which may catch your eye if you are comparing it directly with similar companies.

Simply Wall St also calculates a proprietary Fair Ratio for each company. For Accenture, this Fair Ratio is 32.42x, which reflects factors such as its earnings profile, industry, profit margins, market size and company specific risks. This is designed to be more tailored than a simple peer or industry comparison because it adjusts for differences in growth, risk and business quality.

Comparing the Fair Ratio of 32.42x with the current P/E of 18.13x suggests the shares screen as undervalued on this multiple based view.

Result: UNDERVALUED

NYSE:ACN P/E Ratio as at Feb 2026

P/E ratios tell one story, but what if the real opportunity lies elsewhere? Start investing in legacies, not executives. Discover our 23 top founder-led companies.

Upgrade Your Decision Making: Choose your Accenture Narrative

Earlier we mentioned that there is an even better way to think about valuation, so let us introduce Narratives, a simple way for you to attach your own story about Accenture to the numbers by linking your view of its future revenue, earnings and margins to a forecast and then to a fair value on the Simply Wall St Community page, where millions of investors share their work.

With a Narrative, you set assumptions and the platform turns them into a full financial forecast and fair value estimate, then compares that fair value with the current share price. This can help you decide whether Accenture looks closer to a buy, a hold or a sell for your approach.

These Narratives update automatically when new information such as news, earnings or guidance is added, so your view of Accenture stays current without you rebuilding every model from scratch.

For example, one Accenture Narrative on Simply Wall St currently points to a fair value of about US$202 per share while another points to about US$344 per share. This shows how reasonable investors looking at the same company and the same disclosures can still reach very different conclusions about what the shares are worth today.

For Accenture, however, we will make it really easy for you with previews of two leading Accenture Narratives:

Here is how a bullish and a more cautious thesis can look when you tie the story back to numbers.

🐂 Accenture Bull Case

Fair value: US$343.90 per share

Implied discount to fair value: 34.8% below this narrative fair value

Revenue growth assumption: 7.5%

Sees GenAI, cloud migration, retirement services and security as the main engines for future revenue and earnings, with GenAI bookings and security revenue figures used as reference points.

Assumes revenue could reach about US$80.24b in 2027, with profit margins around 13% and a P/E of 25x, and extends that story out to 2034 with higher revenue, EPS and margins.

Highlights risks around client adoption of GenAI, cloud security concerns, regulation in retirement services and the need to keep up with cybersecurity threats, but still arrives at a higher fair value than today’s price.

🐻 Accenture Bear Case

Fair value: US$202.38 per share

Implied premium to fair value: 10.8% above this narrative fair value

Revenue growth assumption: 5.44%

Focuses on current valuation multiples like P/E, EV/EBITDA, P/S and P/B, noting they sit around long run averages while profitability metrics such as operating margin, net margin and ROE are referenced as strong for a services company.

Points to revenue, EPS, margin and free cash flow figures from recent quarters and the latest outlook, and links them to capital returns through dividends and buybacks that are supported by a net cash position.

Flags bookings trends, consulting project timing, currency effects and sector mix as key risks that could affect growth and margins, which leads to a fair value that sits below the current share price.

Together, these Narratives show how two well-argued views, using different assumptions for growth, margins and multiples, can produce fair values of US$343.90 and US$202.38. That range is what you are really weighing when you decide how Accenture fits into your own portfolio and risk tolerance.

If you want to see how other investors are framing the same facts, and build a version that matches your own expectations, you can start with these two Narratives and then adjust the revenue, margin and P/E inputs until the fair value lines up with your view of Accenture.

Curious how numbers become stories that shape markets? Explore Community Narratives

Do you think there’s more to the story for Accenture? Head over to our Community to see what others are saying!

NYSE:ACN 1-Year Stock Price Chart

_ This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned._

Companies discussed in this article include ACN.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly._ Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com_

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