Accenture Plc (NYSE:ACN) early Thursday [Mar 23, 2017 | 7:05am ] posted mixed fiscal second quarter earnings results and offered a tepid outlook for the rest of the year, sending its shares lower in premarket trading.

Written by StockNews.com

The Dublin, Ireland-based professional services giant reported Q2 earnings per share (EPS) of $1.33, which was $0.03 better than the Wall Street consensus estimate of $1.30.

Revenues rose 4.7% from last year to $8.32 billion, falling just shy of analysts’ $8.34 billion view, however.

As far as its business segment breakdown, ACN said that Consulting revenue rose 3% in the latest period, while Outsourcing net revenues gained 7%.

Looking ahead, Accenture forecast Q3 revenues of $8.65 to $8.90 billion, which is roughly in-line with the Wall Street consensus estimate of $8.81 billion.

For the full year 2017, ACN expects EPS of $5.70 to $5.87, which could miss analysts’ current view of $5.87. It also forecast implied revenues of $34.20 to $34.86 billion for the year, which straddles Wall Street’s $34.63 billion estimate.

The company commented on its latest results and future plans via press release:

“Our strong performance reflects our continued rotation to new, high-growth areas such as digital, cloud and security services – which now account for more than 45 percent of total revenues – as well as our increasingly innovation-led approach to creating cutting-edge solutions for clients. With our highly differentiated capabilities and disciplined management of the business, we are confident in our ability to continue driving sustainable, profitable growth and delivering value for our clients and shareholders.”

Investors greeted Accenture’s results with a tepid response, as its shares fell $0.98 (-0.77%) in premarket trading Thursday. Year-to-date, ACN had gained 7.98% prior to today’s report, versus a 4.81% rise in the benchmark S&P 500 index during the same period.

ACN currently has a StockNews.com POWR Rating of A (Strong Buy), and is ranked #1 of 12 stocks in the Outsourcing – Tech Services category.