Shares of Accenture PLC ACN, +0.28% rose 1.0% in premarket trading Thursday, after the management consultant reported better-than-expected fiscal second-quarter results, raised its full-year outlook, increased what it will return to shareholders and announced a bonus for employees. Net income rose to $1.44 billion, or $2.23 a share, from $1.24 billion, or $1.91 a share, in the year-ago period. Excluding non-recurring items, adjusted earnings per share came to $2.03, above the FactSet consensus of $1.89. Revenue rose 8.5% to $12.09 billion, beating the FactSet consensus of $11.80 billion, as new bookings jumped 13% to $16.0 billion. For fiscal 2021, the company raised its adjusted EPS guidance range to $8.32 to $8.50 from $8.02 to $8.25 and its revenue growth outlook to 6.5% to 8.5% from 4% to 6%. Accenture said it now expects to return $5.8 billion to shareholders, through stock repurchases and dividends, up from a previous estimate of $5.3 billion. Separately, the company said it will pay a one-time bonus equal to one week of base pay to employees below the level of managing director. The stock has slipped 0.7% over the past three months through Wednesday, while the S&P 500 SPX, +0.29% has gained 7.1%.
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