Accenture PLC reported early Thursday fiscal second-quarter earnings and sales that beat expectations and raised its full-year outlook, but the stock was little changed in premarket trade. Net income for the quarter to Feb. 28 rose to $901.1 million, or $1.37 a share, from $876.7 million, or $1.33 a share, in the same period a year ago. Excluding a benefit of 21 cents a share from recent tax legislation, adjusted earnings per share came to $1.58, above the FactSet consensus of $1.49. Net revenue rose to $9.59 billion from $8.32 billion, beating the FactSet consensus of $9.31 billion, as revenue from both its consulting and outsourcing businesses both rose above expectations. For fiscal 2018, the company raised its net revenue growth outlook to 7% to 9% from 6% to 8% and its adjusted EPS outlook to $6.61 to $6.70 from $6.48 to $6.66. Separately, the company declared a semi-annual dividend of $1.33 a share, matching the previous semi-annual dividend. The stock had rallied 5.3% over the past three months and 28.1% over the past 12 months, while the S&P 500 had tacked on 1.1% the past three months and 15.5% the past year.
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