Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation, a professional services company, provides consulting and technology, and outsourcing services in North America, Europe, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Financial Services; Health Sciences; Products and Resources; and Communications, Media and Technology. The company provides services including artificial intelligence (AI) and other technology services and solutions, consulting, application development, systems integration, quality engineering and assurance, engineering research and development, application maintenance, infrastructure, security, and business process services and automation. It also offers AI-led automation, which includes advisory, and process and IT automation solutions designed to simplify and accelerate automation adoption; business process outsourcing services, which help deliver business outcomes including revenue growth, increased customer and employee satisfaction, and cost savings; and Cognizant Moment, a digital experience service that uses AI to reimagine customer experiences and engineer strategies aimed at driving growth. In addition, the company develops, licenses, implements, and supports proprietary and third-party software products and platforms; and develops industry-specific products and services. It offers solution to healthcare providers and payers, life sciences companies, banking, capital markets, payments and insurance companies, manufacturers, automakers, retailers, consumer goods, travel and hospitality, communications, media and entertainment, education, information services, and technology companies, as well as businesses providing logistics, energy, and utility services. The company has a strategic partnership with Uniphore Technologies Inc. for the development of AI solutions that combine small language models and AI agents. Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation was incorporated in 1988 and is headquartered in Teaneck, New Jersey.
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Artificial Intelligence▼impact 4
AI reshapes India's IT services contracts as clients demand more for less
Artificial intelligence is reshaping India's IT services sector as outsourcing giants like Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, Wipro, HCLTech and Cognizant increasingly tie fees to performance outcomes instead of hours worked. TCS Chief Executive K Krithivasan told Reuters that about 80% of the company's contracts within its finance, human resources and other business services segment are now based on outcome performance measures, a doubling since AI went mainstream in late 2023. Persistent Systems CEO Sandeep Kalra said clients are demanding the same work for 25% to 30% less while expecting faster delivery and higher productivity, and Tech Mahindra CEO Mohit Joshi warned that some rivals are factoring in productivity gains of 70% to 80% over five to seven years and guaranteeing prices despite rising chip costs. The Nifty IT index has tumbled by a fifth this year, with its 10 constituents losing a combined $73 billion in market value, while mid-sized firms like Persistent and Coforge have seen revenue in dollar terms grow by double digits for at least eight quarters in a row.
Cognizant and Benchling to Implement AI R&D Platform for Kyowa Kirin
Cognizant and Benchling have been selected as partners to accelerate Kyowa Kirin's R&D by implementing Benchling's AI platform at the company's Tokyo Research Park and Fuji Research Park in Japan. The implementation aims to centralize data management, enhance molecular design processes, and automate workflows, enabling researchers to conduct experiment planning, execution, data collection, and AI use within a single environment. Kyowa Kirin expects the platform to automate experimental design and data collection, accelerating the research cycle from drug discovery target identification to new drug candidate selection. Cognizant will provide end-to-end support including platform setup, data migration, system implementation, and ongoing maintenance, while Benchling's platform connects directly with laboratory instruments to capture structured, searchable data automatically. The partnership is intended to improve researcher productivity, support informed decision-making, and establish a next-generation drug discovery foundation for Kyowa Kirin.
Cognizant Launches EMEA AI Unit and Signs Key Deals to Expand Enterprise AI
Cognizant Technology Solutions launched a dedicated EMEA AI Unit and entered a partnership with Gulf Edge in Thailand to accelerate enterprise AI adoption, while also signing a five-year agreement with The Andover Companies for AI-driven modernization of core insurance operations. These moves aim to convert AI interest into scaled, recurring enterprise work and test the company's margin resilience amid complex AI engineering and outcome-based contracts. The proof point will be whether AI-related bookings and qualified pipeline grow in upcoming quarters relative to the 2026 revenue guidance range of US$22.04 billion to US$22.35 billion. The stock closed at US$55.78, with a 34.8% gain over the past month but weaker longer-term returns.
S&P 500 Futures Edge Higher as Rate Jitters Meet Earnings
US stock futures are pointing slightly higher this morning, with E-mini S&P 500 contracts up about 0.3%, as investors weigh interest rate risks against mixed economic signals. The 10-year US Treasury yield is holding near 4.62%, and markets see roughly a 1 in 3 chance of a rate hike at the upcoming Federal Reserve meeting, with odds for September even higher. Housing data show prices rising only modestly once inflation is taken out. Among top movers, Garmin jumped 16.23% after Q2 results and higher full-year 2026 revenue guidance, GE HealthCare Technologies gained 12.15% following Q2 earnings and a price target increase from BTIG, and Cognizant Technology Solutions rose 11.25% after reporting Q2 results, updating guidance, and affirming its dividend. On the losing side, Vertiv Holdings Co fell 17.26% after a mixed Q2, revenue short of guidance midpoint and a target cut, Nebius Group declined 12.65%, and Cerebras Systems dropped 12.11% despite a long-term data center colocation agreement announcement. Earnings will dominate the next few sessions, with Apple, Amazon, and Mastercard reporting on Thursday, and AbbVie, Moderna, ExxonMobil, and Chevron on Friday.
Cognizant Technology Solutions forecast third-quarter revenue below Wall Street estimates on Wednesday, as clients remained cautious on discretionary IT spending. The company expects revenue between $5.60 billion and $5.68 billion, below analysts' average estimate of $5.70 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG. Cognizant also lowered its full-year revenue outlook to a range of $22.04 billion to $22.35 billion, down from its prior forecast of $22.11 billion to $22.64 billion. For the second quarter, the company reported revenue of $5.48 billion, in line with estimates and up 4.5% from a year earlier. Shares fell 3% in premarket trading.
Cognizant reported second-quarter 2026 revenue of $5.5 billion, a 4.5% increase year-over-year, and raised its full-year adjusted diluted EPS guidance to a range of $5.70 to $5.82. The company's Financial Services segment grew 12% year-over-year, while adjusted operating margin expanded 40 basis points to 16.0%. Cognizant repurchased 22.5 million shares for $1,153 million during the quarter under its share repurchase program, part of $1.6 billion deployed on buybacks in the first half of 2026. Full-year constant currency revenue growth guidance was revised to 4.0% to 5.5%, and the adjusted operating margin outlook was maintained at 16.0% to 16.2%. Trailing 12-month bookings rose 5% to $29.1 billion, representing a book-to-bill of approximately 1.3x.
Cognizant launches EMEA AI Unit to help enterprises scale agentic AI adoption
Cognizant has launched a dedicated EMEA AI Unit to help enterprises across Europe, the Middle East and Africa move from AI pilots to scalable business outcomes. The unit, aligned with Cognizant's AI Builder strategy, combines advisory, engineering and delivery capabilities to build, deploy and run agentic AI solutions independent of any single platform, model or cloud. At its core is the Frontier Deployed Engineering offering with three service models — Foundation, Accelerate and Transform — that guide organizations from strategy and governance through to production deployment and end-to-end business reinvention. The unit is already supporting clients including a leading European online fashion retailer and a global pharmaceutical leader, helping them compress development cycles and reimagine operations with multi-agent systems. Cognizant emphasizes its neutral AI Builder approach, working across clouds, models and ecosystems to help clients meet regional requirements such as data sovereignty and regulatory expectations.
Cognizant to Report Q2 Earnings Amid Large-Deal Ramp and AI Traction
Cognizant Technology Solutions is scheduled to report its second-quarter 2026 results on July 29, 2026. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings is $1.38 per share, unchanged over the past 30 days and representing a 5.34% increase from the year-ago quarter. Revenue is expected to be $5.48 billion, indicating year-over-year growth of 4.54%, within the company's guided range of $5.45 billion to $5.52 billion. The quarter is expected to benefit from the ramp-up of large deals, including a mega deal valued at over $500 million signed in the first quarter, as well as a partial quarter contribution from the acquisition of Astreya, which adds AI infrastructure capabilities. However, Cognizant faces headwinds from macroeconomic uncertainty, softening discretionary demand, and stiff competition, and the Zacks model indicates an Earnings ESP of -1.34% with a Zacks Rank of 3, suggesting a potential earnings miss.
Cognizant and Anthropic expand partnership to embed Claude in Cognizant's industry platforms
Cognizant and Anthropic have expanded their strategic partnership, with Cognizant becoming a Global Premier Partner in the Claude Partner Network. The expanded relationship builds on a partnership announced in late 2025 and aims to close the gap between AI model capability and business results by embedding Claude into Cognizant's industry platforms and engineering workflows. Cognizant is already applying Claude in client work across manufacturing, life sciences, and insurance, delivering measurable results such as cutting contract review time by up to 40 percent for a biopharmaceutical company and saving underwriters roughly eight hours a week in one deployment. The company holds the most Claude certifications globally and is embedding Claude across platforms including Flowsource, Neuro AI Engineering, and Neuro IT Ops, while scaling a Claude-certified workforce as part of its new Frontier Certified model, with more than 30,000 associates already completing Claude training.
Ten S&P 500 Stocks Lost Over 40% in 2026 as Investors Dumped Everything AI Might Kill
Ten stocks in the S&P 500 lost more than 40% in 2026 even as the index rose 8.28%, as investors fled companies they believed artificial intelligence would disrupt. Intuit fell 55.27% after cheap AI tax tools emerged, prompting Goldman Sachs analyst Gabriela Borges to cut her price target to $276 from $519 and the company to reduce staff by 17% and lower its TurboTax forecast. Accenture dropped 45.21% as clients shifted spending to AI instead of consultants, with new orders slipping to $19.3 billion from $19.7 billion and the firm cutting its sales growth outlook to between 3% and 4%. Cognizant, Gartner, and The Trade Desk each lost between 44% and 55%, while the two worst performers fell for non-AI reasons: CoStar Group sank 58.86% after saying its Homes.com site would not cover costs until 2029, and Boston Scientific declined 53.59% after cutting its sales growth forecast and recalling Accolade pacemakers linked to four deaths and 2,557 serious injuries. Meanwhile, chip and memory makers surged, with Sandisk up 505.17%, Dell Technologies up 247.55%, and Micron Technology up 222.68%.
Cognizant and Gulf Edge announce strategic partnership to accelerate enterprise AI adoption in Southeast Asia
Cognizant and Gulf Edge Company Limited have announced a landmark strategic partnership to accelerate enterprise AI adoption in Thailand and the broader region. Gulf Edge is the digital infrastructure arm of Thai conglomerate Gulf Development Public Company Limited. The alliance will combine Cognizant's global AI engineering and enterprise transformation capabilities with Gulf Edge's sovereign digital infrastructure, initially targeting sectors including banking, energy, healthcare, telecommunications, manufacturing, and the public sector. The partnership aims to deliver end-to-end AI capabilities and strengthen Thailand's position as a regional AI hub, with plans to collaborate with universities and research institutions to develop AI talent.
Cognizant Could Be Near a Growth Turnaround as Q2 Results Loom
Cognizant Technology Solutions is set to report Q2 results that some analysts see as the start of a major turnaround in its growth profile. The stock is priced at $43.01 ahead of the earnings release, up 5.0% over the past 30 days but down 47.1% year to date and 42.8% over the past year. Analysts have set a price target of $61.74, about 30% above the current price, while a Simply Wall St valuation model suggests shares may be trading roughly 64% below estimated fair value. The upcoming report will be closely watched for whether guidance and order trends support a sustained improvement story, with the current price-to-earnings ratio of 9.1 compared to an industry average of 17.4.
U.S. Enterprises Build AI-Native Operations on Microsoft Platforms, ISG Reports
U.S. enterprises are integrating Microsoft AI and cloud capabilities into AI-native operating models to improve performance, according to a new ISG Provider Lens report. The 2026 study finds organizations combining Microsoft Fabric, Azure OpenAI, and Copilot with data, analytics, and productivity tools into unified environments for continuous automation and business intelligence. Rising economic pressures are driving demand for measurable outcomes, predictable costs, and faster value from AI investments, with enterprises increasingly adopting FinOps practices and platform-based models over one-time implementations. The report evaluates 35 providers across four quadrants, naming Accenture and Avanade, Cognizant, DXC Technology, HCLTech, Hexaware, Infosys, NTT DATA, Rackspace Technology, and TCS as Leaders in all four. Wipro was named the global ISG CX Star Performer for 2026 among Microsoft ecosystem providers, earning the highest customer satisfaction scores.
Cognizant Joins OpenAI Daybreak Cyber Partner Program to Power Frontier AI Cyber Defense
Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation has joined the OpenAI Daybreak Cyber Partner Program and is now applying GPT-5.5 with Trusted Access for Cyber through its Frontier AI Cyber Defense services. The company aims to help enterprise clients move more quickly from spotting vulnerabilities to producing tested, verified fixes. Cognizant security professionals will use the technology to review code for security flaws, map potential threats, discover and confirm vulnerabilities, build better threat detection systems, hunt for hidden threats, investigate incidents, and respond to them. The partnership is described as an early step in a longer-term collaboration, with plans to expand the use of frontier AI for cyber defense across more enterprise clients over time.
IBM warning triggers broad selloff in software and consulting stocks
IBM shares plunged as much as 23% on Tuesday after CEO Arvind Krishna disclosed preliminary second-quarter revenue of $17.2 billion and adjusted earnings of $2.93 a share, both missing analyst estimates. The shortfall was driven by clients redirecting budgets toward servers, storage, and memory in late June to beat expected price hikes, causing infrastructure revenue to fall 7% while software grew 5% and consulting was flat. The selloff spread to rivals with no direct mainframe exposure, sending ServiceNow down nearly 7%, Salesforce down 5%, and Accenture and Cognizant down 8% and 7%, respectively, as investors feared a broader shift from software to hardware spending. Wall Street analysts split on the outlook, with HSBC downgrading IBM to Reduce and cutting its target to $191 from $231, while Oppenheimer raised its target to $350 from $320 and Morgan Stanley lifted its target to $293 from $267. The memory shortage behind the hardware rush stems from Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron prioritizing AI data center chips, leaving standard enterprise memory effectively sold out.
Cognizant on Track to Hire 1,500 U.S. College Graduates in 2026
Cognizant announced it is on track to hire 1,500 college graduates in the United States by the end of 2026 as part of a broader push to build homegrown AI talent. The hires will span the company's core technology services business, its Belcan engineering subsidiary, and a new Frontier Engineers talent program designed for accelerated roles in enterprise AI. Globally, Cognizant has hired approximately 27,000 campus graduates since 2025, with the U.S. class of 1,500 reflecting an accelerating domestic commitment supported by an expanded hub strategy across multiple locations. The company engages students through programs including the Fusion internship, Ignite and Elevate early-career pipelines, registered apprenticeships with the U.S. Department of Labor, and the new Frontier Engineers stream targeting top technical graduates. Cognizant recruits from more than 40 U.S. universities and draws from both technical and non-technical disciplines, with deep partnerships at institutions such as the University of Georgia, Arizona State University, and the University of Kentucky.
Alphabet Is One of the Best Monopoly Stocks to Buy According to Hedge Funds
Alphabet is one of the best monopoly stocks to buy according to hedge funds. On July 7, Cognizant announced a significant expansion of its partnership with Google Cloud, broadening how companies bring Gemini Enterprise to clients and deepening Cognizant's internal use of the technology. The collaboration builds on a dedicated Gemini Enterprise practice announced in April, with jointly delivered solutions, a portfolio of reusable agents, and certified Cognizant Frontier Certified Engineers working directly within client environments to accelerate time to value on Gemini deployments. Needham analyst Laura Martin maintained a Buy rating on Alphabet's stock with a price objective of $450.00, citing the company's expanding AI strategy and improved fundamentals, including the build-out of an enterprise-focused AI ecosystem around Gemini aided by partnerships such as the one with Cognizant.
Cognizant stockholder derivative suit proposes $5.5 million settlement
Cognizant Technology Solutions has announced a proposed settlement in a stockholder derivative action that would see the company receive $5.5 million from its insurers. The settlement, detailed in a stipulation filed in U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, resolves claims brought derivatively on behalf of Cognizant. Plaintiff’s counsel will seek court approval for attorneys’ fees and expenses of up to $1,830,000, representing approximately 33% of the settlement fund, along with a service award of up to $15,000 for the plaintiff. A settlement hearing is scheduled for September 14, 2026, before Judge Stacey D. Adams in Newark, New Jersey. Current Cognizant stockholders as of November 25, 2025, may object to the settlement by filing written objections with the court no later than August 31, 2026.
Cognizant Technology Solutions shares rebound after Google Cloud AI deal
Cognizant Technology Solutions is back in focus after announcing a broader partnership with Google Cloud around Gemini Enterprise, including new client offerings and deeper internal use of Google's AI tools across its global workforce. The stock has recently shown short-term momentum, with a 1-day share price return of 6.21% and a 7-day share price return of 13.45% from a last close of US$43.94, following a difficult stretch where the share price was down 45.94% year to date. The most followed narrative anchors fair value at US$71.06, framing a sizable valuation gap that hinges on AI execution and margin assumptions. However, risks remain, including tougher competition from larger AI and cloud vendors and potential margin pressure from wage inflation and employee attrition.
Rivian shares plunge 18.1% on 75-million-share stock sale plan
Rivian Automotive shares plunged 18.1% after the company decided to sell 75 million shares of its Class A common stock. Walmart shares rose 0.8% following price cuts on major products including ground beef and Coca-Cola. Cognizant Technology Solutions rallied 6.2% after expanding its partnership with Google Cloud for enterprise adoption of Gemini AI. Fiserv gained 1.8% on news it is in talks with giant banks to sell its payments infrastructure business handling debit card transactions.
Innodata Stock Plunges 33% in a Month, Zacks Maintains Hold Rating
Innodata shares have dropped 33% over the past month, far underperforming the Zacks Engineering - R and D Services industry's 3.5% decline and the S&P 500's 0.7% gain. The company reported record first-quarter 2026 revenue of $90.1 million, up 54% year over year, with adjusted gross margin expanding to 47% and adjusted EBITDA nearly doubling to $25 million. Management raised its 2026 revenue growth outlook to approximately 40% or more, citing stronger customer demand and new engagements, including a Big Tech customer expected to generate roughly $51 million in 2026 revenue. Despite the strong fundamentals, the stock still trades at a forward 12-month price-to-earnings multiple of 45.96, well above the industry average of 29.81, leading Zacks to maintain a Hold rating. Competitors TaskUs, Cognizant Technology Solutions, and EPAM Systems continue to expand their AI services, intensifying competitive pressure.
Cognizant Partners With Domyn to Deliver Sovereign AI Across EMEA
Cognizant Technology Solutions has partnered with UK-based AI firm Domyn to provide sovereign AI services to regulated clients across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Under the agreement, Domyn will supply large language models deployable on-premise or in private cloud, while Cognizant will handle integration and application development. The companies plan to create smaller, sector-specific models and build industry agents for highly regulated industries, focusing on the UK, Ireland, DACH, Northern and Southern Europe and the Middle East. Cognizant cited Gartner data projecting that 50% of cloud AI workloads will run on sovereign cloud deployments by 2029, up from 5% in 2025, driven by geopolitical factors. In pre-market trading, Cognizant shares rose 0.83% to $41.41.
Intelligent Training Data Service Market to Reach $8.27 Billion by 2030
The intelligent training data service market is projected to grow from $3.43 billion in 2025 to $8.27 billion by 2030, according to a new report. The market is expected to reach $4.1 billion in 2026, reflecting a compound annual growth rate of 19.5%, driven by increased AI model adoption and demand for high-quality datasets. Key players such as Cognizant and SAS Institute are advancing solutions like multimodal datasets and synthetic data, with Cognizant launching AI Training Data Services in July 2025 and SAS acquiring Hazy Ltd. assets in November 2024. North America currently leads the market, while Asia-Pacific is poised to be the fastest-growing region. The report covers service types including data annotation and validation, with applications spanning automotive, healthcare, retail, and finance sectors.
Rubrik expands Cognizant alliance and integrates with Amazon Bedrock AgentCore
Rubrik has expanded its alliance with Cognizant and announced an upcoming Rubrik Agent Cloud integration with Amazon Bedrock AgentCore, aiming to deliver real-time AI governance, rollback capabilities, and unified policy control for enterprises running autonomous agents on AWS and Cognizant platforms. These moves position Rubrik as a core infrastructure provider for governing AI agents at scale, particularly in heavily regulated sectors where traceability, policy enforcement, and operational control are becoming central requirements. The announcements reinforce the existing growth outlook behind raised fiscal 2027 revenue guidance and support the recent share price rebound, though any financial impact is likely to build over time. Key risks include execution with global system integrators, intensifying competition, and the path to profitability given negative equity and continued net losses.
Morgan Stanley cut its price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $63 to $44 while keeping an Equal Weight rating. The firm cited stable-to-slightly worse demand trends, particularly for larger managed services deals, and warned that the lack of demand acceleration through mid-June raises concerns about second-half expectations. Earlier in June, Wedbush upgraded the stock to Outperform and raised its price target by $14. Pzena Investment Management added to its position in the first quarter, viewing AI disruption fears as overblown.
Oppenheimer Reaffirms Outperform Rating on ServiceNow Amid AI Growth and Cognizant Partnership
Oppenheimer has reiterated its Outperform rating and $130 price target for ServiceNow, citing optimism about the company's second-half 2026 prospects and a likely business reacceleration. The firm believes ServiceNow is on track to achieve a 10% or greater AI business by 2026, supported by strong fiscal year 2030 financial targets and a subscription revenue gross margin floor projection. Separately, Cognizant Technology announced on June 4 the integration of its Neuro AI Trust platform with ServiceNow, creating a unified ecosystem for AI governance across the AI lifecycle by combining ServiceNow's AI Control Tower with Cognizant's AI assurance platform.
Pzena Focused Value Strategy Added Cognizant on AI Fears It Calls Overblown
Pzena Investment Management added to its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation during the first quarter of 2026, dismissing AI disruption fears as overblown. The Pzena Focused Value Strategy returned -4.7% net versus a 2.1% gain for the Russell 1000 Value Index, with health care, financials, and technology sectors the largest detractors. Cognizant shares fell 19.78% in the one-month period through June 22, 2026, and lost 46.23% over the prior 52 weeks, closing at $41.83 with a market capitalization of $19.79 billion. The firm noted that Cognizant reported robust fourth-quarter earnings with peer-leading organic growth, yet the stock weakened on broader AI-related concerns. Hedge fund ownership edged up to 50 portfolios from 49 in the previous quarter.
Legal Process Outsourcing Market to Reach $20 Billion by 2035
The global legal process outsourcing market is projected to grow from $9.62 billion in 2025 to $20.00 billion by 2035, at a compound annual growth rate of 7.60 percent, according to a report by SNS Insider. North America led the market in 2025 with a 39.1 percent revenue share, driven by enterprise legal workloads and AI-enabled automation, while the United States alone accounted for approximately 86.42 percent of North American revenue. Litigation support held the largest service-type share at about 31 percent, and large enterprises represented roughly 58 percent of revenue by organization size. Offshore outsourcing was the dominant deployment mode with a 47 percent share, and corporate legal departments were the leading end user at approximately 39 percent. Key players include Thomson Reuters, Infosys, Cognizant, and Wipro, with recent developments such as Infosys expanding AI-enabled legal process outsourcing in 2026 and Cognizant strengthening cloud-based legal operations in 2025.
IT-services stocks plunge on AI fears as Accenture suffers record drop
Shares of Accenture cratered about 18% on June 18, its worst single-day drop on record, after the consulting giant trimmed its full-year revenue growth outlook to 3% to 4% in local currency from a prior range of 3% to 5%. EPAM Systems slid about 9% the same day without reporting its own results, while Cognizant fell about 10% to a 52-week low, and IBM slipped about 5%. The sell-off was driven by fears that artificial intelligence could structurally shrink demand for IT services, even though Accenture posted a solid fiscal third quarter with revenue up 6% to $18.7 billion and earnings per share up 9%, and Cognizant reported a 21% jump in first-quarter bookings. Accenture CEO Julie Sweet said AI will be a tailwind for the industry, but the market remains skeptical, with Accenture trading at about 10 times earnings, EPAM at about 11 times earnings, and Cognizant at around 9 times earnings. IBM, which derives only about a third of its revenue from consulting and saw software revenue rise 11% to $7.1 billion last quarter, commands a higher valuation of about 22 times earnings, reflecting investor confidence in its recurring software and hardware base.
S&P 500 Futures Rise as Higher-for-Longer Rate Jitters Linger
US stock futures pointed higher Friday morning, with E-mini S&P 500 contracts up about 0.8% and Nasdaq-100 futures ahead roughly 1.5%, as investors weighed firm economic data against a tougher tone from global central banks. The Federal Reserve kept interest rates steady but signaled that several policymakers still see one more hike by the end of 2026, keeping borrowing costs relatively high. US retail sales rose 0.9% in May, suggesting consumers are still spending, while a sharp drop of 8.262 million barrels in crude oil inventories and a recent slide in oil prices highlighted a tug of war between demand and supply. Among individual movers, Bloom Energy surged 15.41% after UBS highlighted faster data center power connections, Entegris jumped 13.62%, and Sandisk gained 11.54%, while Accenture fell 17.97% after broker price-target cuts and a downgrade, Cognizant Technology Solutions declined 10.49% following a downgrade to Hold, and Kroger slipped 8.43%.
Accenture cuts annual forecast as Iran war hits consulting, shares plunge 14%
Accenture forecast fourth-quarter revenue below Wall Street estimates and lowered its annual sales outlook, citing a $400 million hit to its Middle East business from the Iran conflict, sending its shares down more than 14% and triggering a selloff across the IT consulting sector. CEO Julie Sweet warned of further impact in the fourth quarter, noting that indirect effects began emerging in recent weeks and that some industries face longer-term issues. The company now expects annual revenue growth of 3% to 4%, down from a prior range of 3% to 5%, and projected fourth-quarter revenue between $17.75 billion and $18.4 billion, below the $18.47 billion analyst consensus. To offset the consulting slowdown, Accenture announced acquisitions totaling $4.18 billion to expand its $10 billion cybersecurity business, including a majority stake in industrial cybersecurity firm Dragos and full acquisitions of runZero and NetRise, and raised its annual acquisition spending target to $9 billion from $5 billion. Third-quarter revenue rose 6% to $18.72 billion, missing estimates of $18.75 billion, while new bookings fell about 2% to $19.3 billion.
94% of HR Leaders Expect AI to Create New Entry-Level Roles, Cognizant and Pearson Study Finds
A joint study by Cognizant and Pearson reveals that 94% of HR leaders expect artificial intelligence to generate new entry-level roles within five years. The survey of 750 HR professionals across the US, UK, and India found that 96% believe entry-level positions will evolve into supervising or managing AI systems, while 60% say their learning and development programs cannot keep pace with AI-driven job transformation. Nearly seven in ten respondents now value broad, interdisciplinary backgrounds over specialized degrees for early-career talent, and 97% say soft skills matter more than ever. The findings highlight a growing disconnect between the skills organizations need and those they currently have, with 64% struggling to find the right talent as AI rapidly changes skill requirements.
EPAM, Gartner, and Accenture Shares Fall After Fed Holds Rates
Shares of IT services companies EPAM, Gartner, and Accenture fell in the afternoon session after the Federal Reserve held its benchmark rate at 3.5% to 3.75% and its dot plot signaled the easing cycle might reverse. EPAM dropped 4.9%, Gartner fell 4%, and Accenture declined 4.2%. The FOMC's message was unfavorable for firms relying on multi-year enterprise transformation contracts, as CFOs who had been loosening IT budgets in anticipation of further rate relief now face a financing environment pointing in the opposite direction. Discretionary IT spend is typically one of the first budget lines to compress when the rate outlook hardens, and the dollar's strengthening on the session's yield surge reduces the value of US-dollar earnings for offshore-heavy firms.