Accenture

1. 1. The right method for the business. Accenture is classified as IT Services & Consulting (asset-light technology services; moderate cyclicality), so it is valued as an asset-light services. Primary method: Justified P/E on forward EPS. Profits convert to cash with little capital, so forward P/E is primary, a free-cash-flow DCF is the independent check, and EV/EBITDA cross-checks.
2. 2. What the business deserves. ET&A derives the multiple the business justifies from its cost of capital, sustainable growth, returns on capital and how long its advantages last, and checks it against genuine peers, the company's own history and sector norms — each translated to this company's economics. The share price is never an input.
3. 3. Fair Value. What the shares are reasonably worth today on base-case assumptions — a present value at 2026-10-08, not a 12-month price target. It is the primary method's value; independent methods check it and are never simply averaged.
4. 4. Preferred Entry. The price at which the expected 12-month return — to the Price Target, plus dividends — meets the return ET&A requires for the company's risk. Its lower end is where the return is high enough for high-conviction buying, and a separate Strong Entry marks where even the bear case earns the required return.
5. 5. Is it expensive? Today’s price is placed on ET&A’s Valuation Attractiveness scale — the same measure the ET&A Score uses. Cheap is the Preferred Entry; above Fair Value the shares are Expensive, and Very Expensive once they are more than 25% above it.
6. 6. 12-month Price Target. A separate, forward-looking value: the same method applied to the fundamentals expected in twelve months — next year’s earnings, book value or cash flows, and the balance sheet and share count at that date. It is never Fair Value grown by a percentage, and today’s price is used only to show the return to it.

Model ETA-VAL-4.4 · risk model ETA-RR-1.0 (ETA-RISK-3.0 factors) · run 2026-10-08

The ET&A View combines our assessment of the business with where today’s price sits against our Preferred Entry and Fair Value. It is a considered judgement, not a mechanical score.

• Business quality
• Financial performance
• Growth outlook
• Debt and financial strength
• Valuation
• Risk
• What could drive it higher

Buy

ET&A sees significant upside from the current price with an attractive risk/reward profile.

Accumulate

ET&A likes the company but would prefer investors to build exposure gradually.

Hold

ET&A sees limited reason to buy aggressively or sell at the current price.

Reduce

ET&A believes the current valuation or risk profile makes a smaller position more appropriate.

Sell

ET&A believes the downside risk materially outweighs the potential return at the current price.

ET&A Score: ET&A's overall assessment of business quality, valuation, growth and risk, out of 10. It weighs business quality, financial strength, growth, valuation, risk, future prospects.

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Each area is scored from 0 to 10 on ET&A’s methodology scales — the same ones our research uses — then given a word: Excellent from 8.5, Strong from 7, Good from 5.5, Average from 4.5, Below Average from 3, Weak below 3. The overall answer is the average of the areas we could rate (at least three); the dividend isn’t part of it.