The Open
Micron follow-up. Last night's question was whether Wall Street was right that Micron had peaked. The stock dipped to about $1,050 after hours, then closed today up 3.0% at $1,097.39. That's one day, so it proves nothing, but the "peak" call is off to a shaky start.
Yields backed off. The 10-year Treasury yield fell to 5.24% from 5.29%, just off its highest level since 2002. Stocks edged up: the S&P 500 (SPY) gained 0.18%, the Nasdaq-100 (QQQ) 0.31% and small caps (IWM) 0.41%. September's jobs report comes out tomorrow morning.
The biggest story was a consulting firm. Accenture rose 15.8%, its biggest one-day gain in more than a year. More below.
Featured
Accenture (ACN) — $212.30, +15.8%
The setup: For most of 2026, Accenture traded like a casualty of AI. The worry was simple: if AI can write code, build slides and run projects, why pay 800,000 consultants? The stock fell from $282.71 in January to $122.96 at the end of June, a 56% drop. It closed yesterday at $183.37, still down 30% for the year.
Then it reported. Revenue of $18.7 billion beat the roughly $18.0 billion analysts expected and topped the company's own guidance. Adjusted EPS of $3.29 beat $3.18. Full-year bookings, meaning new contracts signed, hit a record $84.5 billion.
The number that matters: 141. That's how many contracts worth $100 million or more Accenture signed in the quarter, a record. Small projects are the easiest for AI to replace. Nine-figure deals are companies paying Accenture to rebuild how they run, often around AI. Clients are paying the supposed AI loser to bring AI in.
The thesis: The market priced Accenture as if AI would shrink it. This quarter says it's growing through it. But this isn't a growth stock. Next year's guidance calls for 3% to 6% revenue growth, and bookings grew just 5% in local currency. At about 14.5 times next year's earnings, much of the relief rally may already be in the price. Today wasn't a breakout. It was the market admitting it had been too pessimistic.
What kills this thesis: New bookings fall below revenue (a book-to-bill ratio under 1.0) for two quarters in a row, or next quarter's revenue lands below the $18.95 billion low end of guidance. Either would mean clients are pulling back and the AI fear was right after all.
Movers & Watchlist
Ticker | Move | Last | Take |
|---|---|---|---|
U | +6.55% | $43.61 | Unity led our list and has now risen two days in a row. |
GTLB | +5.71% | $49.95 | Software had a good day, with Samsara (IOT) also up. |
IOT | +5.01% | $40.04 | Samsara rose alongside GitLab. |
NU | +4.98% | $13.29 | Nu Holdings, the Latin American digital bank, had the best day among our fintech names. |
LRCX | +3.53% | $340.10 | Chip equipment rose the day after Micron's report, with Micron itself up 3.0%. |
APP | −3.14% | $281.31 | AppLovin fell for a second straight day. |
ASTS | −3.09% | $57.04 | Satellite name AST SpaceMobile gave back some ground. |
MELI | −2.51% | $1,685.12 | MercadoLibre slipped on the same day Nu rose. |
AVGO | −2.15% | $343.64 | Broadcom fell even as most of the chip group rose. |
GOOGL | −1.70% | $338.24 | The weakest of the megacaps today. |
Quick Hits
FICO Stock Jumps 12% a Day After Its Worst Crash Since 1989 — FICO lost 26.5% on Tuesday when Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac moved to treat rival VantageScore as an equal. It rose 11.7% today after the head of their regulator backed FICO's cheaper licensing plan. It's still down 21% from Monday's close.
The September jobs report will be released Friday. Here's what to expect — With the 10-year near a 24-year high, a hot number would push yields back up.
Trump could target three Fed governors. Removing them may be harder than it looks — Questions about Fed independence are part of why long-term yields stay elevated.
Nike announces layoffs as part of restructuring plan — Nike is at $35.15. The turnaround is taking longer than anyone hoped.
P.S. Hit reply and tell me: do you think AI helps or hurts companies like Accenture? I read every reply.
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