Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN)

An analysis of the quarterly financial ratios reveals distinct trends and fluctuations over the observed periods. The valuation multiples reflect changes in market perception, profitability, and growth expectations.

Price to Earnings (P/E) Ratio

The P/E ratio displays moderate volatility with initial missing data, starting from a value of 24.58 and peaking at 40.88 around early 2022. Following this peak, the ratio generally declines, reaching the lower twenties by mid-2025. This pattern suggests a period of elevated investor optimism or higher expected earnings growth followed by a normalization or reduced growth expectations in the later periods.

Price to Operating Profit (P/OP) Ratio

The P/OP ratio exhibits a similar trend to the P/E ratio, with values ranging from approximately 15.44 to 31.03 over the periods. It peaks notably around early 2022 at 31.03 before descending steadily to approximately 16.89 by mid-2025. This decline indicates that the market's valuation relative to operating profits has decreased, which may reflect either improved operating profit margins or more conservative market valuations.

Price to Sales (P/S) Ratio

The P/S ratio follows a pattern of increase until early 2022, peaking at 4.72, then decreasing steadily towards mid-2025 with values near 2.6. This trajectory points to a period of strong top-line growth or high sales multiples initially, followed by a market re-rating or potentially slower revenue growth in subsequent quarters.

Price to Book Value (P/BV) Ratio

The P/BV ratio varies within the range of approximately 5.82 to 12.45. The ratio rises significantly to its highest value around early 2022 at 12.45, indicating increased market valuation relative to book value, potentially due to improved asset profitability or investor confidence. After this peak, it declines steadily, settling close to 5.82 in mid-2025, which may suggest a more conservative asset valuation or changes in the company's book value dynamics.

Overall, the data demonstrates a common trend across all valuation ratios, with notable upward movement culminating in early 2022, followed by a gradual decline through 2025. This suggests a cycle of heightened market optimism and valuation that moderated over time. The convergence of declines across P/E, P/OP, P/S, and P/BV ratios may indicate a broader market reassessment of company valuation metrics or changes in financial performance fundamentals during the latter periods.

The data reveals several noteworthy trends across the reported periods for key financial metrics including share price, earnings per share (EPS), and price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio.

Share Price

The share price exhibited considerable volatility throughout the timeline. Starting at $143.5 in November 2018, it generally increased, reaching a peak near the end of 2021 at $400.6. This represents a strong upward trend over three years. However, after this apex, the price experienced a notable decline during 2022, dropping to $250.07 by August 2022. Subsequently, the share price showed a recovery phase in early 2023, climbing back up to $341.51 by November 2023, followed by a slight decrease towards mid-2024, ending at $285.37 by May 2025. The fluctuations indicate periods of robust growth, corrections, and partial rebounds reflecting underlying market conditions or company performance factors.

Earnings Per Share (EPS)

Data for EPS is available starting May 2019, reporting a steady and continuous increase over time. Beginning at 7.52 USD, EPS grew progressively each period, reaching 12.76 USD by May 2025. This consistent upward trajectory reflects improving profitability and earnings generation capability. The absence of declines in EPS during the presented periods suggests resilience in earnings despite the share price fluctuations.

Price-to-Earnings (P/E) Ratio

The P/E ratio has demonstrated variability that generally corresponds with changes in share price relative to EPS. Starting around 24.58 in May 2019, the ratio fluctuated moderately, peaking at 40.88 in November 2021 coinciding with the peak share price. After this peak, the P/E ratio declined to the low 20s in early to mid-2024, suggesting that the share price decrease outpaced EPS growth, making shares relatively less expensive based on earnings at that time. The P/E ratio then slightly increased again towards mid-2025. This pattern indicates shifts in investor sentiment or valuation multiples amid changing market or company conditions.

In summary, earnings have shown stable growth, with EPS increasing steadily. Share price movements were more volatile, indicating periods of market optimism and correction. The P/E ratio reflected these fluctuations, suggesting varying investor expectations and adjustments to the company’s valuation over time.

Share Price Trends

The share price exhibited notable volatility over the observed periods. Initially, from late 2018 to mid-2019, the price increased sharply from approximately 143.5 US$ to above 180 US$, indicating positive market sentiment. However, early 2020 saw a decline down to around 158.5 US$, likely influenced by broader market factors. Subsequently, the price rebounded strongly, peaking at about 400.6 US$ by late 2021. Following this peak, a correction phase occurred, with prices declining to around 250 US$ by mid-2022. The price stabilized somewhat thereafter, oscillating between roughly 270 US$ and 340 US$ until early 2024, before showing a downward trend again towards the latest period, finishing near 285.37 US$ in mid-2025.

Operating Profit Per Share (OPPS) Trends

Operating profit per share showed a consistent upward trajectory over the tenure analyzed. Starting from a base of 9.92 US$ in late 2018, OPPS steadily increased period-over-period, reaching values above 16.9 US$ by mid-2025. This pattern indicates progressive improvement in operational efficiency and profitability on a per-share basis, demonstrating sustained growth despite market fluctuations affecting the share price.

Price to Operating Profit (P/OP) Ratio Trends

The P/OP ratio experienced fluctuations that largely reflected the interplay between share price changes and the rising operating profit per share. Early in the dataset, the ratio hovered around the low 20s, notably peaking at approximately 31 by late 2021, concurrent with the peak in share price. Following the peak, the ratio declined steadily to the high teens by mid-2025, suggesting a relative decrease in market valuation multiples despite continued growth in operating profits. This trend may imply market recalibration or increased operational earnings justifying higher price levels earlier, followed by valuation normalization as pricing adjusted downward.

Overall Insights

The analysis highlights a company with steady operational earnings growth accompanied by significant share price volatility. The share price peaks and troughs do not entirely align with the increasing trajectory of operating profit per share, indicating episodic market sentiment shifts or external factors influencing market valuation. The declining P/OP ratio in later periods suggests that while earnings have improved, market participants may have tempered expectations or reacted to broader economic conditions, resulting in a more conservative valuation multiple. Together, these observations suggest a maturing growth phase where operational fundamentals remain sound, but valuation growth has moderated.

Share Price

The share price shows significant volatility over the period analyzed. Initially, it increased steadily from $143.5 to a peak of $400.6 by November 30, 2021. After reaching this peak, the price declined sharply to $250.07 by August 31, 2022, followed by a moderate recovery to $341.51 by November 30, 2023. Subsequently, the price demonstrated fluctuation with a downward trend towards the later periods, ending at $285.37 by May 31, 2025. This pattern indicates periods of strong investor confidence interspersed with notable corrections or market adjustments.

Sales per Share

Sales per share data commences from May 31, 2019, starting at $67.98 and exhibits a consistent upward trajectory throughout the periods. The figure rises steadily to reach $109.9 by May 31, 2025. This steady growth in sales per share suggests an ongoing improvement in revenue generation relative to the number of shares outstanding, indicating positive operational performance over the longer term.

Price-to-Sales Ratio (P/S)

The P/S ratio exhibits considerable fluctuations that reflect the interplay between changes in share price and sales per share. Initially calculated at 2.72 in May 31, 2019, the ratio demonstrates peaks and troughs, reaching as high as 4.72 by February 28, 2022, and dropping to a low of 2.26 on May 31, 2020. The elevated P/S values during the peak share prices suggest that the market was pricing the shares at a premium relative to sales during those periods. Conversely, the decline in the P/S ratio in later periods, despite rising sales, indicates that share price corrections may have outpaced sales growth at times. Near the end of the analyzed timeframe, the ratio settles around the 2.6–3.5 range, indicating a normalization or stabilization of market valuation relative to sales.

Overall Insights

While sales per share have shown a consistent and steady increase, indicating solid business growth, the share price has been subject to marked volatility. The variations in the P/S ratio reflect that market sentiment and valuation multiples have fluctuated, likely influenced by broader market conditions or company-specific events. The disparity between stable operational growth and volatile market pricing may suggest periods of investor uncertainty or changing expectations about future performance. The data underscores a strong underlying sales performance with share price movements that periodically diverge from this trend.

The analysis of the quarterly financial data reveals several notable trends in share price, book value per share (BVPS), and price-to-book value (P/BV) ratio over the observed periods.

Share Price

The share price exhibited overall growth with fluctuations throughout the periods. Initially, it increased from $143.5 to a peak above $400 in late 2021, indicating strong market performance. Following this peak, the share price experienced a decline, dropping below $300 by mid-2025. Despite some recoveries, the later periods indicate a downward trend or increased volatility compared to the earlier sustained rise.

Book Value per Share (BVPS)

BVPS demonstrated a consistent upward trend over the entire timeframe, increasing steadily from $19.87 to $49.03. This implies that the company's net asset value per share improved significantly, reflecting underlying growth in shareholder equity or retained earnings without interruption from volatility.

Price-to-Book Value Ratio (P/BV)

The P/BV ratio varied in a more cyclical pattern. Starting at around 7.22, it climbed to a high near 12.45 during early 2022, showing investor willingness to pay a premium above book value coinciding with elevated share prices. Later, this ratio declined sharply, reaching approximately 5.82 by mid-2025. This decline indicates a shift in market perception, possibly due to the share price weakening faster than book value appreciation or adjusted valuations reflecting risk or market conditions.

In summary, while the company's intrinsic value as reflected by BVPS grew steadily, the market valuation expressed through share price and P/BV ratio showed periods of expansion and contraction. Early strong price increases and multiples expansion suggest investor optimism, whereas the subsequent decreases point to market corrections or changing sentiment. The divergence between steady book value growth and fluctuating share price and P/BV highlights potential volatility in market factors impacting stock valuation beyond fundamental asset growth.