Why Is IBM Stock Declining On Thursday?

International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM) shares fell during Thursday trading after sector peer Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) lowered its fiscal guidance, triggering a broader selloff across the information technology services market.

Accenture Alters Fiscal 2026 Projections

Accenture altered its fiscal 2026 financial guidance before the market opened on Thursday.

The company narrowed its full-year sales guidance to a range of $71.763 billion to $72.460 billion, down from the previous range of $71.763 billion to $73.157 billion.

Wall Street analysts maintain an annual revenue estimate of $74.006 billion.

Concurrently, Accenture raised its full-year adjusted EPS guidance to a range of $13.65 to $13.90, compared to the analyst estimate of $13.85.

Third-Quarter Financial Metrics Released

For the fiscal third quarter, Accenture posted diluted earnings per share of $3.80, exceeding analyst predictions of $3.69. Quarterly revenue reached $18.700 billion, missing the consensus Wall Street estimate of $18.745 billion.

Accenture Chair and CEO Julie Sweet commented on the results, "Accenture delivered a strong third-quarter, with broad-based revenue growth, a 9% increase in EPS, and $8.2 billion returned to shareholders year-to-date. Demand for large scale reinvention remains strong—104 quarterly client bookings of $100 million or more year-to-date, up 13%—and we are seeing more large-scale AI transformation programs, while executing our strategy to capture new areas of growth. Our agreement to acquire a majority stake in Dragos and all of runZero and NetRise, leaders in OT Security, is the type of move that defines our strategy: it is expanding our addressable market, creating a new platform-led growth opportunity, and is positioning Accenture at the center of one of the most critical cybersecurity challenges our clients face."

Impending Earnings Report From IBM

IBM intends to release its second-quarter financial results on July 22. Market analysts forecast quarterly earnings per share of $3 alongside revenue expectations of $17.85 billion.

During its preceding first-quarter earnings announcement on April 22, IBM reported an EPS of $1.91, which topped consensus estimates of $1.81 by 0.06%.

First-quarter revenue concluded at $15.92 billion, beating the $15.66 billion. The corporation has surpassed consensus EPS expectations for eight consecutive quarters.

IBM Stock Price Activity: IBM shares were trading at $251.01, down 4.32% during premarket trading on Thursday, according to Benzinga Pro data.

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