Last night Goldman Sachs priced 115 million shares of Accenture at $14.50 in what is the fourth-largest IPO of the year. As I write this piece, ACN is trading up about 60 cents at $15.12. Not a high-octane burner, but by no means a failure, either. Remember, this was 115 million shares and, in an IPO market, that's clearly a bit wobbly.

Ironically, the Accenture deal unseats rival KPMG Consulting (KCIN:Nasdaq - news - commentary) from the No. 4 spot. KPMG went public in February at $18 and, after a short-lived premium, has been bumbling along at a $14 share price. The difference between the two is profitability -- Accenture's got it, KPMG doesn't.

Off to a Good Start

Looking at today's performance of Accenture and comparing it with the initial performance of KPMG (which traded up nearly 30% in its first session), you have to believe that rationality is gaining a toehold in this IPO market and that now, more than ever, comps are very important. A soft-start performance like this bodes well for the near-term future of Accenture because, unlike KPMG, there isn't an overhang of burned investors who will stand on the issue with sell orders and dampen the stock's advancement.

By the Way

In what looks to be a tug-down-the-britches dig at big-name accounting consultancy IPOs, Deloitte Consulting bought up page A9 of today's Wall Street Journal to display an ad that simply reads, "Deloitte Consulting is pleased not to announce an IPO." With the valuations of these firms being clearly established by Wall Street, I wonder just how long Deloitte will hold out.