Accenture Beats Estimates

Updated from 6:53 p.m. EDT

Accenture ACN beat third-quarter earnings estimates as revenue rose 11%.

After the bell, shares of the IT services and consulting company rose 3.9%, or $1.10, to $29.25 on Instinet.

For the quarter, Accenture made $342.3 million, or 56 cents a share, rising from $305.3 million, or 51 cents a share a year ago.

Excluding certain items, the company earned $442 million, or 50 cents a share. A year ago, the company made $366.2 million, or 38 cents a share. On that basis, Accenture bested the Thomson First Call consensus estimate of 46 cents a share.

Accenture posted $4.41 billion in net revenue, compared with $4.08 billion a year ago -- essentially in line with what analysts predicted. First Call's average estimate was $4.43 billion on the top line.

"Our performance in the third quarter demonstrates the overall strength and momentum of our business. We grew revenues across every dimension of our company. We increased operating income, expanded operating margin and reduced SG&A as a percentage of revenues," Accenture CEO William Green said in a statement.

He noted that new bookings of $5.57 billion were the highest in nine quarters and the company generated $746 million in free cash flow.

For the current, or fourth, quarter, Accenture expects EPS to be between 52 cents and 54 cents. Net revenue will total $4.2 billion to $4.35 billion. EPS will include a $140 million tax benefit.

Thomson analysts peg the company to make 38 cents a share and $4.27 billion on the top line. It wasn't immediately clear if First Call estimates take the tax benefit into account.

For the full year, Accenture said its GAAP EPS would range from $1.55 to $1.57. Net revenue should be in the upper end of its previously announced guidance of growth of 9% to 12%, or $16.95 billion to $17.41 billion. The consensus forecast is $1.57 a share on sales of $16.97 billion.