Accenture vs IBM
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The short version
- Accenture is the larger business, with $74.2B of revenue in fiscal 2026 against $67.5B for IBM.
- IBM grew revenue faster (7.6%, against 6.5%).
- IBM turned more of its sales into free cash flow (17.9% FCF margin, against 15.7%).
- Accenture earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (30.6%, against 15.4%).
| Latest fiscal year | ACN · FY26 | IBM · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $154.0B | $241.8B |
| Revenue | $74.2B | $67.5B |
| Free cash flow | $11.6B | $12.1B |
| Net income | $8.4B | $10.6B |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 6.5% | 7.6% |
| 5-year growth | 8.0% | 4.1% |
| Share count change | −2.4% | 1.2% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 32.1% | 58.2% |
| Operating margin | 15.4% | — |
| Net margin | 11.3% | 15.7% |
| FCF margin | 15.7% | 17.9% |
| Return on capital | 30.6% | 15.4% |
| Return on equity | 26.7% | 35.3% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | −$2.7B | $53.3B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | −0.2x | 3.1x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $11.5B | $6.3B |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | — | 21.6x |
| Piotroski F-score | 6 | 6 |
Revenue
FY17
ACN $36.2B
IBM $79.1B
FY18
ACN $41.0B
IBM $79.6B
FY19
ACN $43.2B
IBM $57.7B
FY20
ACN $44.3B
IBM $55.2B
FY21
ACN $50.5B
IBM $57.4B
FY22
ACN $61.6B
IBM $60.5B
FY23
ACN $64.1B
IBM $61.9B
FY24
ACN $64.9B
IBM $62.8B
FY25
ACN $69.7B
IBM $67.5B
FY26
ACN $74.2B
IBM —
ACN
IBM
Operating margin
FY17
ACN 14.4%
IBM —
FY18
ACN 14.4%
IBM —
FY19
ACN 14.6%
IBM —
FY20
ACN 14.7%
IBM —
FY21
ACN 15.1%
IBM —
FY22
ACN 15.2%
IBM —
FY23
ACN 13.7%
IBM —
FY24
ACN 14.8%
IBM —
FY25
ACN 14.7%
IBM —
FY26
ACN 15.4%
IBM —
ACN
IBM
Free cash flow
FY17
ACN $4.5B
IBM $13.5B
FY18
ACN $5.4B
IBM $11.9B
FY19
ACN $6.0B
IBM $12.5B
FY20
ACN $7.6B
IBM $15.6B
FY21
ACN $8.4B
IBM $10.7B
FY22
ACN $8.8B
IBM $9.1B
FY23
ACN $9.0B
IBM $12.7B
FY24
ACN $8.6B
IBM $12.4B
FY25
ACN $10.9B
IBM $12.1B
FY26
ACN $11.6B
IBM —
ACN
IBM
Return on capital
FY17
ACN 91.8%
IBM 12.0%
FY18
ACN 75.9%
IBM 17.2%
FY19
ACN 67.9%
IBM 12.1%
FY20
ACN 56.2%
IBM 4.9%
FY21
ACN 56.0%
IBM 8.0%
FY22
ACN 53.0%
IBM 3.4%
FY23
ACN 41.7%
IBM 12.6%
FY24
ACN 34.4%
IBM 10.4%
FY25
ACN 30.6%
IBM 15.4%
FY26
ACN 30.6%
IBM —
ACN
IBM
Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.