Accenture Deserves A Premium Valuation

Summary Points

*ACN beat Q1 2018 analysts' estimates and management raised the company's fiscal 2018 guidance.

*ACN shares are richly valued, but I believe that the company's stock deserves to trade at a premium.

*ACN shares are a long-term buy at today's price.

On December 21, 2017, Accenture ($ACN) reported better-than-expected Q1 2018 earnings and revenues. The company also raised its fiscal 2018 guidance and management now expects to achieve double-digit EPS growth (10-13%) for the current year. As you can expect, Accenture's beat and raise was well-received by the market.

Taking a step back, this company has reported impressive operating results over the last few quarters, so investors should not be surprised that ACN shares are outperforming the broader market by a wide margin so far in 2017.

ACN shares are up big in 2017 and the company's stock is trading at a relatively high valuation (more on this below), but, in my opinion, Accenture is still a long-term buy at today's price.