Connect with us

Economics

Accenture is DOGE’s first corporate casualty as shares dive on warning contracts will be cut

Published

on

Accenture signage is pictured in Warsaw, Poland, on Aug. 7, 2024.

leksander Kalka | Nurphoto | Getty Images

Shares of Accenture slid Thursday after the consulting firm said tighter federal spending efforts have begun to weigh on its revenues.

Shares tumbled nearly 8% in Thursday trading after Accenture’s chief executive officer said in a fiscal second-quarter earnings call that the company’s Federal Services business has lost contracts with the U.S. government after recent reviews.

“Federal represented approximately 8% of our global revenue and 16% of our Americas revenue in FY 2024. As you know, the new administration has a clear goal to run the federal government more efficiently. During this process, many new procurement actions have slowed, which is negatively impacting our sales and revenue,” chief executive Julie Spellman Sweet said in the Thursday call to several Wall Street analysts.

Accenture is among the first of U.S. corporate giants to get hit by the Trump administration’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency, an effort headed by billionaire Elon Musk to downsize federal agencies and consolidate their office spaces.

Sweet added Accenture’s Federal Services was also affected by guidance from the U.S. General Services Administration to all federal agencies to review their contracts with the top 10 highest paid consulting firms contracting with the U.S. government, and then end contracts that are not considered mission-critical to relevant agencies.

“While we continue to believe our work for federal clients is mission-critical, we anticipate ongoing uncertainty as the government’s priorities evolve and these assessments unfold,” Sweet said.

Sweet added, “We are seeing an elevated level of what was already a significant uncertainty in the global economic and geopolitical environment, marking a shift from our first quarter FY 2025 earnings report in December. At the same time, we believe the fundamentals of our industry remain strong.”

Other consulting companies fell in sympathy. Booz Allen Hamilton shares slid 7.5% on Thursday.

Accenture shares have plunged 22% over the past month, bringing the stock down nearly 15% year to date.

Economics

CEO recession expectations decline from April scare, survey says

Published

on

Alexander Spatari | Moment | Getty Images

Business leaders are walking back recessionary expectations for the U.S. that initially spiked in the aftermath of President Donald Trump’s tariff announcement, according to data released Monday.

Less than 30% of CEOs forecast either a mild or severe recession over the next six months, per Chief Executive Group’s survey of more than 270 taken last week. That’s down from 46% who said the same in May and 62% in April.

The share of CEOs polled this month who said they expect some level of growth in the U.S. economy also shot up above 40%. That’s nearly double from the 23% who gave the same prediction in April.

Expectations for flat economic growth have surged in recent months, rising above 30% from 15% in April. That comes as some market participants question if “stagflation” — a term used to described an environment with stagnating economic growth and sticky inflation — could be on the horizon.

Chief Executive’s latest data reflects a shifting outlook among corporate America’s leaders as they follow the evolving policy around Trump’s tariffs. Many large companies have left their earnings outlooks unchanged, citing the uncertainty around what the president’s final trade policy will and will not include.

Trump sent U.S. financial markets spiraling in April after first unveiling his plan for broad and steep levies on many countries and territories, which market participants worried would hamper consumer spending. He placed many of those duties on pause shortly after, which helped the market recoup much of its losses.

The White House has been negotiating deals with countries during this reprieve, which is set to expire early next month. The Trump administration announced an agreement with the United Kingdom and is holding talks with China in London on Monday.

Recession talk

Firms have raised alarm that tariffs could hit their bottom lines and that they will need to pass down higher costs by raising prices. Some also said rising fears of a recession because of the levies have pushed consumers to tighten their belts financially.

The University of Michigan’s closely followed consumer sentiment index has plunged near its lowest levels on record as the tariff announcements rattled everyday Americans.

However, a New York Federal Reserve survey released Monday paints a brighter picture. The data showed that the average consumer is growing less concerned about inflation after Trump walked back some of his most severe trade plans.

“From the macro, the worst concerns, I think, have passed,” Home Depot CEO Edward Decker said last month. “We’ve gone from a dynamic of where we were going to have a near certain recession and stock market correction in early April, to where today stock markets fully recovered (and) recession expectations are way down in the past month.”

Continue Reading

Economics

Inflation fears receded in May as Trump eased some tariff threats, New York Fed survey shows

Published

on

Fruit and vegetables are seen at a Walmart supermarket in Houston, Texas, on May 15, 2025.

Ronaldo Schemidt | Afp | Getty Images

Americans grew less fearful about inflation in May as President Donald Trump backed off the most severe of his tariff proposals, according to a New York Federal Reserve survey Monday.

The central bank’s Survey of Consumer Expectations showed that the one-year inflation outlook took a substantial dip, down to 3.2% — a 0.4 percentage point decrease from April.

At the three-year horizon, the outlook fell 0.2 percentage point to 3%, while the five-year forecast edged down to 2.6% from 2.7%.

While all three are still above the Fed’s 2% annual target, they represent progress and a change in a fearful attitude that coincided with Trump’s saber-rattling on tariffs, culminating with the April 2 “liberation day” announcement.

Trump initially slapped universal 10% tariffs on all U.S. imports and a menu of so-called reciprocal duties on dozens of nations. However, he soon backed off the latter measures, opting for a 90-day negotiating window that expires in July.

The New York Fed survey, which is less volatile than others such as the University of Michigan and Conference Board measures, provides some good news for the White House at a time when administration officials are trying to tamp down worries about tariff-induced inflation.

“By every measure of inflation, it’s down by more than it’s been in more than four years,” National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said Monday morning on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “While the tariff revenue has been going up, inflation has been coming down, which is contrary to the story that everybody else has been saying, but very consistent with what we’ve been saying.”

Inflation as measured by the Fed’s preferred personal consumption expenditures price index was at 2.1% in April, matching lowest its been since February 2021. Excluding food and energy, core PCE stood at 2.5%, a gauge Fed officials believes is a better measure of longer-term trends.

The Fed survey showed expectations dipping across most price groups, though respondents did see food prices rising by 5.5% over the next year, a 0.4 percentage point increase from May and the most since October 2023. Elsewhere, respondents saw gas price increases easing to 2.7%, down 0.8 percentage point. The outlook for medical care, college education and rent increases also were lower on a monthly basis.

There also was a positive move in employment, with those expecting to lose their job over the next 12 months dipping to 14.8%, down half a percentage point.

Other areas showed optimism as well: The probability of missing a minimum debt payment over the next three months fell half a point to 13.4%, its lowest since January. Respondents also had more confidence in stocks, with 36.3% expecting the market to be higher a year from now, up 0.6 percentage point.

Continue Reading

Economics

Donald Trump’s new travel ban is coming into effect

Published

on

THE EXECUTIVE order banning travel from 12 countries, which comes into effect on June 9th, is more methodical than previous iterations. In his first batch of executive orders, issued on January 20th, President Donald Trump directed several top advisers to compile a list of countries with insufficient screening standards for potential migrants, which they considered to be a national-security risk. The order warned that people from these countries could be barred from coming to America. It was a signal that Mr Trump intended to resurrect the travel ban, one of the most controversial immigration policies of his first term.

Continue Reading

Trending