We recently compiled a list of the 11 Important AI News and Ratings for Investors. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) stands against the other AI stocks.
The rapid advancements in artificial intelligence have raised both opportunities and concerns, especially regarding its safety and the ethical implications of its widespread use. Establishing regulatory frameworks for AI is essential to ensure its responsible development, protecting against potential risks while maximizing its positive impact across industries.
Experts Urge AI Firms to Improve Safety Efforts
The Future of Life Institute released its 2024 AI Safety Index, evaluating the safety practices of leading AI companies including Anthropic, Google DeepMind, OpenAI, x.AI, and Zhipu AI among others. The review panel, consisting of prominent AI experts, found significant gaps in the companies’ risk management and safety strategies, especially regarding their ability to ensure that advanced AI systems remain beneficial and under human control.
Despite some positive steps in certain areas, the panel expressed concern that these companies are not adequately addressing the existential risks associated with AI development. The report highlighted the need for improved accountability, transparency, and safety frameworks, as competitive pressures seem to be overshadowing safety considerations. The index aims to provide the public with insights into AI companies’ safety efforts and encourage better practices within the industry.
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Navigating the Future of AI with Safety Standards
In a CNBC interview, Max Tegmark, president of the Future of Life Institute and MIT professor, emphasized the need for AI safety standards, drawing a parallel to regulated industries like aviation and medicine. He highlighted the current lack of clear plans to ensure AI safety, especially as systems like chatbots and autonomous vehicles become more integrated into real-world applications. Tegmark advocates for policy changes to make AI companies prioritize safety, much like other industries, to prevent potentially dangerous outcomes. While the situation is concerning, he believes that proper regulation could lead to significant benefits.
For this article, we selected AI stocks by going through news articles, stock analysis, and press releases. We listed the stocks in ascending order of their hedge fund sentiment taken from Insider Monkey’s database of 900 hedge funds.
Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points (see more details here).
A team of data experts gathered around a computer monitor analyzing customer data.
Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 60
Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) AI-driven services across various industries, focusing on data, automation, and intelligent platforms to optimize business processes.
Accenture (NYSE: ACN) reported Q1 2025 GAAP EPS of $3.59, surpassing expectations by $0.20, and revenue of $17.7 billion, a 9% increase year-over-year, beating estimates by $570 million. New bookings rose 1% to $18.7 billion. The market reacted positively to the news so far as the stock has gained 7% during the day after earnings release as its generative AI bookings continued to grow to $1.2 billion. At the earnings call, Chair & CEO, Julie Sweet said:
“GenAI continues to be a catalyst for reinvention across the enterprise and building out the data foundation necessary to capitalize on AI, as an increasing part of that growth. Themes around achieving both cost efficiencies and growth continue across the demand we’re seeing. Through the examples from Q1, you can see both our strategy to be the reinvention partner of choice and how we are bringing together our services, our ecosystem relationships, and our scaled investments in cutting-edge platforms like SynOps and GenWizard, as well as technologies like GenAI to drive value for our clients.”
For fiscal 2025, Accenture updated its revenue growth forecast to 4%-7% in local currency, adjusted for a foreign exchange impact of -0.5%, and revised its GAAP EPS outlook to $12.43-$12.79.
Overall, ACN ranks 4th on our list of important AI news and ratings for investors. While we acknowledge the potential of ACN as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than ACN but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.