Key Takeaways
- Accenture shares could remain on watchlists after jumping more than 5% Thursday following a stronger-than-expected earnings report from the management consultancy giant, which is benefitting from rising demand for its generative AI services.
- A recent dip in the stock found support near the 200-day moving average, with Thursday’s gap higher forming a doji—a single candlestick pattern in which the open and close prices are similar, typically reflecting indecision among market participants.
- Investors should monitor key overhead price levels on Accenture’s chart around $387 and $438 while watching the $335 area during retracements.
Accenture (ACN) shares could remain on watchlists Friday after jumping more than 5% Thursday following a better-than-expected earnings report and outlook from the management consultancy giant.
The Dublin-based company, which also raised its quarterly dividend and approved an additional $4 billion in stock repurchases, has seen its share price rally around 17% over the past three months as businesses turn to the firm’s generative AI solutions in an effort to reduce costs and improve efficiencies.
Below, we discuss the technicals on Accenture’s chart and identify important post-earnings price levels investors should watch out for.
Bulls Defend 200-Day Moving Average
Accenture shares broke out from an inverse head and shoulders in July before undergoing a retracement to the pattern’s neckline where the stock found a floor of support.
More recently, bulls snapped up a dip to the closely-watched 200-day moving average (MA) following an impulsive move higher, with Thursday’s stock gap closing above last week’s peak on above-average volume to form a doji — a single candlestick pattern in which the open and close prices are similar, typically reflecting indecision among market participants.
In a win for the bulls, the 50-day MA sits poised to cross above the 200-day MA to form a golden cross, a chart signal that predicts higher prices.
Accenture shares rose 5.6% to close at $355.81 on Thursday.
Key Overhead Levels to Watch
Looking ahead, investors should keep an eye on two key overhead levels on Accenture’s chart.
The first sits around $387, a location where the shares could encounter significant resistance near the prominent March peak.
We can forecast a price target to watch above the stock’s record high by using a bars pattern. which uses prior price action to forecast a potential future move.
In this case, if we take the stock’s trending move higher from late October to early March and position it from this month’s low, it projects an upside target of around $438. We selected this prior move as it started from a pullback to the 200-day MA, similar to the stock’s latest upswing.
Important Retracement Level to Watch
Given the relative strength index (RSI) points to nearing overbought conditions in the stock, investors should keep the $335 level in mind during periods of profit-taking, an area on the chart likely to encounter support near a trendline connecting the January and September swing lows with the 200-day MA.
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