Accenture (ACN) shares suffered their sharpest single-day decline in nearly nine years, tumbling roughly 18% to hit a valuation bottom not seen since 2017.
The rout in the global IT consulting and services giant highlights a decisive shift in market sentiment regarding the long-term viability of its core business model.
The selloff was driven by growing investor anxiety that advancements in artificial intelligence, particularly generative coding tools, are enabling corporate clients to develop and implement software solutions internally.
This trend threatens to erode the demand for large-scale external consulting engagements that have historically underpinned Accenture's revenue growth.
According to reports from Neue Zürcher Zeitung, the market is increasingly questioning the firm's ability to maintain its premium valuation as the barrier to entry for software development lowers.
The narrative suggests that the traditional consulting model, which relies on human-led implementation of complex systems, faces structural headwinds from automated AI agents capable of performing similar tasks at a fraction of the cost.