Key Notes
- Accenture and Synopsys post double-digit gains as investors assess quarterly results, growth targets and shareholder returns.
- Vicor raises its quarterly revenue-growth outlook again as licensing royalties contribute more than previously expected.
- United Therapeutics rises and Liquidia falls after a patent ruling, with the court’s remedy still to be determined.
Accenture and Synopsys led a selection of sharp stock moves on Thursday, October 1, as investors responded to earnings and stronger growth forecasts. Vicor rallied after another guidance increase, while a patent ruling sent United Therapeutics higher and extended Liquidia’s decline.
The five companies below show how different catalysts are driving individual shares: demand for consulting and chip-design tools, royalties from power technology, and the potential commercial consequences of drug-patent litigation.
Today’s Stock Moves at a Glance
Price snapshots were recorded on October 1 at approximately 1:40–1:41 p.m. EDT (17:40–17:41 UTC), while trading remained open. Changes are versus the previous close and are not final daily returns.
| Company | Price | Day’s move | Main catalyst |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accenture (ACN) | $216.20 | +17.90% | Quarterly results and fiscal 2027 outlook |
| Synopsys (SNPS) | $493.06 | +13.36% | Investor-day growth targets and buyback plans |
| Vicor (VICR) | $317.81 | +9.99% | Higher quarterly revenue-growth guidance |
| United Therapeutics (UTHR) | $579.10 | +6.87% | Patent victory against Liquidia |
| Liquidia (LQDA) | $26.29 | −13.12% | Uncertainty over the remedy in the same dispute |
Source: Yahoo Finance quote pages linked above. Individual quote timestamps range from 1:40:22 p.m. to 1:41:14 p.m. EDT.
Accenture: Earnings Bring Buyers Back
Accenture climbed nearly 18% after reporting fourth-quarter revenue of $18.7 billion, up 6% in dollars and 7% in local currency. Diluted earnings reached $3.29 a share, up 46% from a year earlier under generally accepted accounting principles.
The company booked $22.2 billion of new business during the quarter and generated $2.8 billion in free cash flow. For fiscal 2027, management projected 3%–6% revenue growth in local currency and diluted earnings of $14.39–$14.81 a share.
Accenture also expects to return at least $9.5 billion to shareholders in the new fiscal year. That combination puts attention on both the pace of client spending and the cash the consulting group can distribute while funding its operations.
Synopsys: Growth Targets and Buybacks Lift Shares
Synopsys rose more than 13% after its September 30 investor day. The chip-design software company expects fiscal 2027 revenue of $11.1 billion–$11.2 billion, representing roughly 15% growth at the midpoint, and targets an adjusted operating margin of about 44%.
Management linked its outlook to demand for increasingly complex chips and AI-assisted engineering. After investing in the business, Synopsys expects to return up to half of free cash flow through repurchases and intends to buy back approximately $1 billion of shares over the coming months, subject to market conditions.
These remain management targets rather than completed results. Investors will be watching whether revenue growth translates into the margin expansion outlined in the plan.
Vicor: Royalty Income Drives Another Upgrade
Vicor gained about 10% after raising its third-quarter sequential revenue-growth forecast to more than 30%, from more than 20%. The power-components company attributed the change to increased royalties from its first previously announced non-exclusive Vertical Power Delivery license.
The September 30 update follows a separate increase on September 21. The distinction between royalties and hardware shipments is important: this latest improvement reflects monetization of Vicor’s intellectual property, rather than a disclosed increase in product volumes.
United Therapeutics and Liquidia: One Ruling, Opposite Moves
United Therapeutics advanced almost 7%, while Liquidia fell more than 13%, following a Delaware federal court decision concerning inhaled treprostinil. United Therapeutics announced that the court found two claims of its patent valid and infringed by Liquidia’s marketing of Yutrepia for pulmonary hypertension associated with interstitial lung disease.
Liquidia confirmed the ruling and said the parties were directed to submit a proposed form of judgment within one week. The remedy remained to be determined.
United Therapeutics believes it is entitled to an order affecting Yutrepia’s regulatory approval and plans to seek damages. Those requests should not be confused with a completed withdrawal of the drug from the market. The next judgment will help determine the practical consequences for both companies.
The company-specific moves also come against a volatile rates backdrop, following the Treasury selloff that pushed benchmark yields to multidecade highs before they eased. For this group, however, the identifiable catalysts are earnings, guidance and litigation rather than a single market-wide explanation.
