BBSI Reports Third Quarter 2025 Financial Results

By Barrett Business Services Inc | November 05, 2025, 4:05 PM

- Revenues up 8% to $318.9 Million and Gross Billings up 9% to $2.32 Billion -

VANCOUVER, Wash., Nov. 05, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --  Barrett Business Services, Inc. (“BBSI” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: BBSI), a leading provider of business management solutions, reported financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2025.

Third Quarter 2025 Financial Summary vs. Year-Ago Quarter

  • Revenues up 8% to $318.9 million.
  • Gross billings up 9% to $2.32 billion.
  • Average worksite employees (“WSEs”) up 6%.
  • Net income increased to $20.6 million, or $0.79 per diluted share, compared to net income of $19.6 million, or $0.74 per diluted share.

“BBSI delivered another strong quarter of controllable growth driven by new client additions,” said Gary Kramer, President and CEO of BBSI. “We continue to execute well against our strategy, leveraging our growth to drive sustained earnings expansion. Despite a more cautious economic environment, our continued ability to win new business and expand market share speaks to the strength of our differentiated model and the value we deliver to small and mid-sized businesses across the country. We remain focused on disciplined execution and investment in our people, technology, and service delivery to support long-term, sustainable growth.”

Third Quarter 2025 Financial Results

Revenues in the third quarter of 2025 increased 8% to $318.9 million compared to $294.3 million in the third quarter of 2024.

Total gross billings in the third quarter of 2025 increased 9% to $2.32 billion compared to $2.14 billion in the same year-ago quarter (see “Key Performance Metrics” below). The increase was driven by growth in professional employer (“PEO”) services, primarily resulting from increased WSEs from net new clients, as well as higher average billings per WSE per day.

Workers’ compensation expense as a percent of gross billings was 2.2% in the third quarter of 2025 and benefited from lower workers’ compensation costs, including favorable prior year liability and premium adjustments of $3.9 million. This compares to 2.3% in the third quarter of 2024, which included favorable prior year liability and premium adjustments of $4.3 million.

Net income for the third quarter of 2025 increased to $20.6 million, or $0.79 per diluted share, compared to net income of $19.6 million, or $0.74 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter.

Liquidity

As of September 30, 2025, unrestricted cash and investments were $109.8 million compared to $90.4 million as of June 30, 2025. BBSI remained debt free at quarter end.

Capital Allocation

On August 4, 2025, BBSI’s board of directors authorized the repurchase of up to $100 million of the Company’s common stock over a two-year period beginning August 4th (the “Repurchase Program”). The Repurchase Program replaces the repurchase program approved in July 2023.

Under the Repurchase Program, BBSI repurchased $7.5 million of stock in the third quarter, comprising 159,570 shares at an average price of $47.19. At September 30, 2025, approximately $92.5 million remained available under the Repurchase Program.

The Company paid $2.1 million of dividends in the quarter, and BBSI’s board of directors confirmed its next regular quarterly cash dividend at $0.08 per share. The cash dividend will be paid on December 5, 2025, to all stockholders of record as of November 21, 2025.

Through a combination of stock repurchases and dividends, year-to-date capital returned to shareholders totaled approximately $31 million.

Outlook

BBSI expects the following for 2025:

  • Gross billings growth of 8.5% to 9.5%.
  • Growth in the average number of WSEs of 6% to 8%.
  • Gross margin as a percent of gross billings of 2.9% to 3.0%.
  • Effective annual tax rate to remain at 26% to 27%.

Conference Call

BBSI will conduct a conference call on Wednesday, November 5, 2025, at 5:00 p.m. Eastern time (2:00 p.m. Pacific time) to discuss its financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2025.

BBSI’s CEO Gary Kramer and CFO Anthony Harris will host the conference call, followed by a question and answer period.

Date: Wednesday, November 5, 2025
Time: 5:00 p.m. Eastern time (2:00 p.m. Pacific time)
Toll-free dial-in number: 1-800-717-1738
International dial-in number: 1-646-307-1865
Conference ID: 10829

Please call the conference telephone number 5-10 minutes prior to the start time. An operator will register your name and organization. If you have any difficulty connecting with the conference call, please contact Gateway Group at 1-949-574-3860.

The conference call will be broadcast live and available for replay here and via the Investors section of the BBSI website at ir.bbsi.com.

A replay of the conference call will be available after 8:00 p.m. Eastern time on the same day through December 5, 2025.

Toll-free replay number: 1-844-512-2921
International replay number: 1-412-317-6671
Replay ID: 1110829

Key Performance Metrics

We report PEO revenues net of direct payroll costs because we are not the primary obligor for wage payments to our clients’ employees. However, management believes that gross billings and wages are useful in understanding the volume of our business activity and serve as important performance metrics in managing our operations, including the preparation of internal operating forecasts and establishing executive compensation performance goals. We therefore present for purposes of analysis gross billings and wage information for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2025 and 2024.

  (Unaudited)  (Unaudited) 
  Three Months Ended September 30,  Nine Months Ended September 30, 
(in thousands) 2025  2024  2025  2024 
Gross billings $2,321,852  $2,138,510  $6,644,993  $6,075,094 
PEO and staffing wages $2,017,499  $1,860,466  $5,766,932  $5,281,092 

In monitoring and evaluating the performance of our operations, management also reviews the following ratios, which represent selected amounts as a percentage of gross billings. Management believes these ratios are useful in understanding the efficiency and profitability of our service offerings.

  (Unaudited) (Unaudited)
  Percentage of Gross Billings Percentage of Gross Billings
  Three Months Ended September 30, Nine Months Ended September 30,
  2025  2024  2025  2024 
PEO and staffing wages 86.9% 87.0% 86.8% 86.9%
Payroll taxes and benefits 7.6% 7.2% 8.1% 7.7%
Workers' compensation 2.2% 2.3% 2.2% 2.4%
Gross margin 3.3% 3.5% 2.9% 3.0%

We refer to employees of our PEO clients as WSEs. Management reviews average and ending WSE growth to monitor and evaluate the performance of our operations. Average WSEs are calculated by dividing the number of unique individuals paid in each month by the number of months in the period. Ending WSEs represents the number of unique individuals paid in the last month of the period.

  (Unaudited)
  Three Months Ended September 30,
   2025  Year-over-year
% Growth
 2024  Year-over-year
% Growth
Average WSEs  141,492  6.1%  133,398  4.8%
Ending WSEs  140,409  5.8%  132,698  3.3%


 (Unaudited)
  Nine Months Ended September 30,
  2025  Year-over-year
% Growth
 2024  Year-over-year
% Growth
Average WSEs  137,640  7.2%  128,394  3.9%
Ending WSEs  140,409  5.8%  132,698  3.3%

About BBSI

BBSI (NASDAQ: BBSI) is a leading provider of business management solutions, combining human resource outsourcing and professional management consulting to create a unique operational platform that differentiates it from competitors. The Company’s integrated platform is built upon expertise in payroll processing, employee benefits, workers’ compensation coverage, risk management and workplace safety programs, and human resource administration. BBSI’s partnerships help businesses of all sizes improve the efficiency of their operations. The company works with more than 8,100 PEO clients in all 50 states. For more information, please visit www.bbsi.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Statements in this release about future events and financial outlook are forward-looking statements. Such statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results of the Company to be materially different from any future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that could affect future results include: economic conditions in the Company’s service areas and the potential effects of changing governmental policies, including those related to immigration and tariffs; natural disasters; the effects of inflation on our operating expenses and those of our clients; the availability of certain fully insured medical and other health and welfare benefits to qualifying worksite employees; the effect of changes in the Company’s mix of services on gross margin; the Company’s ability to attract and retain clients and to achieve revenue growth; the availability of financing or other sources of capital; the Company’s relationship with its primary bank lender; the potential for material deviations from expected future workers’ compensation claims experience; changes in the workers’ compensation regulatory environment in the Company’s primary markets; PEO client benefits costs, particularly with regard to health insurance benefits; litigation costs; security breaches or failures in the Company’s information technology systems; the collectability of accounts receivable; changes in executive management; changes in effective payroll tax rates and federal and state income tax rates; the carrying value of deferred income tax assets and goodwill; the outcome of tax audits; the effect of changing interest rates and conditions in the global capital markets on the Company’s investment portfolio; and the potential for and effect of acquisitions, among others. Other important factors that may affect the Company’s prospects are described in the Company’s 2024 Annual Report on Form 10-K and in subsequent reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Although forward-looking statements help to provide complete information about the Company, readers should keep in mind that forward-looking statements are less reliable than historical information. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise forward-looking statements in this release to reflect events or changes in circumstances that occur after the date of this release.

       
Barrett Business Services, Inc.
Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets
(Unaudited)
 
       
  September 30,  December 31, 
(in thousands) 2025  2024 
ASSETS      
Current assets:      
Cash and cash equivalents $47,676  $55,367 
Investments  62,076   66,492 
Trade accounts receivable, net  300,616   234,533 
Income taxes receivable  326   2,662 
Prepaid expenses and other  25,806   18,698 
Restricted cash and investments  80,403   97,690 
Total current assets  516,903   475,442 
Property, equipment and software, net  63,915   56,781 
Operating lease right-of-use assets  23,973   20,329 
Restricted cash and investments  117,321   134,454 
Goodwill  47,820   47,820 
Other assets  6,097   6,205 
Deferred income taxes  1,896   4,477 
Total assets $777,925  $745,508 
LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY      
Current liabilities:      
Accounts payable $5,842  $6,787 
Accrued payroll and related benefits  278,405   215,648 
Payroll taxes payable  43,164   49,685 
Current operating lease liabilities  6,945   6,231 
Current premium payable  20,208   31,134 
Other accrued liabilities  17,873   10,330 
Workers' compensation claims liabilities  34,239   39,081 
Total current liabilities  406,676   358,896 
Long-term workers' compensation claims liabilities  74,945   89,365 
Long-term premium payable  25,212   49,840 
Long-term operating lease liabilities  18,225   15,215 
Customer deposits and other long-term liabilities  12,722   10,788 
Stockholders' equity  240,145   221,404 
Total liabilities and stockholders' equity $777,925  $745,508 


  
Barrett Business Services, Inc.
Consolidated Statements of Operations
(Unaudited)
 
       
  Three Months Ended  Nine Months Ended 
  September 30,  September 30, 
(in thousands, except per share amounts) 2025  2024  2025  2024 
Revenues:            
Professional employer services $299,685  $272,793  $864,781  $778,869 
Staffing services  19,264   21,485   54,391   60,842 
Total revenues  318,949   294,278   919,172   839,711 
Cost of revenues:            
Direct payroll costs  14,604   16,208   41,075   45,618 
Payroll taxes and benefits  176,270   154,109   536,553   464,814 
Workers' compensation  51,310   49,549   148,896   147,403 
Total cost of revenues  242,184   219,866   726,524   657,835 
Gross margin  76,765   74,412   192,648   181,876 
Selling, general and administrative expenses  49,886   49,060   142,912   137,051 
Depreciation and amortization  2,097   1,899   6,093   5,663 
Income from operations  24,782   23,453   43,643   39,162 
Other income (expense):            
Investment income, net  1,983   2,265   6,903   8,608 
Interest expense  (45)  (45)  (133)  (133)
Other, net  32   31   131   124 
Other income, net  1,970   2,251   6,901   8,599 
Income before income taxes  26,752   25,704   50,544   47,761 
Provision for income taxes  6,133   6,076   12,492   11,568 
Net income $20,619  $19,628  $38,052  $36,193 
Basic income per common share $0.80  $0.75  $1.48  $1.38 
Weighted average number of basic common shares
outstanding
  25,688   26,052   25,696   26,133 
Diluted income per common share $0.79  $0.74  $1.45  $1.35 
Weighted average number of diluted common shares
outstanding
  26,171   26,620   26,263   26,736 

Investor Relations:
Gateway Group, Inc.
Cody Slach
Tel 1-949-574-3860
[email protected]


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