Robert Half's (RHI) Q4 Earnings Surpass Estimates, Decline Y/Y

Shares of Robert Half International Inc. RHI surged 12.5% in after-hours trading as the company delivered what the market wanted most: a clear earnings beat and strong revenue guidance, even against a softer year-over-year backdrop.

RHI reported quarterly EPS of 32 cents, beating the consensus by 6.7%, while revenues came in at $1.3 billion, modestly topping expectations. Both metrics declined year over year, with EPS falling 39.6% and revenues down 5.8%. However, investors focused on forward momentum rather than declines.

Robert Half Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Robert Half Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Robert Half Inc. Quote

Optimism also came from guidance. For the first quarter of 2026, RHI guided revenues of $1.26-$1.36 billion, with the midpoint ($1.31 billion) above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.29 billion, signaling stabilization and potential demand improvement. While EPS guidance of 8 cents–18 cents landed slightly below consensus at the midpoint, the market appeared willing to tolerate near-term margin pressure in exchange for top-line resilience.

Management also outlined capital discipline, with first-quarter capex and capitalized cloud costs of $10 million to $20 million, and full-year 2026 spending of $70 million to $90 million, alongside normalized tax rates later in the year.

Quarter Details

Contract Talent Solutions’ revenues of $720.8 million decreased 8.2% year over year on an as-adjusted basis but came in above our estimate of $698.2 million. Permanent placement talent solutions’ revenues of $102.6 million were down 5.1% year over year and lagged our estimate of $103 million. Total U.S. Talent Solutions’ revenues were $623 million, down 9% year over year. Non-U.S. Talent Solutions revenues also declined 8% year over year on an adjusted basis to $200 million.

Protiviti revenues came in at $479 million, down 3% year over year on an as-adjusted basis and below our expectation of $482.5 million.  

Currency exchange rate movements had a significant impact on revenues in the quarter, increasing reported year-over-year total revenues by $15 million. The quarter had 61.4 billing days compared with 61.6 billing days in the year-ago quarter. 

The adjusted gross profit in the quarter was $494.1 million, down 8% year over year. The adjusted gross profit margin of 37.9% declined 100 basis points on a year-over-year basis.

Robert Half ended the quarter with a cash and cash equivalents balance of $99.1 million. Cash flow provided by operations was $183 million, and capital expenditures were $11.7 million. RHI paid out $59 million in dividends.

Robert Half currently carries a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell). 

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. 

Earnings Snapshot

Trane Technologies TT reported impressive fourth-quarter 2025 results.

TT’s quarterly earnings of $2.86 per share beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 1.4% and increased 9.6% from the year-ago quarter. Total revenues of $5.1 billion surpassed the consensus estimate by 1.3% and rallied 5.5% from the year-ago quarter.

Booz Allen Hamilton BAH registered mixed results for the third-quarter fiscal 2026.

BAH’s earnings per share of $1.77 beat the consensus mark by 40.5% and increased 14.2% from the year-ago quarter. Revenues of $2.6 billion missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 3.9% and declined 10.2% from the year-ago quarter.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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