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what it is
Robert Half helps companies hire accountants, admins, legal staff, and tech workers, then sells consulting through Protiviti.
how it gets paid
Last year Robert Half made $5.4B in revenue. Contract talent solutions was the main engine at $3.56B, or 66% of sales.
why growth slowed
Revenue fell 7.2% last year. The number that matters is $1.30. That is 66.5% below the $3.88 earned in 2023.
what just happened
The latest report beat by 10.34%, but that does not erase a two-year earnings slide.
At a glance
A balance sheet — strong enough to weather a downturn
55/100 earnings predictability — expect surprises
21.2x trailing p/e — priced about right
4.3% dividend yield — cash in your pocket every quarter
32.0% return on capital — every dollar works hard here
xvary composite: 58/100 — below average
What they do
Robert Half helps companies hire accountants, admins, legal staff, and tech workers, then sells consulting through Protiviti.
Scale is the whole trick here. Robert Half placed 109,000 professionals in 2024 and operates staffing offices in the U.S. plus 17 foreign countries. If your company needs a finance hire fast, you call the firm with the biggest bench, not the nicest slogan.
How they make money
$5.4B
annual revenue · their business grew -7.2% last year
Contract talent solutions
$3.56B
8.0%
Permanent placement talent solutions
$0.47B
16.0%
Protiviti consulting
$1.15B
2.0%
Other staffing and support
$0.22B
7.2%
The products that matter
fills roles and project work
Staffing and Consulting Services
$5.4B revenue · 100% of sales
the segment detail in this snapshot is thin, but the important part is clear: all $5.4B depends on clients hiring, backfilling, or approving project work.
the whole business
Key numbers
+48%
18-month upside
The central target is $41 versus $27.61 today, which says the market is pricing in a very weak hiring backdrop.
32.0%
return on capital
Return on capital → profit generated from each dollar invested → so what: this company still turns assets into cash better than most cyclical service firms.
7.5%
operating margin
Operating margin → what is left after running the business → so what: one bad hiring quarter can make earnings look a lot worse fast.
4.3%
dividend yield
Dividend yield → your cash payout for holding the stock → so what: the income is real, but it does not fix a weak staffing cycle.
Financial health
A
strength
- balance sheet grade A — very strong financial position
- risk rank 3 — safer than 50% of stocks
- price stability 70 / 100
- net profit margin 5.4% — keeps 5 cents of every dollar in revenue
- return on equity 32% — $0.32 profit for every $1 investors have put in
A — among the top-rated companies for balance sheet quality.
Total return vs. market
You invested $10,000 in RHI 3 years ago → it's now worth $4,220.
The index would have given you $13,920.
source: institutional data · total return
What just happened
beat estimates
The latest report beat by 10.34%, but that does not erase a two-year earnings slide.
Consensus says the company earned $0.32 versus a $0.29 estimate. The bigger picture is uglier: full-year EPS fell from $3.88 in 2023 to $1.30 in 2025 as hiring and project activity cooled.
$1.35B
revenue
$1.01
eps
37.1%
gross margin
the number that mattered
The number that matters is $1.30. That is 66.5% below the $3.88 earned in 2023, which tells you this is still a down-cycle story.
-
robert half will probably end the year on a dim note, as the job market has continued to cool.for much of 2025, the staffer’s top and bottom lines have been down, vs. prior year, with demand for temp- and permanent-placement professionals in retreat.
-
on the nonstaffing consulting side of business, protiviti began drifting lower by the third quarter, as well.it seems inflation and macroeconomic uncertainty has continued to weigh on both clients and candidates, causing them to remain cautious.
-
this has led to subdued hiring and new project activity.yet, management noted encouraging revenue trends in contract talent solutions, with sequential growth in september and into october.
-
still, we think fourth-quarter results will be down, with full-year share earnings being nearly halved, to $1.30, on a revenue slip of 7%.
-
despite early signs of a pickup, we have lowered the bar for 2026 on the hazy labor market picture.increasing client discussions about deferred projects and hiring for critical jobs is surely good news. but job-placement activity will likely remain weak near term, given concerns over a potential slowdown in the economy amid ongoing macro uncertainty.
source: company earnings report, 2026
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What could go wrong
the #1 risk is continued weakness in finance and accounting hiring.
high
hiring stays frozen longer than expected
this is a labor-market stock. if clients keep delaying permanent and temporary hiring, the $5.4B revenue base stays under pressure.
quarterly revenue already fell 8% from a year ago, and full-year revenue fell 7.2%.
med
thin margins amplify bad volume
RHI runs at a 3.1% net margin, and the latest quarter was 2.5%. that leaves little room for weaker pricing, lower utilization, or slower placements.
you already saw the math: revenue fell 7.2%, but full-year EPS fell 47%.
med
consulting demand fails to offset staffing weakness
management said protiviti began drifting lower by the third quarter. if project work also softens, one of the few support beams weakens too.
that would make the $5B fiscal 2026 revenue expectation harder to reach.
these risks touch essentially all of the company's revenue base, and a 3.1% net margin means you do not need a dramatic slowdown to get dramatic EPS damage.
source: institutional data · regulatory filings · risk analysis
Pay attention to
trend
sequential contract talent improvement
management flagged better trends in september and october. if that keeps showing up, the downturn may finally be bottoming.
metric
quarterly revenue vs. the $1.4B run rate
you want to see stabilization first. this story does not need breakout growth yet — it needs the bleeding to stop.
risk
margin holding above 3%
with a 3.1% net margin and a 2.5% quarterly margin, even small operating pressure can hit earnings hard.
calendar
next guidance reset
listen for comments on deferred projects, placement activity, and whether clients are finally moving from conversations to approvals.
Analyst rankings
short-term outlook
below average
momentum score 4 — in human-speak, analysts think this likely lags until hiring improves.
risk profile
average
stability score 3 — typical risk profile, neither especially safe nor unusually fragile.
chart momentum
below average
technical score 4 — the chart still looks like a stock waiting for better fundamentals.
earnings predictability
55 / 100
the business is cyclical enough that quarterly numbers can swing more than you may want.
source: institutional data
Institutional activity
institutions have been net buying for 3 consecutive quarters — 230 buyers vs. 211 sellers in 3q2025. total institutional holdings: 0.1B shares. net buying for 3 quarters.
source: institutional data
Price targets
3-5 year target range
$23
$58
$28
current price
$41
target midpoint · +48% from current · 3-5yr high: $65 (+135% · 28% ann'l return)
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