Robert Half (0KX9) AI Stock Analysis

Company Guidance

For the fourth quarter, revenue guidance is $1.285 billion to $1.39 billion and income per share guidance is $0.36 to $0.46; midpoint revenue is $1.335 billion, or 3% higher than the same period in 2025 on an adjusted basis, and midpoint earnings per share is $0.41, 30% higher than last year. Midpoint revenue guidance reflects year over year revenue growth of 3% for Talent Solutions and 2% for Protiviti, with adjusted revenue growth year over year for Talent Solutions up 1-5%, Protiviti flat to up 4%, and overall up 1-5%; adjusted gross margin assumptions are 38-40% for contract talent, 22-25% for Protiviti, and 37-40% overall; adjusted SG&A is 43-45% for Talent Solutions, 16-18% for Protiviti, and 33-35% overall; adjusted operating income is 2-4% for Talent Solutions, 6-8% for Protiviti, and 3-5% overall; tax rate is 31-33%; shares outstanding are 100.5 to 101.5 million shares; and 2026 capital expenditures and cloud computing costs are $60 million to $70 million, with $15 million to $20 million in the fourth quarter. For the first quarter of 27, Protiviti Q1 segment margins seasonally decline by mid-single-digit percentage points sequentially, first quarter consolidated operating margins have historically been 1 to 2 percentage points lower sequentially than the fourth quarter, and the Q1 tax rate is expected to be between 36-40%; Protiviti is expected to return to year over year revenue growth in the fourth quarter, while long term growth is typically mid-single-digits for Talent Solutions and “even higher kind of maybe from mid-singles to low-doubles” for Protiviti.