H&R Block's (HRB) Q2 Loss Wider than Expected, Revenues Beat

H&R Block, Inc. HRB reported second-quarter fiscal 2021 adjusted loss per share of $1.09 that came above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 93 cents. The company had suffered a loss of 85 cents per share in the year-ago quarter. Revenues of $177 million surpassed the consensus estimate by 7.5% and increased 9.8% year over year.

The improvement in the top line is due to higher tax return volume in the United States and Canada, and rise in small business payments processing and payroll volume at Wave.

Shares of H&R Block have gained 15.5% over the past three months compared with the 8.7% rally of the Zacks S&P 500 composite.

Other Quarterly Numbers

Loss before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization from continuing operations came in at $168 million compared with a loss of $197 million in the year-ago quarter. Total operating expenses were $382 million, down 5% year over year.

H&R Block exited the quarter with cash and cash equivalents balance of $209 million compared with $2.6 billion at the end of the prior quarter. Long-term debt and line-of-credit borrowings were $1.6 billion compared with $3.5 billion at the end of the previous quarter.

H&R Block, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

The company used $242 million of cash in operating activities and capex was $18 million. The company paid out dividends of $50 million in the quarter.

H&R Block currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

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

Performance Some Business Services Companies

Equifax Inc (NYSE:EFX). EFX reported third-quarter 2020 adjusted earnings of $1.87 per share that beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 16.2% and improved 26.4% on a year-over-year basis. Revenues of $1.07 billion outpaced the consensus estimate by 5.9% and improved 22% year over year.

ManpowerGroup (NYSE:MAN) Inc. MAN reported third-quarter 2020 earnings of $1.12 per share, beating the consensus mark by 90.5% but declining more than 37.5% year over year. Revenues of $4.58 billion surpassed the consensus mark by 8.7% but declined 12.7% year over year.

IHS Markit Ltd. INFO recorded third-quarter fiscal 2020 adjusted earnings per share of 77 cents that surpassed the consensus estimate by 11.6% and increased 15% on a year-over-year basis. Total revenues came in at $1.07 billion, marginally surpassing the consensus mark but declining 4% from the year-ago quarter.

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