Robert Half (RHI) To Report Q1 Earnings: What's In Store?

Robert Half International Inc. (NYSE:RHI) is scheduled to report first-quarter 2019 results on Apr 23, after market close.

While the company’s top line is expected to be driven by strength across all the segments, the bottom line should benefit from improved operational efficiency.

So far this year, shares of Robert Half have gained 17.5% compared with 21.2% rise of the industry it belongs to and 15.3% rise of the Zacks S&P 500 Composite.

Let’s check out the expectations in detail.

Revenues Likely to Benefit From Staffing and Protiviti Growth

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for first-quarter 2019 revenues is pegged at $1.50 billion, indicating growth of 7.4% year over year. Notably, the consensus estimate falls within the company’s guided range $1.460-$1.525 billion.

The top line is expected to benefit from growth in the company’s U.S. as well as non-U.S. staffing and Protiviti operations.

Increase in average hourly bill rates and the number of hours worked by the company’s temporary employees on client engagements are expected to drive revenues at temporary and consultant staffing. Permanent placement staffing revenues are likely to be driven by growing number of placements and average fees per placement. At risk consulting and internal audit services, revenues are likely to benefit from increase in billable hours worked by consultants on client engagements and average hourly bill rates.

Additionally, Trump’s favorable policies, which have boosted manufacturing and non-manufacturing activities and improved the employment scenario, are expected to aid results.

In fourth-quarter 2018, total revenues of $1.48 billion increased 10.1% year over year.

Bottom Line to Improve Year Over Year

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in the to-be-reported quarter is pegged at 96 cents per share, indicating year-over-year growth of 20%. Notably, the consensus estimate lies within the company guided range of 92-98 cents. The bottom line should benefit from improved operational efficiency.

In fourth-quarter 2018, earnings of 95 cents per share increased 46.2% year over year.

What Does Our Model Indicate?

According to the Zacks model, a company with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) has a good chance of beating estimates if it also has a positive Earnings ESP. Zacks Rank #4 (Sell) or 5 (Strong Sell) stocks are best avoided, especially if they have a negative Earnings ESP. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Robert Half has a Zacks Rank #3 and an Earnings ESP of 0.00%, a combination that makes surprise prediction difficult.

Stocks to Consider

Here are a few stocks from the broader Zacks Business Services sector that investors may consider as our model shows that these have the right combination of elements to beat on earnings in first-quarter 2019:

SailPoint Technologies (NYSE:SAIL) has an Earnings ESP of +100.00% and a Zacks Rank #1. The company is scheduled to report results on May 8. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

EVERTEC (NYSE:EVTC) has an Earnings ESP of +2.74% and a Zacks Rank #3. The company is slated to release results on May 1.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) has an Earnings ESP of +0.79% and a Zacks Rank #3. The company is scheduled to report results on May 2.

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