Robert Half (RHI) To Report Q4 Earnings: What's In The Offing?

Robert Half International Inc. (NYSE:RHI) is scheduled to report fourth-quarter 2018 results on Jan 29, after the bell.

While the company’s top line is expected to be driven by strength across all the segments, the bottom line should benefit from lower U.S tax rates.

Shares of Robert Half have gained 4.6% in the past year, against the 10.9% decline of the industry.

Top Line Likely to Improve Y/Y

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fourth-quarter revenues is pegged at $1.46 billion, indicating an increase of 8.2% from the year ago quarter’s figure.

Robert Half is benefiting from a strong U.S. economy, which has boosted manufacturing and non-manufacturing activities and improved the employment scenario.

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 along with positive business sentiment across the company’s small and mid-size client base.

Increase in average hourly bill rates and the number of hours worked by employees 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.

In third-quarter 2018, revenues of $1.46 billion increased 10.7% year over year.

Earnings Likely to Rise on Tax Reform

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (which lowered corporate tax rates significantly) is expected to boost Robert Half’s earnings in the to-be-reported quarter. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings is pegged at 91 cents, indicating year-over-year growth of 40%.

In third-quarter 2018, earnings of 95 cents rose 39.7% from the year-ago quarter’s tally.

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 #4 and an Earnings ESP of 0.00%.

Stocks to Consider

Here are a few stocks from the broader Business Services sector that investors may consider as our model shows that these have the right combination of elements to beat on earnings in third-quarter 2018:

Booz Allen Hamilton (NYSE:BAH) with an Earnings ESP of +4.22% and a Zacks Rank #2. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

First Data (NYSE:FDC) with an Earnings ESP of +6.29% and a Zacks Rank #3.

FleetCor Technologies (NYSE:FLT) with an Earnings ESP of +0.53% and a Zacks Rank #3.

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