Contact:

M. Keith Waddell President and Chief Executive Officer (650) 234-6000

ROBERT HALF REPORTS FOURTH-QUARTER FINANCIAL RESULTS

MENLO PARK, Calif., January 30, 2024 — Robert Half Inc. (NYSE symbol: RHI) today reported revenues and earnings for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2023.

For the three months ended December 31, 2023, net income was $87 million, or $0.83 per share, on revenues of $1.473 billion. For the three months ended December 31, 2022, net income was $148 million, or $1.37 per share, on revenues of $1.727 billion.

For the year ended December 31, 2023, net income was $411 million, or $3.88 per share, on revenues of $6.393 billion. For the year ended December 31, 2022, net income was $658 million, or $6.03 per share, on revenues of $7.238 billion.

“We delivered above-consensus top- and bottom-line results for the fourth quarter, with Protiviti leading the way. Global labor demand continues to be resilient, and talent shortages persist, although both are modestly below their peaks. We are encouraged that our improving weekly revenue trends that began in the third quarter and continued into the fourth quarter are approaching a positive inflection point,” said M. Keith Waddell, president and chief executive officer at Robert Half. “We enter 2024 confident in our ability to navigate the current climate and optimistic about our growth prospects, built on our industry-leading brand, people, technology and unique business model that includes both professional staffing and business consulting services.

“We’d like to thank our people across the globe, whose commitment to success made possible a number of new accolades in 2023. Fourth-quarter recognition included being named one of the Best Workplaces for Parents™ by Great Place to Work®, one of America’s Most Responsible Companies by Newsweek, and a Best-Managed Company of 2023 by The Wall Street Journal,” Waddell concluded.

Robert Half management will conduct a conference call today at 5 p.m. EST. The prepared remarks for this call are available now in the Investor Center of the Robert Half website (www.roberthalf.com/investor-center). Simply click on the Quarterly Conference Calls link. The dial-in number is 888-394-8218 (+1-323-994-2093 outside the United States and Canada). The confirmation code to access the call is 4929633.

A recording of this call will be available for audio replay beginning at approximately 8 p.m. EST on January 30 and ending after 12 months. To access the replay, visit https://webcasts.com/RobertHalfQ42023. The conference call also will be archived in audio format on the Company’s website at roberthalf.com.

Robert Half is the world’s first and largest specialized talent solutions and business consulting firm that connects people with meaningful work and provides companies with the talent and subject matter expertise they need to confidently compete and grow. Robert Half is the parent company of Protiviti®, a global consulting firm that provides internal audit, risk, business and technology consulting solutions. Robert Half, including Protiviti, has been named one of the Fortune® Most Admired Companies™ and 100 Best Companies to Work For.

Robert Half talent solutions and consulting operations has operations in over 400 locations worldwide.

Certain information contained in this press release and its attachments may be deemed forward-looking statements regarding events and financial trends that may affect the Company’s future operating results or financial positions. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees or promises that goals or targets will be met. These statements may be identified by words such as “estimate,” “forecast,” “target,” “project,” “plan,” “intend,” “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” or variations or negatives thereof, or by similar or comparable words or phrases. In addition, historical, current, and forward-looking information about the Company’s ESG and compliance programs, including targets or goals, may not be considered material for SEC reporting purposes and may be based on standards for measuring progress that are still developing, on internal controls, diligence, or processes that are evolving, and on assumptions that are subject to change in the future. Forward-looking statements are estimates only, based on management’s current expectations, currently available information and current strategy, plans, or forecasts, and involve certain known and unknown risks and, uncertainties, and assumptions that are difficult to predict and often beyond our control and are inherently uncertain.

Such risks and uncertainties could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the statements.

These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the following: changes to or new interpretations of U.S. or international tax regulations; the global financial and economic situation; the duration and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and efforts to mitigate its spread; changes in levels of unemployment and other economic conditions in the United States or foreign countries where the Company does business, or in particular regions or industries; reduction in the supply of candidates for contract employment or the Company’s ability to attract candidates; the entry of new competitors into the marketplace or expansion by existing competitors; the ability of the Company to maintain existing client relationships and attract new clients in the context of changing economic or competitive conditions; the impact of competitive pressures, including any change in the demand for the Company’s services; the Company’s ability to maintain its margins; the possibility of the Company incurring liability for its activities, including the activities of its contract employees, or for events impacting its contract employees on clients’ premises; the possibility that adverse publicity could impact the Company’s ability to attract and retain clients and candidates; the success of the Company in attracting, training, and retaining qualified management personnel and other staff employees; the Company’s ability to comply with governmental regulations affecting personnel services businesses in particular or employer/employee relationships in general; whether there will be ongoing demand for Sarbanes-Oxley or other regulatory compliance services; the Company’s reliance on short-term contracts for a significant percentage of its business; litigation relating to prior or current transactions or activities, including litigation that may be disclosed from time to time in the Company’s SEC filings; the ability of the Company to manage its international operations and comply with foreign laws and regulations; the impact of fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; the possibility that the additional costs the Company will incur as a result of healthcare reform legislation may adversely affect the Company’s profit margins or the demand for the Company’s services; the possibility that the Company’s computer and communications hardware and software systems could be damaged or their service interrupted; and the possibility that the Company may fail to maintain adequate financial and management controls, and as a result, suffer errors in its financial reporting.

Additionally, with respect to Protiviti, other risks and uncertainties include the fact that future success will depend on its ability to retain employees and attract clients; there can be no assurance that there will be ongoing demand for broad-based consulting, regulatory compliance, technology services, public sector or other high-demand advisory services; failure to produce projected revenues could adversely affect financial results; and there is the possibility of involvement in litigation relating to prior or current transactions or activities.

A summary of additional risks and uncertainties can be found in the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022, and in the Company's other filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Because long-term contracts are not a significant part of the Company’s business, future results cannot be reliably predicted by considering past trends or extrapolating past results. The Company undertakes no obligation to update information contained in this release, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, and notwithstanding any historical practice of doing so.

A copy of this release is available at www.roberthalf.com/investor-center.

 

ATTACHED:						Summary of Operations   Supplemental Financial Information   Non-GAAP Financial Measures

(in thousands, except per share amounts)

 

			Three Months Ended December 31,												Year Ended December 31,
			2023						2022						2023						2022
			(Unaudited)												(Unaudited)
Service revenues			$	1,472,892					$	1,727,026					$	6,392,517					$	7,238,142
Costs of services			888,728						1,007,979						3,817,513						4,144,093
Gross margin			584,164						719,047						2,575,004						3,094,049
Selling, general and administrative expenses			516,666						545,129						2,107,531						2,117,296
(Income) loss from investments held in employee deferred compensation trusts			(46,657)						(24,819)						(88,020)						86,139
Amortization of intangible assets			721						417						2,883						1,667
Interest income, net			(6,697)						(4,778)						(23,973)						(8,008)
Income before income taxes			120,131						203,098						576,583						896,955
Provision for income taxes			32,827						55,445						165,437						239,036
Net income			$	87,304					$	147,653					$	411,146					$	657,919
Diluted net income per share			$	0.83					$	1.37					$	3.88					$	6.03
Weighted average shares:
Basic			104,286						106,980						105,530						108,214
Diluted			104,960						107,808						106,074						109,171

(1) Service revenues for finance and accounting, administrative and customer support, and technology include intersegment revenues, which represent revenues from services provided to the Company’s Protiviti segment in connection with the Company’s blended business solutions. Intersegment revenues for each functional specialization are aggregated and then eliminated as a single line.

The financial results of Robert Half Inc. (the “Company”) are prepared in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) and the rules of the SEC. To help readers understand the Company’s financial performance, the Company supplements its GAAP financial results with the following non-GAAP measures: adjusted gross margin; adjusted selling, general and administrative expenses; combined segment income; and as adjusted revenue growth rates.

The following measures: adjusted gross margin and adjusted selling, general and administrative expenses, include gains and losses on investments held to fund the Company’s obligations under employee deferred compensation plans. The Company provides these measures because they are used by management to review its operational results.

Combined segment income is income before income taxes, adjusted for interest income and amortization of intangible assets. The Company provides combined segment income because it is how management evaluates performance.

As adjusted revenue growth rates represent year-over-year revenue growth rates after removing the impacts on reported revenues from the changes in the number of billing days and foreign currency exchange rates. The Company provides this data because it focuses on the Company’s revenue growth rates attributable to operating activities and aids in evaluating revenue trends over time. The impacts from the changes in billing days and foreign currency exchange rates are calculated as follows:

•Billing days impact is calculated by dividing each comparative period’s reported revenues by the number of billing days for that period to arrive at a per billing day amount. Same billing day growth rates are then calculated based on the per billing day amounts. Management calculates a global, weighted-average number of billing days for each reporting period based upon inputs from all countries and all functional specializations and segments.

•Foreign currency impact is calculated by retranslating current period international revenues, using foreign currency exchange rates from the prior year’s comparable period.

The non-GAAP financial measures provided herein may not provide information that is directly comparable to that provided by other companies in the Company’s industry, as other companies may calculate such financial results differently. The Company’s non-GAAP financial measures are not measurements of financial performance under GAAP and should not be considered as alternatives to amounts presented in accordance with GAAP. The Company does not consider these non-GAAP financial measures to be a substitute for, or superior to, the information provided by GAAP financial results. A reconciliation of the non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures is provided on the following pages.

ADJUSTED GROSS MARGIN (UNAUDITED):

The following tables provide reconciliations of the non-GAAP adjusted gross margin to reported gross margin for the three months ended December 31, 2023 and 2022:

The following tables provide reconciliations of the non-GAAP adjusted gross margin to reported gross margin for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022:

(1)Changes in the Company’s employee deferred compensation plan obligations related to Protiviti operations are included in costs of services, while the related investment (income) loss is presented separately. The non-GAAP financial adjustments shown in the table above are to reclassify investment (income) loss from investments held in employee deferred compensation trusts to the same line item that includes the corresponding change in obligation. These adjustments have no impact on income before income taxes.

ADJUSTED SELLING, GENERAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES (UNAUDITED):

The following tables provide reconciliations of the non-GAAP adjusted selling, general and administrative expenses to reported selling, general and administrative expenses for the three months ended December 31, 2023 and 2022:

The following tables provide reconciliations of the non-GAAP adjusted selling, general and administrative expenses to reported selling, general and administrative expenses for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022:

(1)Changes in the Company’s employee deferred compensation plan obligations related to talent solutions operations are included in selling, general and administrative expenses, while the related investment (income) loss is presented separately. The non-GAAP financial adjustments shown in the table above are to reclassify investment (income) loss from investments held in employee deferred compensation trusts to the same line item that includes the corresponding change in obligation. These adjustments have no impact on income before income taxes.

COMBINED SEGMENT INCOME (UNAUDITED):

The following tables provide reconciliations of the non-GAAP combined segment income to reported income before income taxes for the three months and years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022:

REVENUE GROWTH RATES (%) (UNAUDITED): 

(1)Service revenues for finance and accounting, administrative and customer support, and technology include intersegment revenues, which represent revenues from services provided to Protiviti in connection with the Company’s blended business solutions. Intersegment revenues for each functional specialization are aggregated and then eliminated as a single line item.

The non-GAAP financial measures included in the table above adjust for the following items:

Billing Days. The “As Reported” revenue growth rates are based upon reported revenues. Management calculates the billing day impact by dividing each comparative period’s reported revenues by the number of billing days for that period to arrive at a per billing day amount. Same billing day growth rates are then calculated based on the per billing day amounts. Management calculates a global, weighted-average number of billing days for each reporting period based upon input from all countries and all functional specializations and segments.

Foreign Currency Translation. The “As Reported” revenue growth rates are based upon reported revenues, which include the impact of changes in foreign currency exchange rates. The foreign currency impact is calculated by retranslating current period international revenues, using foreign currency exchange rates from the prior year’s comparable period.

The term “As Adjusted” means that the impact of different billing days and constant currency fluctuations are removed from the revenue growth rate calculation. A reconciliation of the non-GAAP year-over-year revenue growth rates to the “As Reported” year-over-year revenue growth rates is included herein, on Pages 10-12.