Korn Ferry

KFY

Staffing & Employment Services · Industrials

Price

$78.61

-0.26 (-0.33%)

Market Cap

$4.00B

Winston Score

Winston is curious

A decent business — some strong pillars, some weaker.

Share count falling — buybacks

−1.7% over 4y

The company has reduced its share count over this period, returning value to shareholders through buybacks.

Diluted shares outstanding: 53.4M (2022) → 52.5M (2026)

Korn Ferry is a company that helps other businesses find and develop talented people. Its main services include executive search (finding top-level leaders like CEOs), recruiting for mid-level roles, and consulting on how companies should organize their teams and pay their employees. It serves large corporations across industries like finance, healthcare, and technology around the world.

Korn Ferry earns money through fees charged for completed searches, consulting projects, and subscription-based talent management services. It operates globally, with offices across North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific, and generates roughly $2.7 billion in annual revenue. Its competitive edge comes from decades of data on executive talent and a strong brand reputation among large employers, though the business is sensitive to economic slowdowns — when companies freeze hiring, demand for recruiting services drops quickly, which is the main risk investors watch.

Winston Score History

Politician Trades

2 trades / 12mo

0 Congressional buys and 2 sells on KFY in the last 12 months.

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Growth Profile

For growth stock investors

When traditional metrics don't capture the full picture, these are the signals growth stock investors use instead.

Revenue Growth

+7.2% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

Slow revenue growth

EPS Growth

+13.4% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

Steady EPS growth

R&D Spend

$0/ year

0.0% of revenue

Below sector average (4%)

Research and development spending

Insider Activity

1.1%ownership

Relatively low insider ownership

Cash Position

Cash flow positive

$938M cash & investments

Quarterly Free Cash Flow

↑ Burn rate improving

Company generates more cash than it spends — no dilution risk from fundraising

Growth context

Korn Ferry is growing revenue at 7% year-over-year. The Winston Score measures business quality today — these growth metrics show what could matter tomorrow.

The Winston Score above measures business quality today. Growth stocks often score lower because they invest in the future rather than maximising current profits. These metrics show what matters most for evaluating that future.

Score breakdown

Every number that matters to educated investors.

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Quality

Gross Margin

87.8%

Premium pricing power — 87.8% gross margin

Operating Margin

12.6%

Healthy — 12.6% operating margin

ROCE

3.8%

Weak — 3.8% return on capital

ROIC between 0% and 5%. They earn a few cents back per dollar invested in the business.

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Growth

Sales YoY

+2.8%

Nearly flat sales (2.8% YoY)

EPS YoY

+3.3%

Modest earnings growth (3.3% YoY)

Single-digit earnings growth — steady but not exciting.

EPS Consistency

2/8 quarters

Earnings rarely grow — volatile business

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Cash Flow

Cash Conversion

317%

Turns 317% of profit into real cash

FCF Margin

26.1%

Converts sales into free cash efficiently (26.1%)

Free cash flow margin above 20%. Out of every $100 in sales, more than $20 is real cash they keep.

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Stability

Debt / Equity

0.20

Conservative — low debt load (0.20)

Interest Cover

16.83x

Comfortably covers interest (16.8x)

Interest coverage above 8. Profits cover interest many times over.

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Valuation

P/E Ratio (TTM)

15.7x

Fair value — P/E 15.7

P/E in the normal range. Price is roughly $15 for every $1 of yearly profit.

P/E vs Forward

+3.4

GROWING

Earnings expected to grow meaningfully — cheaper on forward P/E (15.7 → 12.4)

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Dividends

Dividend Yield

2.79%

Moderate income — 2.79% yield

Standard yield zone for stable dividend payers. A meaningful piece of total return.

Dividend Growth

+25.2%

Dividend growing fast (25.2% YoY)

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