Robert Half International Inc. (RHI), a specialized staffing firm, Thursday reported a plunge in profit for the fourth quarter, hurt primarily by a decline in revenue from all its division. Both earnings and revenues for the quarter, however, came in ahead of Street expectations.
Menlo Park, California-based Robert Half's net profit plunged to $13.5 million or $0.09 per share from $39 million or $0.25 per share in the year ago quarter.
On average, 16 analysts expected the company to report earnings of $0.05 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude one-time items.
In the prior third quarter, the company's profit dropped 86% to $9.5 million or $0.06 per share, from $65.8 million or $0.42 per share in the year-ago quarter.
Selling, general and administrative expenses for the quarter dropped to $255.9 million from $334.8 million in the prior year quarter.
Fourth quarter revenue dropped to $737.4 million from $989.8 million in the comparable quarter last year, but came in ahead of Street consensus of $703.63 million.
In the preceding third quarter, revenue declined 37% to $725.91 million from $1.16 billion in the corresponding quarter last year.
For the quarter under review, revenue from the company's subsidiary Protiviti decreased to $95.7 million from $124.2 million in the year -ago period . The company's revenue declined in each of its staffing services sectors, with revenue from its finance & accounting division plunging to $45.4 million from $75.5 million a year ago. Management resources saw a decline of $90.6 million from $134.6 million in the year-ago period.
Robert Half Technology division revenue dropped to $76.2 million from $101.3 million last year, while revenue from office team was $141.6 million, down from $179.8 million in the same quarter last year.
Harold Messmer, Jr. chairman and chief executive officer commented,"We were encouraged to see broad-based, improving demand for our professional staffing services during the fourth quarter. Each of our staffing divisions reported sequential revenue growth, as did Protiviti on a same-day basis."
Total gross margin for the quarter was $278.4 million, down from $402.3 million last year. Operating income was $22.5 million, compared to $67.4 million in the year-ago period.
For the full year 2009, Robert Half's net profit plunged to $37.3 million or $0.24 per share from $250.2 million or $1.59 per share last year. Full year revenue declined to $3.0 billion from $4.6 billion in the prior year period.
Analysts expected the company to earn $0.21 per share on revenue of $3.0 billion fort he full year.
RHI closed Thursday's regular trading at $26.84, down $0.05 or 0.19%, on a volume of 1.78 million shares on the NYSE. In after hours, the stock rose 3.91% or $1.05, trading at $27.89.
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