William Blair Raises Kforce To Buy After 2Q Profit Beat

William Blair upgraded Kforce to Buy from Hold after the company topped 2Q earnings estimates. Shares of the professional staffing services and solutions company soared about 23% on Tuesday.

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William Blair analyst Tim Mulrooney said that Kforce (KFRC) is increasingly expanding its technological infrastructure. “As one of the industry’s largest IT staffing providers with extensive service offerings, Kforce is a natural partner to clients seeking to implement and upgrade new systems,” Mulrooney wrote in a note to investors. The analyst added that “the pandemic has hastened a longer-term shift in prioritizing digital and virtual capabilities”.

Truist analyst Tobey Sommer raised stock’s the price target to $35 (10.1% downside potential) from $30, but maintained a Hold rating on the stock. Sommer raised his FY20 earnings estimates to $2.23 from $1.30 per share. He told investors in a research note that the company’s “solid” IT staffing market supports its profitability.

On Aug. 10, Kforce reported 2Q earnings of $0.47 per share, beating Street estimates of $0.31 per share. Earnings during the quarter declined 28.8% year-over-year, due to lower operating margin. 2Q revenues increased 1.2% year-over-year to $343 million, beating analysts’ expectations of $313.80 million. The company forecasts 3Q earnings of $0.72-$0.80 per share, which above the consensus of $0.40. Kforce expects 3Q revenues of $352-362 million, compared with the consensus of $316.5 million.

Currently, the Street has a cautiously optimistic outlook on the stock. The Moderate Buy analyst consensus is based on 1 Buy and 3 Holds. Following this year’s gain of 18%, the average price target of $34.67 implies downside potential of about 11%. (See KFRC stock analysis on TipRanks).