Korn Ferry (NYSE:KFY) stock rose 9.93% (As on June 18, 11:35:35 AM UTC-4, Source: Google Finance) after the company posted fourth-quarter results that topped Wall Street expectations and issued a confident forecast for the months ahead. The company’s Executive Search division led the way in Q4, with fee revenue rising 14% year-over-year to $227 million. Its Professional Search & Interim segment also posted modest growth, with revenue totaling $130.7 million. During the quarter, the increase in fee revenue was due to higher fee revenue in Executive Search and Recruitment process outsourcing (“RPO”), partially offset by a decline in fee revenue in Consulting. Net income attributable to Korn Ferry was $64.2 million with a margin of 9.0% in Q4 FY’25, compared to net income attributable to Korn Ferry of $65.2 million with a margin of 9.4%, in Q4 FY’24, a decrease of 40bps compared to the year-ago quarter. Net income attributable to Korn Ferry and net income attributable to Korn Ferry margin decreased slightly from the prior year, primarily due to certain income tax benefits recorded in Q4 FY’24 which reduced the prior year quarterly effective tax rate by approximately 4 percentage points. Adjusted EBITDA was $121.1 million in Q4 FY’25 compared to $112.3 million in Q4 FY’24. Adjusted EBITDA margin was 17.0% in Q4 FY’25, an increase of 70bps compared to the year-ago quarter. Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin increased due to an increase in fee revenue and disciplined cost management.

KFY in the fourth quarter of FY25 has reported the adjusted earnings per share of $1.32, beating the analysts’ estimates for the adjusted earnings per share of $1.26. The company had reported the adjusted revenue growth of 3 percent to $712 million in the fourth quarter of FY25, beating the analysts’ estimates for revenue of $690.07 million.

Additionally, the Company repurchased 232,000 shares of stock during the quarter for $15.0 million and paid dividends of $25 million. For the full year the Company continued to maintain its balanced approach to capital allocation by investing $44 million in an acquisition, $62 million in technology platforms, tools and product enhancements, and returning $89 million and $84 million to shareholders through share repurchases and dividends, respectively.

Looking ahead to the first quarter of fiscal 2026, Korn Ferry projected adjusted EPS in the range of $1.18 to $1.26, surrounding the consensus estimate of $1.20. Revenue is expected to come in between $675 million and $695 million, slightly above analysts’ forecast of $679 million at the midpoint.