KFYKORN FERRY

Services-Employment Agencies

Revenue: $2.9B; 6.4% YoY
Operating margin: 12.8%; 1.7% YoY
EBITDA: $474M; 11% YoY
Market cap: $3.9B
Employees: 2,024; $1M revenue each
Net debt / EBITDA: -1.7×; −$801M net debt
AI in 10-K: 8.7; mentions per 10K words

Takeover score 3 of 13

Fixable underperformance 1 of 7

TSR below peersYes
4 of 5 years
3+ of last 5 years
High CEO pay despite TSRNo
$12M median
Median CEO pay ≥ $15M while TSR trails
Earnings not backed by cashNo
147% of net income
Cash flow under 80% of net income
Dilutive SBCNo
2% of revenue
Over 10% of revenue
Payouts exceed cash flowNo
53% of cash flow
Buybacks + dividends over cash flow
Goodwill-heavyNo
25% of assets
Over 40% of assets
Shareholder dissentNo
—
Any vote under 80% support

Buyer economics 2 of 4

Low revenue per employeeNo
$1M · 85th pct
Bottom quartile of its SIC industry
Quiet on AINo
8.7 per 10K words · 91st pct
Bottom quartile of AI mentions in 10-Ks
Net cashYes
Net cash · 1.7× EBITDA
More cash than debt, positive EBITDA
Buyout-sizedYes
$3.9B market cap
Market cap $500M–$5B

Catalysts 0 of 2

Active 13DNo
0 filings
Active-intent 13D in 18 months
Net insider sellingNo
−$982K net
Net sales over $10M in 12 months

Financials

Metric	FY2022	FY2023	FY2024	FY2025	FY2026	YoY	Trend
Revenue	$2.6B	$2.9B	$2.8B	$2.8B	$2.9B	6.4%
Operating income	$470M	$316M	$213M	$346M	$375M	8.2%
Net income	$331M	$213M	$173M	$251M	$281M	12%
Operating cash flow	$502M	$344M	$284M	$364M	$414M	14%
Capex	$49M	$70M	$55M	$62M	$90M	44%
Stock-based comp	$29M	$36M	$40M	$48M	$48M	0.6%
Buybacks	$96M	$95M	$53M	$89M	$116M	30%
Dividends	$27M	$33M	$54M	$84M	$105M	25%

Deal filings

None.

13D filers

None on file.

Insider trading

Open-market buys, 12 mo: $0 · 0
Open-market sells, 12 mo: $982K · 4
Net: −$982K

Pay vs performance

Year	CEO total comp	Comp actually paid	TSR (indexed)	Peer TSR
FY2026	$16M	$20M	107	73
FY2025	$15M	$17M	96	103
FY2024	$12M	$21M	93	108
FY2023	$12M	$5M	72	94
FY2022	$10M	$7M	91	99