Overall verdict
Buy
7.6/10
1-year performance
+1.38%
Score breakdown
Up 1.4% over 1 year, 46% of the 52-week range.
Strongest: Financial strength 10.0/10. Weakest: Growth 3.4/10.
5 analysts, target +0.3% vs the price.
Korn Ferry, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of organizational consulting services worldwide. The company offers consulting services for talent strategies, organizational structures, and workforce capabilities; and develops, integrate, and commercializes with Korn Ferry Talent suite, as well as enabling technology across Korn Ferry's other solution areas. The company operates cloud human resources platforms comprising Korn Ferry Architect, for providing organization and talent planning architecture for an agile and future-focused workforce ;
Korn Ferry Assess, for empowering leaders to take actions that lead to business success ; Korn Ferry Listen, for deploying engagement surveys and benchmark employee engagement ; Korn Ferry Sell, for developing and replicating sales strategies ; and Korn Ferry Pay, a self-service pay solution, that provides global data and insights needed in real-time to make decisions on employee compensation programs.
It serves public and private companies, consumer markets, government and public services, financial services, healthcare, education, life sciences, industrial, technology, and specialties sectors. The company was formerly known as Korn/Ferry International and changed its name to Korn Ferry in January 2019. Korn Ferry was founded in 1969 and is based in Los Angeles, California.
Sector
Industrials
Industry
Professional Services
Primary listing
Nyse
United States
CEO
Gary Burnison
Founded
1969
Employees
8 965
Revenue / employee
327 790 USD
Next earnings
December 4, 2026 (estimated)
Institutional holders
- BlackRock, Inc.14.27%
- VANGUARD PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT LLC6.15%
- DIMENSIONAL FUND ADVISORS LP5.66%
- WELLINGTON MANAGEMENT GROUP LLP4.50%
- VANGUARD CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LLC4.16%
- STATE STREET CORP3.78%
- CHARLES SCHWAB INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC3.74%
- Invesco Ltd.3.25%
- AMERICAN CENTURY COMPANIES INC2.96%
- Other institutions43.29%
- Rest of the register8.25%
361 13F filings as of June 30, 2026: US managers above $100M, filed up to 45 days after quarter end. No insiders, no retail. A share on loan is declared by its lender and by whoever bought it from the short seller, so the total can exceed 100%.
Research uses the underlying stock’s market history. The purchase quote is calculated separately when you review your order.
52-week high
87.51 USD
52-week low
58.95 USD
1-year performance
1.38%
Rising
Year-to-date performance
12.04%
Rising
Drawdown
-17.64%
Marked drawdown
Position in the 52-week range
46% of range
Against the world ETF
Over 17 years, from September 2009 to August 2026, the share did clearly worse than the world ETF once risk is accounted for. It earned less, while shaking 3.0 times harder.
10,000 € placed at the end of September 2009 are worth today
| Korn Ferry | 73 712 € |
| World ETF | 74 620 € |
| S&P 500 | 123 025 € |
| Risk-free placement | 11 288 € |
The risk
- Shaking:the share moves 3.0 times as much as the world ETF.
- Worst fall:-65 % between August 2018 and March 2020. 10,000 € placed at the top fell to 3 495 €. The world ETF, at worst: -34 %. Back to its high in 15 months.
Korn Ferry kept pace with the world ETF since 2009
Value of 10,000 euros placed at the end of September 2009, dividends reinvested, in euros
- Korn Ferry: 73 712 €
- World ETF: 74 620 €
- S&P 500: 123 025 €
- Risk-free placement: 11 288 €
Share price without dividends; the world ETF and the index reinvest theirs. A dividend payer is therefore understated here.
Based on past performance. This is not a recommendation.
Range: 111.95 USD - 122.28 USD (2 methods agree)
The price implies growth of -1.02% per year; the company grows at 20.06%.
Gross margin 21.7%, net margin 9.2%, ROIC 11.1%, ROE 14.2%.
Net margin
9.24%
Exceptional
Sector 4.21%|S&P 12.97%
Gross margin
21.71%
Fair
Return on equity (ROE)
14.21%
Fair
Sector 15.69%|S&P 16.52%
Return on invested capital (ROIC)
11.11%
Fair
Free cash flow margin (FCF)
10.67%
Exceptional
Profit-to-cash conversion (FCF conversion)
1.15x
High
Margin stability
2.1 pts
Steady
Revenue to net income
Growth
3.4/10Revenue up 6.9% over 1 year, 10.1% a year over 5, EPS 20.1% a year over 5.
Revenue (trailing 12 months)
3.0Md USD
Revenue growth (1y)
6.86%
Solid
Revenue growth (3y)
2.61%
Moderate
EPS growth (1y)
5.26%
Moderate
EPS CAGR (5y)
20.06%
Exceptional
EPS revisions (3 months)
-3.92%
Revised down
Valuation
8.5/10P/E 13.6x, forward P/E 13.1x, EV/EBITDA 6.7x, PEG 0.68. The multiple sits in the 43th percentile of its own 5-year history.
P/E (TTM)
13.6x
Fair
Sector 17.6x|S&P 23.0x
Forward P/E
13.1x
Fair
EV / EBITDA
6.7x
Fair
Sector 9.6x|S&P 14.5x
PEG
0.68
Growth unpriced
Sector 0.40|S&P 0.86
Fair value (reverse DCF)
113.58 USD
Deeply undervalued
P/E vs its own 5-year history
among the 43% lowest valuations
In line with its history
Market cap
4.0Md USD
Financial strength
10.0/10Cash covers 137.6% of the debt, net debt/EBITDA -1.1x.
Net debt / EBITDA
-1.1x
Net cash
Gearing (net debt / equity)
-11.15%
Net cash
Cash
816M USD
Cash / market cap
20.23%
Very solid
Cash / total debt
137.63%
Net cash
Interest coverage
135.1x
Very solid
Net debt
-223M USD
Equity
2.0Md USD
Closed daily candles, 2 years
Last close on September 24, 2026: 72.00 USD
- MM2080.03
- MM5081.43
- MM20070.38
- RSI 1422.7
Top panel: closed candles, 20, 50 and 200-day moving averages, with volume in grey. Bottom panel: 14-day RSI with dashed 30 and 70 levels.
200-day average slope, 1 month
+2.32%
200-day average slope, 3 months
+5.17%
50-day average slope, 1 month
+4.79%
Price structure
higher-low
Bullish RSI divergence
No
20-day volatility
1.57 % per day
Volatility change
-9.74%
Forecasts by fiscal year
| Fiscal year | EPS | Normalised EPS | Revenue | EBITDA | Net income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2027 | 5.50 (2) | 5.57 (1) | 3 501 (5) | 601 (4) | 308 (2) |
Amounts in millions of USD, EPS in USD per share. In brackets, the number of analysts. Consensus as of September 21, 2026.
Same sub-industry: 57 companies behind the medians.
| # | Company | Code | Country | Overall / 10 | Fundamentals / 10 | Mkt cap | P/E | Net margin | Revenue growth | ROIC | Net debt / EBITDA | FCF yield | 1-year perf. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | BZ | 8.1 | 8.4 | 6.9Md USD | 10.2x | 53.2 % | 21.2 % | 24.3 % | -6.2x | — | -41.8 % | ||
| 2 | KFY | 7.6 | 7.0 | 4.0Md USD | 13.6x | 9.2 % | 6.9 % | 11.1 % | -1.1x | 7.9 % | 1.4 % | ||
| 3 | PCTY | 7.5 | 8.0 | 7.6Md USD | 29.0x | 15.2 % | 11.0 % | 19.4 % | -0.3x | 6.5 % | -13.5 % | ||
| 4 | 6098 | 7.4 | 7.0 | 149Md USD | 39.1x | 15.0 % | 18.9 % | 33.5 % | -0.7x | 3.1 % | 107.9 % | ||
| 5 | PAYC | 6.7 | 7.9 | 9.8Md USD | 23.6x | 22.8 % | 9.8 % | 28.8 % | -0.3x | 5.8 % | 0.4 % | ||
| 6 | ADP | 6.0 | 6.6 | 105Md USD | 24.1x | 20.1 % | 6.8 % | 40.5 % | 0.2x | 5.0 % | -8.8 % | ||
| 7 | PAYX | 6.0 | 6.6 | 37.2Md USD | 20.8x | 27.4 % | 5.9 % | 21.4 % | 1.1x | 5.4 % | -21.2 % | ||
| 8 | RAND | 5.6 | 5.0 | 7.3Md USD | 20.5x | 1.4 % | 1.8 % | 5.6 % | 1.6x | 9.2 % | 2.8 % | ||
| 9 | ADEN | 4.0 | 4.0 | 5.2Md USD | 15.3x | 1.3 % | 1.8 % | 4.5 % | 3.3x | 8.6 % | 15.4 % |
