CBZ

Get insights on thousands of stocks from the global community of over 7 million individual investors at Simply Wall St. CBIZ stock has delivered a 65.8% gain over the past 5 years, yet the current valuation checks give a mixed signal on whether the recent pricing still offers clear value. Over 5 years, a 65.8% return suggests CBIZ has rewarded patient shareholders. This raises the question of how much of that progress is already reflected in today's share price. Future revenue growth and margin execution can support the current valuation for CBIZ, while any pressure on profitability or cash flow reliability may limit how much investors are willing to pay for the stock. CBIZ screens as undervalued on market multiples, but the broader checks form a mixed picture, with the company passing 3 of 6 valuation tests here. The issue now is whether CBIZ's current share price still leaves enough valuation upside after a solid multi year return profile. Find out why CBIZ's -14.3% return over the last year is lagging behind its peers. The P/E ratio suits CBIZ because it is a mature services business that is already earnings focused rather than in a heavy investment phase. CBIZ currently trades on a P/E of 23.7x, which is slightly above the Professional Services industry average of 21.5x and also a touch higher than the peer group average of 23.0x. On those simple comparisons, the stock does not screen as obviously cheap. However, the model that blends CBIZ's growth profile, profitability, size and risk suggests a fair P/E closer to 26.6x. That leaves the current 23.7x multiple below this tailored fair level, which points to some valuation support on earnings even after the long run-up in the share price. The gap is not extreme, but it indicates that the market is not pricing CBIZ at a premium to what this framework would imply. On the P/E multiple, CBIZ stock currently appears undervalued relative to the fair ratio implied by its fundamentals. See what the numbers say about this price — find out in our valuation breakdown. Simply Wall St Narratives take the valuation puzzle around CBIZ's P/E and turn it into clear, testable stories about what would need to happen to revenue growth, margins and earnings for the stock to be worth materially more or less than it is today on the market. Each narrative ties its number to a specific view of where CBIZ's growth, profitability and risks could go next. You can revisit these views as new information comes through on the Community page. One of the top community narratives on CBIZ: 6% overvalued Read one of the top narratives on CBIZ Do you think there's more to the story for CBIZ? Head over to our Community to see what others are saying! CBIZ looks modestly undervalued on its tailored P/E view, although the broader set of valuation checks is only mixed. That leaves the stock in a zone where it is not obviously stretched, yet also not a straightforward bargain. The key swing factor from here is whether CBIZ can sustain the earnings profile that underpins its current multiple without slipping on margins or cash flow quality. The main question for investors is whether the current discount on earnings reflects a genuine opportunity or fairly prices the execution risk. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Companies discussed in this article include CBZ. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email [email protected]

Our analysts just identified a stock with the potential to be the next Nvidia. Tell us how you invest and we'll show you why it's our #1 pick. Tap here. Performance in the first quarter was driven by the successful completion of the first busy season as a fully integrated company, validating the scaled operating model. Organic revenue growth improved sequentially throughout the quarter, supported by a favorable market backdrop for advisory and project-based work. Financial Services growth was tempered by approximately 200 basis points due to intentional client exits based on risk standards and residual integration-related productivity impacts. The company is transitioning from AI-assisted workflows to agentic-based AI solutions to drive internal efficiencies and enhance client insights. Strategic convergence under a unified technology leadership road map is intended to differentiate CBIZ from smaller competitors who lack the capital to build proprietary AI governance. Management attributes the defendable moat in the middle market to the high bar for substitution in regulated environments where professional judgment and licensed accountability are required. Management expects organic revenue growth to accelerate in the second half of 2026 as integration-related headwinds and client attrition impacts abate. The company plans to expand offshore hours from 6% in 2025 to 10% in 2026, with a long-term target exceeding 20% to drive margin expansion. Guidance for the top end of the revenue range assumes continued favorable market conditions for non-recurring advisory services, which currently have 60-90 days of visibility. Strategic hiring targets include a 15% increase in validated producers within the Benefits and Insurance segment to bolster the new business pipeline. Capital allocation will prioritize deleveraging to a net ratio of less than 2.5x by 2027 while remaining opportunistic with share repurchases at current valuations. Benefits and Insurance revenue declined 4% year-over-year, impacted by the unexpected departure of a single producer and their team in February. Free cash flow improvement of $64 million was primarily driven by a one-time $53 million proceed from a final purchase price adjustment. The company intends to enforce restrictive covenants regarding a recent producer departure and has successfully enforced such measures in the past to protect its business. A presentation update moved the former National Practices segment into the Technology Services business within the Financial Services segment. One stock. Nvidia-level potential. 30M+ investors trust Moby to find it first. Get the pick. Tap here. Management does not view client-side AI as a pressing concern because the regulated environment requires professional expertise and licensed accountability that AI cannot replicate. The company utilizes value-based pricing, which allows them to retain the benefits of AI-driven efficiencies rather than passing all savings to the client. Management expressed high confidence in achieving mid-single-digit price increases for 2026, noting that current conversations show little pushback from clients. Favorable market conditions in the advisory segment support strong pricing power for non-recurring project work. CBIZ believes its size allows for investments in AI and talent upskilling that smaller competitors cannot match, creating opportunities to take market share. The technology road map is designed to allow the firm to move both upmarket and downmarket by offering differentiated, tech-enabled solutions. Management views the current stock valuation as 'quite undervalued' and considers repurchases highly accretive compared to other capital uses. Future repurchase activity will be balanced against the goal of lowering integration spend and improving DSO to accelerate deleveraging.

CBIZ (CBZ) came out with quarterly earnings of $0.91 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.73 per share. This compares to earnings of $0.95 per share a year ago. These figures are adjusted for non-recurring items. This quarterly report represents an earnings surprise of +24.66%. A quarter ago, it was expected that this provider of outsourced business services would post earnings of $2.28 per share when it actually produced earnings of $2.5, delivering a surprise of +9.65%. Over the last four quarters, the company has surpassed consensus EPS estimates three times. CBIZ, which belongs to the Zacks Consulting Services industry, posted revenues of $682.21 million for the quarter ended June 2026, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 2.46%. This compares to year-ago revenues of $683.5 million. The company has not been able to beat consensus revenue estimates over the last four quarters. The sustainability of the stock's immediate price movement based on the recently-released numbers and future earnings expectations will mostly depend on management's commentary on the earnings call. CBIZ shares have lost about 7.4% since the beginning of the year versus the S&P 500's gain of 8.5%. While CBIZ has underperformed the market so far this year, the question that comes to investors' minds is: what's next for the stock? There are no easy answers to this key question, but one reliable measure that can help investors address this is the company's earnings outlook. Not only does this include current consensus earnings expectations for the coming quarter(s), but also how these expectations have changed lately. Empirical research shows a strong correlation between near-term stock movements and trends in earnings estimate revisions. Investors can track such revisions by themselves or rely on a tried-and-tested rating tool like the Zacks Rank, which has an impressive track record of harnessing the power of earnings estimate revisions. Ahead of this earnings release, the estimate revisions trend for CBIZ was mixed. While the magnitude and direction of estimate revisions could change following the company's just-released earnings report, the current status translates into a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) for the stock. So, the shares are expected to perform in line with the market in the near future. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. It will be interesting to see how estimates for the coming quarters and the current fiscal year change in the days ahead. The current consensus EPS estimate is $1.29 on $724.48 million in revenues for the coming quarter and $4.07 on $2.84 billion in revenues for the current fiscal year. Investors should be mindful of the fact that the outlook for the industry can have a material impact on the performance of the stock as well. In terms of the Zacks Industry Rank, Consulting Services is currently in the bottom 30% of the 250 plus Zacks industries. Our research shows that the top 50% of the Zacks-ranked industries outperform the bottom 50% by a factor of more than 2 to 1. CRA International (CRAI), another stock in the same industry, has yet to report results for the quarter ended June 2026. The results are expected to be released on August 6. This consulting firm is expected to post quarterly earnings of $2.12 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +12.8%. The consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has remained unchanged over the last 30 days. CRA International's revenues are expected to be $198.35 million, up 6.1% from the year-ago quarter. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report CBIZ, Inc. (CBZ) : Free Stock Analysis Report Charles River Associates (CRAI) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

CBIZ (CBZ) is expected to deliver a year-over-year decline in earnings on higher revenues when it reports results for the quarter ended June 2026. This widely-known consensus outlook gives a good sense of the company's earnings picture, but how the actual results compare to these estimates is a powerful factor that could impact its near-term stock price. The stock might move higher if these key numbers top expectations in the upcoming earnings report, which is expected to be released on July 29. On the other hand, if they miss, the stock may move lower. While the sustainability of the immediate price change and future earnings expectations will mostly depend on management's discussion of business conditions on the earnings call, it's worth handicapping the probability of a positive EPS surprise. This provider of outsourced business services is expected to post quarterly earnings of $0.74 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of -22.1%. Revenues are expected to be $699.41 million, up 2.3% from the year-ago quarter. The consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has been revised 1.62% higher over the last 30 days to the current level. This is essentially a reflection of how the covering analysts have collectively reassessed their initial estimates over this period. Investors should keep in mind that the direction of estimate revisions by each of the covering analysts may not always get reflected in the aggregate change. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise Estimate revisions ahead of a company's earnings release offer clues to the business conditions for the period whose results are coming out. Our proprietary surprise prediction model -- the Zacks Earnings ESP (Expected Surprise Prediction) -- has this insight at its core. The Zacks Earnings ESP compares the Most Accurate Estimate to the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the quarter; the Most Accurate Estimate is a more recent version of the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate. The idea here is that analysts revising their estimates right before an earnings release have the latest information, which could potentially be more accurate than what they and others contributing to the consensus had predicted earlier. Thus, a positive or negative Earnings ESP reading theoretically indicates the likely deviation of the actual earnings from the consensus estimate. However, the model's predictive power is significant for positive ESP readings only. A positive Earnings ESP is a strong predictor of an earnings beat, particularly when combined with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold). Our research shows that stocks with this combination produce a positive surprise nearly 70% of the time, and a solid Zacks Rank actually increases the predictive power of Earnings ESP. Please note that a negative Earnings ESP reading is not indicative of an earnings miss. Our research shows that it is difficult to predict an earnings beat with any degree of confidence for stocks with negative Earnings ESP readings and/or Zacks Rank of 4 (Sell) or 5 (Strong Sell). For CBIZ, the Most Accurate Estimate is lower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate, suggesting that analysts have recently become bearish on the company's earnings prospects. This has resulted in an Earnings ESP of -4.41%. On the other hand, the stock currently carries a Zacks Rank of #3. So, this combination makes it difficult to conclusively predict that CBIZ will beat the consensus EPS estimate. While calculating estimates for a company's future earnings, analysts often consider to what extent it has been able to match past consensus estimates. So, it's worth taking a look at the surprise history for gauging its influence on the upcoming number. For the last reported quarter, it was expected that CBIZ would post earnings of $2.28 per share when it actually produced earnings of $2.50, delivering a surprise of +9.65%. Over the last four quarters, the company has beaten consensus EPS estimates three times. An earnings beat or miss may not be the sole basis for a stock moving higher or lower. Many stocks end up losing ground despite an earnings beat due to other factors that disappoint investors. Similarly, unforeseen catalysts help a number of stocks gain despite an earnings miss. That said, betting on stocks that are expected to beat earnings expectations does increase the odds of success. This is why it's worth checking a company's Earnings ESP and Zacks Rank ahead of its quarterly release. Make sure to utilize our Earnings ESP Filter to uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they've reported. CBIZ doesn't appear a compelling earnings-beat candidate. However, investors should pay attention to other factors too for betting on this stock or staying away from it ahead of its earnings release. Stay on top of upcoming earnings announcements with the Zacks Earnings Calendar. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report CBIZ, Inc. (CBZ) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

Let’s dig into the relative performance of CBIZ (NYSE:CBZ) and its peers as we unravel the now-completed Q1 business process outsourcing & consulting earnings season. The sector stands to benefit from ongoing digital transformation, increasing corporate demand for cost efficiencies, and the growing complexity of regulatory and cybersecurity landscapes. For those that invest wisely, AI and automation capabilities could emerge as competitive advantages, enhancing process efficiencies for the companies themselves as well as their clients. On the flip side, AI could be a headwind as well as the technology could lower the barrier to entry in the space and give rise to more self-service solutions. Additional challenges in the years ahead could include wage inflation for highly skilled consultants and potential regulatory scrutiny on outsourcing practices—especially in industries like finance and healthcare where who has access to certain data matters greatly. The 8 business process outsourcing & consulting stocks we track reported a mixed Q1. As a group, revenues beat analysts’ consensus estimates by 1.4% while next quarter’s revenue guidance was 1.3% below. In light of this news, share prices of the companies have held steady as they are up 1.5% on average since the latest earnings results. With over 120 offices across 33 states and a team of more than 6,700 professionals, CBIZ (NYSE:CBZ) provides accounting, tax, benefits, insurance brokerage, and advisory services to help small and mid-sized businesses manage their finances and operations. CBIZ reported revenues of $848.6 million, up 1.3% year on year. This print fell short of analysts’ expectations by 0.6%, but it was still a very strong quarter for the company with a solid beat of analysts’ full-year EPS guidance estimates and a beat of analysts’ EPS estimates. CBIZ achieved the highest full-year guidance raise but had the weakest performance against analyst estimates and slowest revenue growth of the whole group. Unsurprisingly, the stock is up 26.1% since reporting and currently trades at $41.84. Read why we think that CBIZ is one of the best business process outsourcing & consulting stocks, our full report is free. From serving hot dogs at major league stadiums to managing college dining halls that feed thousands daily, Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) provides food services and facilities management to schools, healthcare facilities, businesses, sports venues, and correctional institutions across 16 countries. Aramark reported revenues of $4.91 billion, up 14.7% year on year, outperforming analysts’ expectations by 3.1%. The business had a strong quarter with a beat of analysts’ EPS estimates. Aramark pulled off the fastest revenue growth in the group. The market seems happy with the results as the stock is up 26.7% since reporting. It currently trades at $56.45. Is now the time to buy Aramark? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it’s free. With a team of approximately 450,000 employees across 75 countries, Concentrix (NASDAQ:CNXC) designs and delivers customer experience solutions that help global brands manage their customer interactions across digital channels and contact centers. Concentrix reported revenues of $2.46 billion, up 1.9% year on year, in line with analysts’ expectations. It was a softer quarter as it posted a significant miss of analysts’ EPS guidance for next quarter estimates and full-year revenue guidance slightly missing analysts’ expectations. Concentrix delivered the weakest guidance update and weakest full-year guidance update of the whole group. As expected, the stock is down 3.4% since the results and currently trades at $24.38. Read our full analysis of Concentrix’s results here. Originally spun off from General Electric in 2005 to provide business process services, Genpact (NYSE:G) is a global professional services firm that helps businesses transform their operations through digital technology, AI, and data analytics solutions. Genpact reported revenues of $1.30 billion, up 6.7% year on year. This result beat analysts’ expectations by 0.5%. More broadly, it was a mixed quarter as it also recorded a beat of analysts’ EPS estimates but revenue guidance for next quarter slightly missing analysts’ expectations. Genpact achieved the highest guidance raise among its peers. The stock is down 11.1% since reporting and currently trades at $30.64. Read our full, actionable report on Genpact here, it’s free. Often retained for high-stakes matters with multibillion-dollar implications, CRA International (NASDAQ:CRAI) provides economic, financial, and management consulting services to corporations, law firms, and government agencies for litigation, regulatory proceedings, and business strategy. CRA reported revenues of $201 million, up 10.5% year on year. This number surpassed analysts’ expectations by 3.7%. Overall, it was a satisfactory quarter for the company. CRA pulled off the biggest analyst estimate beat in the group. The stock is up 12.3% since reporting and currently trades at $171.44. Read our full, actionable report on CRA here, it’s free. Over the past year, investors have been forced to repeatedly answer the same question: what is the market’s biggest risk? The answer has changed several times, and each shift has reshaped market leadership. Late in 2025 and early 2026, artificial intelligence became the market’s primary uncertainty. Investors questioned whether AI would erode software pricing power and weaken competitive moats as AI made it easier to replicate once-differentiated products. By the spring, technology took a back seat to geopolitics. The U.S. conflict with Iran briefly became the market’s dominant narrative, raising concerns about oil prices, inflation, and global growth. But as energy markets remained orderly and fears of a prolonged supply disruption faded, investors quickly turned their focus back to fundamentals. Want to invest in winners with rock-solid fundamentals? Check out our 9 Best Market-Beating Stocks and add them to your watchlist. These companies are poised for growth regardless of the political or macroeconomic climate.

CBIZ (CBZ) came out with quarterly earnings of $2.5 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.28 per share. This compares to earnings of $2.29 per share a year ago. These figures are adjusted for non-recurring items. This quarterly report represents an earnings surprise of +9.72%. A quarter ago, it was expected that this provider of outsourced business services would post a loss of $0.66 per share when it actually produced a loss of $0.7, delivering a surprise of -6.06%. Over the last four quarters, the company has surpassed consensus EPS estimates three times. CBIZ, which belongs to the Zacks Consulting Services industry, posted revenues of $848.58 million for the quarter ended March 2026, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.41%. This compares to year-ago revenues of $838.01 million. The company has not been able to beat consensus revenue estimates over the last four quarters. The sustainability of the stock's immediate price movement based on the recently-released numbers and future earnings expectations will mostly depend on management's commentary on the earnings call. CBIZ shares have lost about 35.6% since the beginning of the year versus the S&P 500's gain of 4.3%. While CBIZ has underperformed the market so far this year, the question that comes to investors' minds is: what's next for the stock? There are no easy answers to this key question, but one reliable measure that can help investors address this is the company's earnings outlook. Not only does this include current consensus earnings expectations for the coming quarter(s), but also how these expectations have changed lately. Empirical research shows a strong correlation between near-term stock movements and trends in earnings estimate revisions. Investors can track such revisions by themselves or rely on a tried-and-tested rating tool like the Zacks Rank, which has an impressive track record of harnessing the power of earnings estimate revisions. Ahead of this earnings release, the estimate revisions trend for CBIZ was mixed. While the magnitude and direction of estimate revisions could change following the company's just-released earnings report, the current status translates into a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) for the stock. So, the shares are expected to perform in line with the market in the near future. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. It will be interesting to see how estimates for the coming quarters and the current fiscal year change in the days ahead. The current consensus EPS estimate is $0.80 on $700.08 million in revenues for the coming quarter and $3.78 on $2.84 billion in revenues for the current fiscal year. Investors should be mindful of the fact that the outlook for the industry can have a material impact on the performance of the stock as well. In terms of the Zacks Industry Rank, Consulting Services is currently in the top 40% of the 250 plus Zacks industries. Our research shows that the top 50% of the Zacks-ranked industries outperform the bottom 50% by a factor of more than 2 to 1. Hackett Group (HCKT), another stock in the same industry, has yet to report results for the quarter ended March 2026. The results are expected to be released on May 5. This consulting company is expected to post quarterly earnings of $0.35 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of -14.6%. The consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has remained unchanged over the last 30 days. Hackett Group's revenues are expected to be $71.65 million, down 6% from the year-ago quarter. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report CBIZ, Inc. (CBZ) : Free Stock Analysis Report The Hackett Group, Inc. (HCKT) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

CBIZ reported Q1 revenue of $849 million (+1.3% YoY) with adjusted EBITDA of $244 million and adjusted EPS of $2.50, and management reaffirmed 2026 revenue and FCF targets while raising adjusted EPS guidance to $4.00–$4.10. Free cash flow improved by $64 million year‑over‑year, enabling about $63 million of share repurchases (~2 million shares YTD) and lowering net leverage to ~3.4x versus ~3.9x a year ago, with a target of <2.5x in 2027. Management is pushing AI and offshoring to drive efficiency and margin expansion—AI pilots show ~20% first‑year efficiency (potentially ~40% later) and offshore hours are planned to rise from ~6% in 2025 to 10% in 2026 (targeting >20% longer term); they also said ~200 bps of reported organic growth was temporarily lost to client exits and integration effects that should abate by H2. Interested in CBIZ, Inc.? Here are five stocks we like better. CBIZ (NYSE:CBZ) reported first-quarter 2026 results that management said were in line with expectations, with year-over-year increases in revenue, profitability, and free cash flow, alongside continued share repurchases and progress on integration and efficiency initiatives. President and CEO Jerry Grisko said the company entered 2026 with “a clear plan,” and that organic growth improved throughout the quarter and was up sequentially compared with the fourth quarter of 2025. He added that CBIZ remains confident it will “exit the year growing at our mid-single-digit organic growth target rate.” → Palantir Is Down 30%: Noise? Or a Signal to Accumulate? Chief Financial Officer Brad Lakhia reported consolidated revenue increased 1.3% year over year to $849 million, with organic revenue growth of 1%. Adjusted EBITDA rose $3 million to $244 million, and adjusted EBITDA margin increased 10 basis points. Adjusted diluted EPS was $2.50 versus $2.33 in the prior-year quarter. Grisko noted that first-quarter financial services organic growth continued to face headwinds tied to prior client exits related to risk and profitability standards and integration-related productivity impacts that shifted some tax revenue into the back half of the year. He said CBIZ estimated those temporary factors reduced reported organic revenue growth by roughly 200 basis points in the quarter and expects the impacts to abate by the second half. → Corning Beats Q1 Estimates but Drops 9% on Guidance Miss Lakhia said Financial Services revenue increased 2.1% year over year, with reported organic growth of 1.8%, driven by strength across core accounting, tax, and advisory. He reiterated that transitory integration-related client attrition reduced first-quarter Financial Services revenue by about 200 basis points; excluding that impact, organic growth would have been approximately 4%. In Benefits and Insurance (B&I), first-quarter revenue was $108 million, down 4% year over year. Lakhia said the decline was expected due to tough comparisons on project-related work and contingent commissions, with contingent commission declines “primarily driven by client attrition that occurred in 2025.” He added that part of the decline was driven by the “unexpected departure of a single producer and his team in February,” which he described as isolated, and said the company does not anticipate similar departures. Lakhia said the recurring portion of the B&I business “when normalized for the producer departure, was up approximately 4% in the quarter.” → Did Qualcomm Just Put Apple in Check? On the cost side, Lakhia said B&I adjusted EBITDA was impacted by the flow-through from lower non-recurring revenue items and by planned incremental marketing investments supporting growth initiatives. CBIZ spent part of the call discussing its AI roadmap and related investments. Grisko framed AI as an opportunity to drive efficiency gains and margin expansion, while reinforcing the company’s role in regulated, professional services environments. He said CBIZ’s value-based pricing model positions the firm to benefit from AI-driven efficiencies. Chief Information and Technology Officer Peter Scavuzzo said CBIZ has been building the foundation for AI deployment over the last several quarters and is now entering “the next phase,” including a company-wide rollout of “more advanced agentic AI solutions” after busy season. Scavuzzo said the company is using AI to reduce manual, repetitive tasks, which he said supports retention and talent recruitment. Scavuzzo cited an example from a test service in which an AI-based data extraction workflow is producing “20% efficiency” in year one, with an expectation that efficiency could grow to “40%” in subsequent years. He also described AI-driven workflows intended to improve the speed, quality, and consistency of RFP responses, allowing CBIZ to pursue opportunities it previously could not due to resource constraints. During Q&A, Scavuzzo was asked whether clients could use AI tools to unbundle services or pressure pricing. He responded that he does not believe tools can provide the “expertise and knowledge we can offer in the profession,” emphasizing that regulated environments require CBIZ’s professional accountability and experience. Grisko also said the company was not seeing meaningful pricing pressure tied to AI and technology, adding that clients expect CBIZ to gain efficiencies from sources such as offshoring, AI, and automation under its value-based pricing approach. Addressing competitive dynamics, Grisko said CBIZ’s scale enables investments smaller competitors cannot make, creating an opportunity to take share in the middle market. Scavuzzo added that AI and automation are “strengthening our position, and not weakening it.” Grisko said offshoring remains “a meaningful opportunity,” with CBIZ on track to increase offshore hours from about 6% in 2025 to 10% in 2026, supported by delivery partners in the Philippines and India. He said CBIZ plans over the next several years to expand hours completed outside the U.S. to more than 20%, which he said is consistent with comparable companies and could drive growth and margin opportunities over time. Lakhia highlighted free cash flow improved $64 million year over year, “primarily due to $53 million of proceeds received from the final purchase price adjustment.” He said that improvement balanced typical seasonal working capital use and supported about $63 million in share repurchases through the end of April. Net leverage declined to about 3.4 times from about 3.9 times at the end of the first quarter of 2025, driven primarily by growth in pro forma adjusted EBITDA and modestly lower debt levels. Lakhia said the weighted average fully diluted share count (including future acquisition-related shares) declined by 2.6 million shares year over year. Through April year-to-date, CBIZ repurchased approximately 2 million shares through open market transactions and under its right of first refusal program. He also reiterated the company’s leverage target of less than 2.5 times in 2027 and said management views repurchases at current valuation levels as “highly accretive” and intends to remain active and opportunistic. Management reaffirmed its revenue, adjusted EBITDA, and free cash flow targets for 2026 while raising adjusted EPS guidance. Lakhia said CBIZ continues to expect revenue of $2.8 billion to $2.9 billion (2% to 5% year-over-year growth). Adjusted EBITDA guidance was updated to $465 million to $475 million to incorporate a comparative stock-based compensation adjustment, while free cash flow guidance remained $270 million to $290 million, representing 60% conversion at the midpoint of adjusted EBITDA guidance. Adjusted EPS guidance increased to $4.00 to $4.10, reflecting a lower share count from repurchases through April and the stock-based compensation adjustment, assuming a weighted average fully diluted share count of about 60.5 million. On demand, Grisko said advisory market conditions remained favorable, citing “notable wins across risk advisory, credit risk, valuation, and private equity” and increased activity in the capital markets group as more clients evaluate transactions. He added that CBIZ has a favorable pipeline across Financial Services and B&I, and said it is the company’s expectation that revenue growth will improve each quarter through the year. CBIZ, Inc (NYSE: CBZ), founded in 1996 and headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, is a leading provider of professional business services in the United States. Since its inception, the company has grown through both organic expansion and strategic acquisitions to deliver a broad spectrum of financial, tax and advisory solutions tailored to the needs of small to mid-market organizations. Through its Financial & Advisory Services segment, CBIZ offers accounting, tax preparation and compliance, audit support, and wealth management services. The article "CBIZ Q1 Earnings Call Highlights" was originally published by MarketBeat.

Image source: The Motley Fool. Wednesday, April 29, 2026 at 5 p.m. ET Chief Executive Officer — Jerome P. Grisko Chief Financial Officer — Brad S. Lakhia Chief Information and Technology Officer, President of CBIZ Technology — Peter Scavuzzo Jerome P. Grisko: Thanks, Chris. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us. We entered 2026 with a clear plan, and our overall first quarter performance was in line with our expectations. We delivered year-over-year growth in revenue, profitability, and free cash flow while returning value to shareholders through highly accretive share repurchases. Our organic growth improved throughout the quarter and is up sequentially compared to the fourth quarter. We remain confident that we will exit the year growing at our mid-single-digit organic growth target rate and be in a position to return to our long-term growth algorithm. As we will discuss on the call, we also advanced our strategic growth priorities and made meaningful progress on our efficiency initiatives while continuing to invest in our AI capabilities, and we believe that we are positioned to be the clear leader in the middle market. I want to thank our CBIZ, Inc. team members for their exceptional performance as we completed our first busy season as an integrated company, a significant milestone for our organization. Our teams delivered strong results for clients, coordinated effectively across the platform, and maintained solid utilization during our most critical period. We are operating fully as one company with unified teams, aligned culture and vision, common systems, and a strengthened go-to-market approach, and our scaled operating model is beginning to work as intended. In 2025, organic revenue growth was flat as we completed a year of significant transformation and integration. As we moved into 2026, we are beginning to realize the benefits of the foundation we put in place. Combined with a more favorable market backdrop, organic revenue growth improved as we progressed through the first quarter. Our Q1 growth in Financial Services was still impacted by headwinds related to prior client exits tied to our risk and profitability standards and residual integration-related productivity impacts that shifted some tax revenue into the back half of the year, as previously discussed and contemplated in our full year guidance. We estimate that these temporary factors reduced reported organic revenue growth by approximately 200 basis points in the first quarter. We continue to expect these impacts to abate by the second half. With our solid start to the year, we are reaffirming our revenue, adjusted EBITDA, and free cash flow targets while increasing our adjusted EPS outlook, reflecting confidence in our underlying earnings power and the impact of our accretive share repurchase activity. Now moving to slide six. We are advancing our four strategic priorities to drive growth. These priorities will strengthen our ability to win new business, retain and expand client relationships, and enhance pricing. First, CBIZ, Inc. continues to attract, retain, and elevate top talent. We are proud to have been recently named a top workplace in the nation by USA TODAY for the sixth consecutive year and see that reflected in our strong employee retention performance across the company. Also, we are capitalizing on the greater scale and investment opportunity of our new platform by bringing in high-caliber talent to CBIZ, Inc. Within Financial Services, our level hiring initiative is identifying and advancing high-impact, high-producing MDs with several new hires recently completed and a robust pipeline of senior candidates who are drawn to CBIZ, Inc. Within Benefits and Insurance, we have added a variety of net new quality producers in the quarter and expect high momentum to carry into the second quarter as we work towards our full year target of approximately 15% increase in producers. I am also pleased to have Peter on the call today. With Peter's appointment as Chief Information and Technology Officer, and President of CBIZ Technology, we are making a deliberate convergence: one leader, one platform, one roadmap. Peter brings close to 20 years of industry experience and is widely regarded as one of the leading voices in technology and AI in our profession. Second, we recently launched our 12 industry verticals, which are an increasingly important driver of how we go to market and serve our clients. This structure was designed to lead with insights, anticipate client needs, and deliver coordinated, tailored solutions that drive stronger retention, accelerated growth, and reinforce our value-based pricing. We are making meaningful progress implementing this strategy, including the development of new industry-focused managed services that bring together capabilities across tax, advisory, and benefits to address specific client needs. We are seeing positive results from the greater connectivity these industry verticals provide for our national experts. In Alternative Investments and Real Estate, collaboration between our national experts is enabling us to secure a variety of new engagements in areas where clients were unaware of our capabilities. As we continue to strengthen our industry practices, we are seeing increased new client pipeline activity across several key verticals, including consumer and industrial products, capital markets, alternative investments, and construction. Finally, we are delivering a more coordinated client experience across our service offerings. With our highly recurring revenue base and strong client retention, our most immediate growth opportunity is expanding relationships with existing clients. We are already seeing good progress as we take a more systematic approach to cross-selling across services and geographies. We are systematically increasing the number of clients using multiple services, and we expect these efforts to contribute to organic growth over time. Taken together, we believe strong execution against these four priorities positions us to drive attractive levels of growth in 2026 and beyond. Now moving to slide seven. I have asked Peter to join us today to provide you with a more detailed walkthrough of how we are advancing our AI roadmap. But first, let me briefly reiterate how we are thinking about AI and why we believe our strategic approach to AI will be a catalyst for CBIZ, Inc. breaking away from many of our competitors. Our business is built on longstanding client relationships and services, often delivered in regulated environments that require licensed professionals to take accountability for outcomes. These engagements serve as a critical third-party validation for lenders, investors, and regulators, which creates a high bar for substitution and reinforces client stickiness. Further, our middle market clients rely on us for judgment, context, expertise, intuition, and ethics, and typically do not have the scale or capital to build and govern AI-driven solutions themselves. The combination of our trusted relationship with our clients and our continuing investment in improved tools, processes, and systems, including AI, create a defensible moat around our position with our middle market clients. We have also largely transitioned to a value-based pricing model, which positions us to benefit from AI-driven efficiencies. As we adopt AI, we expect it to enhance our ability to deliver insights, expand wallet share, and improve margins while reinforcing, not replacing, the valued role we play for our clients. With that, I will turn it over to Peter to share more detail on what we are delivering. Peter Scavuzzo: Thanks, Jerry. We spent the last several quarters building the foundation for how we deploy AI across the organization, and we are now entering the next phase of that work. Let me share what that will look like internally and externally, and how we see it creating shareholder value. Just last week, we began the full rollout of our latest internal capabilities company-wide, moving from primarily AI-assisted workflows to more advanced agentic-based AI solutions. We intentionally timed this rollout following busy season to ensure our teams could remain fully focused on client delivery during our most critical period. The maturity of large language models combined with the accessibility of advanced features within AI platforms and our own internal talent and execution has brought us to an inflection point where deployment risk is manageable and the productivity and efficiency payoff is measurable. Building on our commitment for ongoing AI-driven talent development, our latest platform release further strengthens professional growth and retention. Professionals join and stay where they are empowered to do meaningful work. By significantly reducing manual, repetitive tasks, our AI initiatives are improving retention and making us a more attractive destination for the next generation of talent. We are already seeing this in our recent lateral hiring discussions. As it relates to the technology itself, our recent advances in AI-based data extraction and structuring capabilities position us to deliver faster, more insight-driven solutions for clients across a wider range of services. For example, on the work we are performing in one of our test services, for year one our AI-based data extraction workflow is producing 20% efficiency, with our anticipation that in subsequent years this efficiency will grow to 40%. At the same time, we are also using agentic AI to support revenue growth by enhancing how we generate and pursue revenue opportunities. We are developing AI-driven workflows to improve the speed, quality, and consistency of RFP responses, enabling us to pursue opportunities we previously could not due to resource constraints. Beyond new client wins, AI-driven insights create natural conversation starters with existing clients, for example enabling us to benchmark client performance and flag opportunities that our professionals can then act on. This is one way in which we will expand our relationship and wallet share. As these capabilities scale, we expect improved win rates, faster time to market, and more differentiated offerings that support sustained growth and long-term value creation. Lastly, a critical part of our AI strategy also includes our partner ecosystem, which is the foundation for the tools we are putting in place. We are leveraging leading technology partners with deep expertise in our industries and combining those capabilities with our new AI platform, proprietary workflows, and our domain knowledge. All of this is packaged together to drive productivity and efficiency and provide innovative solutions to our middle market clients, which are historically underserved from a market perspective. Our approach allows us to move faster, reduce execution risk, and build a secure enterprise-grade foundation while remaining focused on what we do best—serving clients and delivering high-quality outcomes. Over time, this model gives us a scalable and flexible platform that can continuously evolve as AI capabilities advance. While still early on, we are making strong progress, and we will continue to update you as our capabilities develop and we drive results. Jerry, back to you. Jerome P. Grisko: Thanks, Peter, and congratulations on your new role. We believe that companies that successfully implement AI and automation will reap the benefit of significant efficiency gains, with the savings falling through to the bottom line, resulting in margin expansion. We expect that industry leaders will then take a portion of these savings and redeploy them to capture new revenue opportunities and accelerate organic revenue growth. By freeing our professionals from manual, time-intensive work, we expect a favorable mix shift toward higher-value, higher-margin advisory, project-based services; the deployment of new AI-enabled offerings, where compliance and professional judgment matter most; and improved win rates, as our scale and technology investments differentiate CBIZ, Inc. from smaller competitors. We believe that AI will be a turning point for our industry, with several breakout firms that have the scale and ability to invest in and train professionals to use technology to better serve our clients. At the moment, we believe that we are at the forefront of investing in and using these new technologies. Overall, we believe we are building the right foundation to leverage AI in a disciplined and scalable way, and we are excited about the role it will play in creating long-term value for our clients and our business. Slide eight details how offshoring continues to be a meaningful opportunity for CBIZ, Inc. We are on track to achieve our target of increasing offshore hours from approximately 6% in 2025 to 10% in 2026. Our partners in the Philippines and in India are delivering high-quality work, and our U.S. teams are better engaging our global teams, which gives us confidence that we can accelerate our initial investment timeline to further expand our global capabilities. Over the next several years, with the benefit of our existing offshore delivery centers, we plan to expand hours completed outside the U.S. to more than 20%. We believe achieving these levels, which are consistent with comparable companies, will drive significant growth and margin opportunities over time. To wrap up my remarks, I want to comment on the current business climate and our outlook. As I shared last quarter, our assumptions regarding the level of project-based activity largely drive the range of our 2% to 5% organic revenue growth outlook. With that in mind, I would like to highlight a few encouraging trends we have seen since our last call. First, the market environment for advisory work has continued to be favorable, with notable wins across risk advisory, credit risk, valuation, and private equity driving strong pipeline momentum. Second, we are seeing increased activity in our capital markets group, with more clients evaluating transactions as market conditions improve. Third, we are very pleased to have a favorable pipeline of new prospects across both Financial Services and B&I, and we expect our pipeline to continue to grow. It is our expectation that revenue growth should continue to improve each quarter as we move through the year. Finally, as Brad will discuss in more detail, we are pleased with the strong free cash flow we are generating, and we will continue to redeploy that into debt repayment and opportunistically repurchasing stock at highly accretive valuations to create value for our shareholders. Now I would like to turn the call over to Brad for our financial review. Thank you, Jerry, and hello, everyone. Brad S. Lakhia: My comments begin on slide 10. Our first quarter results represented a solid start to the year and were in line with our overall expectations. Consolidated revenue increased 1.3% year over year to $849 million, with organic revenue growth of 1%. Adjusted EBITDA increased $3 million year over year to $244 million, and adjusted EBITDA margin increased slightly by 10 basis points. Adjusted diluted earnings per share was $2.50 compared to $2.33 in the first quarter of last year, a 7% increase reflecting the strength of our business model, synergies we are capturing through enhanced size and scale, and a lower share count. Turning to slide 11. We remain very pleased with our free cash flow performance, which drives and supports our capital allocation priorities. Free cash flow improved $64 million year over year, primarily due to $53 million of proceeds received from the final purchase price adjustment. This improvement balanced our typical peak seasonal working capital use and enabled us to fund approximately $63 million in share repurchases through April. Net leverage decreased to approximately 3.4 times compared to approximately 3.9 times at the end of 2025. The improvement was primarily driven by growth in pro forma adjusted EBITDA along with modestly lower debt levels. Our weighted average fully diluted share count, which includes all future shares to be issued as part of the acquisition, declined by 2.6 million shares year over year. Year-to-date through April, we have repurchased approximately 2 million shares through open market transactions and under our right-of-first-refusal program. Moving to slide 12. Please note a presentation update for this quarter. Our Financial Services segment now includes our former National Practices segment, which is now part of our technology services business. All figures presented today reflect this change and are on a comparable year-over-year basis. Turning to performance, Financial Services had a solid start to the year, with results in line with our expectations. Revenue increased 2.1% driven by strength across core accounting, tax, and advisory, and resulted in reported organic growth of 1.8%. As Jerry noted, results continue to reflect elevated but transitory client attrition related to the integration. We estimate this reduced first-quarter Financial Services revenue by approximately 200 basis points versus last year. Excluding this impact, first-quarter organic growth would have been approximately 4%. Looking ahead, we expect organic growth to accelerate as we lap these attrition and integration-related productivity impacts in the first half and benefit from our growth initiatives in the second half. We remain encouraged by year-to-date new wins and a strong pipeline. In addition, favorable market demand for our advisory businesses continues with clear visibility 60 to 90 days out. On pricing, we continue to expect mid-single-digit rate increases, which are embedded in our planning assumptions. Our long-term Financial Services growth algorithm is unchanged, targeting mid-single-digit organic revenue growth and continued adjusted EBITDA margin expansion driven by top-line growth and operating efficiencies. Turning to our Benefits and Insurance results on slide 13. First-quarter revenue was $108 million, representing a 4% decrease year over year. Coming into the quarter, we expected revenue to be down in the first quarter due to tough comps on project-related work and contingent commissions. Contingent commission declines are primarily driven by client attrition that occurred in 2025. The remaining portion of the decline was primarily driven by the unexpected departure of a single producer and his team in February. This was an isolated departure, and we do not anticipate any similar departures. On the contrary, we expect our net number of producers to continue to increase. As a reminder, our producers are subject to certain restrictive covenants, which we have successfully enforced in the past and intend to do so with this departure. Within the recurring portion of the B&I business, which is consistent with the overall CBIZ, Inc. split of recurring versus nonrecurring revenue, demand fundamentals were strong, and our pipeline remains healthy. In addition, we continue to attract and develop new validated producers, and our industry-focused growth initiatives are gaining traction. The recurring portion of our business, when normalized for the producer departure, was up approximately 4% in the quarter. B&I adjusted EBITDA in the quarter was primarily impacted by the flow-through impact from the nonrecurring revenue items, as well as planned incremental marketing investments to support our growth initiatives. We are confident in our ability to grow at historical growth rates for the remainder of the year, with B&I supporting our full-year overall growth expectations. Turning to our 2026 outlook on slide 14. We continue to expect revenue to be between $2.8 billion and $2.9 billion, representing 2% to 5% year-over-year growth. Our adjusted EBITDA is effectively unchanged but is updated to a range of $465 million to $475 million to incorporate the comparative stock-based compensation adjustment. We have increased our adjusted EPS to reflect a lower share count driven by our share repurchases through April and our stock-based compensation adjustment. Adjusted EPS is now expected to be in the range of $4.00 to $4.10 per share, which assumes a weighted average fully diluted share count of approximately 60.5 million. Free cash flow guidance is unchanged and expected to be in a range of $270 million to $290 million, representing a 60% conversion at the midpoint of our adjusted EBITDA outlook. While our improvement in the first quarter was largely driven by a one-time benefit, we see ample runway in the near term to drive a higher conversion through lower integration-related spend, lower interest, and improved DSO. On slide 15, our capital allocation priorities are unchanged and are supported by strong free cash flow generation. Our first priority remains funding organic growth and maintenance capital. Second, we remain committed to delevering, targeting a net leverage ratio of less than 2.5 times in 2027. And at our current valuation, we view share repurchases as highly accretive and a compelling use of capital and therefore intend to remain active and opportunistic. The strength and scale of our business model, combined with our meaningful free cash flow, gives us confidence in our ability to invest in growth, return capital through repurchases, and achieve our leverage targets over time. With that, I will turn the call back to Jerry. Jerome P. Grisko: Thanks, Brad. Our top priority in 2026 remains reigniting our growth engine and leveraging our scale. We have clear strategic growth priorities and efficiency initiatives that we are confident will drive value creation for all of our clients and our shareholders. We believe we have the building blocks in place to deliver on our long-term growth algorithm. Now looking forward, we are focused on compounding value through multiple growth engines. We see tremendous opportunity to not only retain business and expand within existing clients, but also to land new clients who seek the multi-service capabilities we now offer. The work completed in 2025 has built a strong foundation for operating margin expansion as we increasingly deploy technology and leverage global resources. And importantly, we remain committed to our high-return capital allocation priorities that are supported by strong and consistent cash flow. Finally, I want to thank our CBIZ, Inc. team for your continued hard work and our shareholders for your ongoing support. We look forward to further engagement with you all in the months ahead. Operator, please open the call for Q&A. Operator: We will now open the call for questions. Ladies and gentlemen, at this time, we will begin the question-and-answer session. To withdraw your questions, you may press star and 2. If you are using a speakerphone, we ask that you please pick up the handset prior to pressing the keys to ensure the best sound quality. Once again, that is star and then 1 to join the question queue. Our first question today comes from Jeff Silber from BMO Capital Markets. Please go ahead with your question. Jeff Silber: Peter, let me start with you. I really appreciate you being on the call. Given the tools that are out there, do you think it is possible that some of your clients might be able to do some of the work that you are doing from an AI perspective on their own, perhaps unbundling some of the services and perhaps putting some pricing pressure on some of the services you are providing? Peter Scavuzzo: Thanks for the question. I do not think the tools are able to provide the expertise and knowledge we can offer in the profession. That is a requirement in the regulated environment that we operate in. They could certainly produce some anecdotal information, but the profession requires, especially in a regulated industry, that we provide the expertise and knowledge we have built over the last several decades, which are critical for delivery. So I do not see that as being a pressing concern. Jeff Silber: Okay, that is great. And you gave some examples of using AI more efficiently in terms of answering RFPs. Are there other examples, maybe from an expense perspective, that you might be able to use some of the tools to help improve margins? Peter Scavuzzo: I think it is too early for us to speak on all of the things we are working on right now. We just took this next phase, moving from an assistive to an agentic AI strategy. I would expect as the quarters unfold in the future, we will have more examples that we can provide, similar to the ones that you just brought up. Jeff Silber: Okay. Appreciate the color. I will get back in the queue. Operator: Our next question comes from Thomas Wendler from Stephens Inc. Please go ahead with your question. Thomas Wendler: Hey, good afternoon, everyone. Happy to be up to speed on the company finally, and thanks for taking my question. I am going to start off with the Benefits and Insurance. You had a departure there this quarter. Can you maybe remind us of the pace of increase to the producer count there in 2026? And can you speak to the cross-servicing opportunity as you get some of those Benefits and Insurance hires fully up to speed? Jerome P. Grisko: Yes, Tom, we are planning on having about a 15% increase year over year. It is a little lumpy from quarter to quarter, but we are off to a good start. We have a very strong pipeline, so we are confident that we will be able to achieve that 15% target for the full year. On cross-servicing, it is a great question. It is often why producers join us. When you think about our go-to-market through industry—and let us say you are a construction client—that construction client may not only need the tax work and attest work that we provide and the valuation work, but they also need surety bonds. They have a workforce and need payroll, and they have to provide health insurance. A very attractive draw to outside producers into CBIZ, Inc. is that they have all of those arrows in the quiver now, and they can bring it to life through those industry groups. It might be a combination of P&C, payroll, benefits, a 401(k), an employee benefit plan audit, tax, and a whole host of services. Brad S. Lakhia: Tom, thanks, first of all, for initiating coverage. We are certainly glad to have you on board and appreciate you and the Stephens team. I would just add to what Jerry said. About a year ago we formally stood up the 12 industry groups. As we think about the last twelve months—not only the work around integration but bringing these industry teams together—we are seeing a lot of really positive traction across the two segments and across all the service lines within the segments. We are encouraged about the pipeline of opportunities those industry groups are starting to pull together and are seeing some early wins as a result of that collaboration. Thomas Wendler: Perfect, thank you. And maybe I will sneak one more in here. You were pretty active in repurchases this quarter. Can you give us some color on how we should be thinking about the pace of repurchases moving forward? Brad S. Lakhia: Yes, Tom, thanks. We find it quite compelling, as I commented on, so we are going to remain active. We still have a lot of flexibility to do that, driven by our strong cash flow, supported by the recurring nature of our business model, the stickiness that comes with our client relationships, and the strong retention we have. We just feel like fundamentally our business can support continued repurchase activity. Operator: Our next question comes from Andrew Nicholas from William Blair. Please go ahead with your question. Andrew Owen Nicholas: Hi, good afternoon. I appreciate you taking my questions. I want to start off on price. I think you mentioned in your prepared remarks that you continue to expect price increases in the mid-single-digit range. Any color you can add on how clients are reacting, given efficiencies from offshoring and AI? Brad S. Lakhia: Really value-based pricing. Our clients expect that we are going to get efficiencies from a number of sources like offshoring, AI, automation, etc. We are really not seeing pricing pressure there in a big way. And the favorable market conditions within the nonrecurring advisory pieces of our business have continued. We have line of sight to that over the next couple of months at least, so we see pricing as fundamentally pretty strong in those parts of our business. Andrew Owen Nicholas: Great. And maybe just to follow up on the macro piece. It sounds like the backdrop has continued to improve. Understanding that is one of the major factors driving you between the top and bottom end of your top-line guide, are you a little bit more constructive on those things outside of your control than you were when you gave the initial guide? And more broadly, you commented that organic growth improved as you moved through the quarter—was that predominantly a macro comment, or are you getting some integration improvements helping you on a month-to-month basis as well? Brad S. Lakhia: A few things to unpack there. In terms of the guide, just like we said a couple of months ago when we put it out, the top end was predicated more on continued favorable market conditions—those conditions that we saw in the second half of last year. We are encouraged that we have seen those continue in the first quarter, and we have line of sight here for at least the next few months. A quarter does not make a year, and as we get into the second quarter, if the conditions remain the way they are as we look to the second half of the year, that would give us encouragement to the top side. Also, just as a reminder, in the back half of the year we will be lapping some of the integration-related productivity impacts and some client impacts as well. So as you think about the back-half growth rates relative to last year, keep that comparability in mind. Jerome P. Grisko: On the month-to-month cadence, January started off a little more challenging than we expected, largely because our teams were really working together for the first time in busy season, including using technology during busy season that for many of them was either new or updated. We had some bumpiness in January, we feel like we fully overcame that and then some as we progressed through the quarter, and if you look at February and March versus last year, we are starting to see the more core organic improvement as well. That gives us further encouragement around meeting our overall guidance. Andrew Owen Nicholas: Perfect. And if I could just squeeze in a quick modeling question. I think last quarter you outlined kind of a rough mix between first half and second half on both revenue and EBITDA. I think it was 55/45 on revenue and 70/30 on EBITDA. Is that still a good way to think about how the year plays out, or any puts and takes a quarter later? Brad S. Lakhia: Yes, that still applies. There might be some very minor tweaks, but overall that is still what we are expecting. Operator: Our next question comes from Faiza Alwy from Deutsche Bank. Please go ahead with your question. Faiza Alwy: Yes, hi. Thank you. I wanted to follow up on the macro questions. This is obviously the busy season for you, your highest-revenue quarter. As we think about the improvement in organic growth from flat to up 2% this quarter, how much of that is driven by improving market conditions versus better execution on your end because it is a busy season? Jerome P. Grisko: Hi, Faiza. I would say not improved macro conditions, but continued favorable macro conditions. As you indicated, we are exiting a heavy compliance portion of our seasonality. We will have another one in the third quarter. In between, it is more project-based, discretionary advisory work, which takes the type of climate that we are in to support that work. We are very comfortable—very pleased, actually—with the demand that we saw for that type of work in Q1. Before you buy stock in CBIZ, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and CBIZ wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $497,606!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,306,846!* Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 985% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 200% for the S&P 500. Don't miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of April 29, 2026. This article is a transcript of this conference call produced for The Motley Fool. While we strive for our Foolish Best, there may be errors, omissions, or inaccuracies in this transcript. As with all our articles, The Motley Fool does not assume any responsibility for your use of this content, and we strongly encourage you to do your own research, including listening to the call yourself and reading the company's SEC filings. Please see our Terms and Conditions for additional details, including our Obligatory Capitalized Disclaimers of Liability. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. CBIZ (CBZ) Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript was originally published by The Motley Fool

Management attributed the 1% organic revenue growth to a successful first busy season as an integrated company, noting that organic growth improved sequentially throughout the quarter. Financial Services performance was tempered by approximately 200 basis points due to intentional client exits based on risk and profitability standards and residual integration-related productivity impacts. The company is transitioning from AI-assisted workflows to advanced agentic-based AI solutions to reduce manual tasks and improve professional retention. Strategic positioning is focused on 12 industry verticals to deliver coordinated, tailored solutions that drive higher retention and support value-based pricing models. Management emphasized that their middle-market clients lack the scale to build internal AI solutions, creating a 'defendable moat' for CBIZ as a trusted, tech-enabled advisor. Operational efficiency is being driven by a shift toward offshoring, with a target to increase offshore hours from 6% in 2025 to 10% in 2026, eventually exceeding 20%. Management reaffirmed full-year revenue and EBITDA targets, expecting organic growth to accelerate and reach mid-single-digit rates by year-end as integration headwinds abate. The 2% to 5% organic revenue growth outlook is primarily sensitive to the level of discretionary project-based advisory activity in the second half of the year. Guidance assumes mid-single-digit price increases across the portfolio, with management reporting minimal pushback during engagement letter negotiations. The company plans to increase its net number of producers by approximately 15% in 2026 to drive growth within the Benefits and Insurance segment. Capital allocation will prioritize deleveraging to a net ratio of less than 2.5x by 2027 while remaining opportunistic with share repurchases at current valuations. A $53 million final purchase price adjustment receipt significantly bolstered first-quarter free cash flow and supported $63 million in share repurchases. The Benefits and Insurance segment saw a revenue decline driven by the unexpected departure of a single producer and their team in February; management is currently enforcing restrictive covenants. Integration-related productivity impacts shifted some tax revenue into the back half of the year, a factor already contemplated in the full-year guidance. The Financial Services segment was reorganized to include the former National Practices segment, now part of the Technology Services business. Our analysts just identified a stock with the potential to be the next Nvidia. Tell us how you invest and we'll show you why it's our #1 pick. Tap here. Management stated that AI tools cannot replace the professional expertise and judgment required in the regulated environments where they operate. They argued that AI strengthens their competitive position against smaller firms that lack the capital to invest in similar technology. Jerry Grisko expressed high confidence in achieving mid-single-digit pricing, noting that clients expect efficiencies from offshoring and AI but still value the firm's professional judgment. The firm utilizes a value-based pricing model rather than hourly billing, which allows them to retain the benefits of AI-driven productivity gains. Management reported 60 to 90 days of clear visibility into the advisory pipeline, which remains strong across risk advisory, valuation, and capital markets. They noted that while January was 'bumpy' due to teams using new technology for the first time, productivity improved significantly in February and March. One stock. Nvidia-level potential. 30M+ investors trust Moby to find it first. Get the pick. Tap here.

This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Release Date: April 29, 2026 For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript. CBIZ Inc (NYSE:CBZ) reported year-over-year growth in revenue, profitability, and free cash flow, aligning with their expectations. The company achieved sequential improvement in organic growth, with plans to reach a mid-single-digit organic growth target by year-end. CBIZ Inc (NYSE:CBZ) is advancing strategic growth priorities, including investments in AI capabilities, positioning itself as a leader in the middle market. The company has been recognized as a top workplace by USA Today for the sixth consecutive year, reflecting strong employee retention. CBIZ Inc (NYSE:CBZ) is actively engaging in share repurchases, which are expected to be highly accretive to shareholder value. First-quarter organic revenue growth was impacted by headwinds related to prior client exits and integration-related productivity issues, reducing growth by approximately 200 basis points. The Benefits & Insurance segment experienced a 4% revenue decline year-over-year, partly due to the unexpected departure of a producer and tough comparisons. The company is still facing elevated client attrition related to integration, impacting financial services revenue by approximately 200 basis points. There are concerns about potential pricing pressure from AI-driven alternatives in the market, although CBIZ Inc (NYSE:CBZ) believes its expertise provides a competitive edge. The company is in the early stages of deploying AI solutions, and it is too soon to fully assess the impact on margins and operational efficiencies. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 8 Warning Signs with CBZ. Is CBZ fairly valued? Test your thesis with our free DCF calculator. Q: Given the tools that are out there, do you think it's possible that some of your clients might be able to do some of the work that you're doing from an AI perspective on their own, perhaps unbundling some of the services and perhaps putting some pricing pressure on some of the services you're providing? A: Peter Scabuzzo, Chief Information and Technology Officer: I don't think the tools are able to provide the expertise and knowledge we can offer in the profession. That's a requirement in the regulated environment that we operate in. They could certainly produce some anecdotal information, but the profession requires us to provide all that expertise and knowledge that we've created or built over the last several decades, which are critical for delivery, so I don't see that as being a pressing concern. Q: You had a departure in the benefits and insurance segment this quarter. Can you maybe remind us of the pace of increase to the producer count there in 2026? A: Jerry Driscoe, President and CEO: We are planning on having about a 15% increase year-over-year. It's a little lumpy from quarter to quarter, but we're off to a good start and we have a very strong pipeline. So we're confident that we'll be able to achieve that 15% target for the full year. Q: Can you maybe give us some color on how we should be thinking about the pace of share repurchases moving forward? A: Brad Lacchia, Chief Financial Officer: We feel our valuation is quite undervalued. So as we think about current valuation levels, the level of accretiveness of share repurchases is quite compelling. We're going to remain active, supported by our strong cash flow and the recurring nature of our business model. We will continue to focus on opportunities to strengthen free cash flow and accelerate our delevering strategy. Q: I think you mentioned in your prepared remarks that you continue to expect price increases in the mid-single-digit range. Any color you can add to recent pricing conversations? A: Jerry Driscoe, President and CEO: We're highly confident in our mid-single-digit pricing that we put into the plan for the year. That is consistent with the pricing that we've achieved historically through CBIS. We really value-based price, and our clients expect that we're going to get efficiencies from a number of sources like offshoring, AI, automation, etc. So we're really not seeing pricing pressure there either. Q: Can you provide an update on the integration progress and your level of confidence in lapping churn due to the acquisition? A: Jerry Driscoe, President and CEO: We're not seeing the same conditions that we saw last year. The churn related to conflicted clients and the risk profile of clients has been addressed. The strength of our pipeline and the profile of new clients are very favorable, giving us confidence in our integration progress. For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript.