Why Kforce Shares Cratered

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of staffing service specialist Kforce plunged 16% today after its quarterly results missed Wall Street expectations.

So what: The stock has slumped in recent weeks on concerns over slowing growth, and today's second-quarter results -- adjusted EPS slumped 25%, while revenue slipped 1% -- only reinforce those worries. Additionally, ADP's private survey results this morning indicated that the labor market is cooling, giving investors even more reason to doubt a near-term turnaround.

Now what: Management now sees second-quarter EPS of $0.19-$0.21 on revenue of $277 million-$281 million. "We are making progress toward our goal of accelerating revenue growth in the back half of the year, but there remains much work to do," CFO David Kelly said. "We remain confident in our strategy and long term prospects and expect to capitalize on the operating platform we have built to grow revenue and generate operating leverage." More important, with the stock now off about 25% from its 52-week highs, and trading at a forward P/E of 10, buying into that optimism might be worth looking into.

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The article Why Kforce Shares Cratered originally appeared on Fool.com.

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