TrueBlue (NYSE:TBI) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

TrueBlue (NYSE:TBI) announced its earnings results on Tuesday. The business services provider reported ($0.41) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.45) by $0.04, Zacks reports. TrueBlue had a negative net margin of 2.97% and a negative return on equity of 6.87%.

Here are the key takeaways from TrueBlue’s conference call:

• TrueBlue delivered revenue of $399 million (+8% YoY; organic +7%), with PeopleReady up 19% and skilled/energy work more than doubling—skilled businesses are approaching a third of staffing revenue.
• Management highlighted AI and proprietary platforms (JobStack, Affinix, StaffTrack) driving recruiter efficiency, higher fill rates and new demand from data-center power projects, with roughly one-third of active energy projects tied to data centers.
• Operating discipline showed through: SG&A fell ~8% while revenue grew 8%, and the company expects sequential gross-margin expansion and improved profitability in Q2 driven by cost actions and operating leverage.
• Gross margin dropped to 19.8% from 23.3% YoY, largely due to the non-repeat of prior-year favorable workers’ compensation reserve development and a revenue mix shift toward lower-margin energy work with pass-through travel costs.
• TrueBlue reported a net loss of $20 million (includes a $4M non-cash goodwill impairment), finished Q1 with $24M cash and $74M debt (total liquidity $60M), and plans to prioritize debt paydown over share buybacks until free cash flow improves.

TrueBlue Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of NYSE:TBI traded up $0.09 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $6.06. The stock had a trading volume of 574,788 shares, compared to its average volume of 316,277. TrueBlue has a 12 month low of $3.18 and a 12 month high of $7.78. The company has a quick ratio of 2.15, a current ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $4.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $4.64. The company has a market cap of $183.83 million, a P/E ratio of -3.78, a PEG ratio of 5.25 and a beta of 1.61.

Insider Buying and Selling at TrueBlue

In other news, CFO Carl Schweihs bought 12,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $3.72 per share, with a total value of $46,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer owned 289,069 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,075,336.68. This represents a 4.52% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Taryn R. Owen bought 20,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $3.79 per share, with a total value of $77,316.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 791,807 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,000,948.53. This represents a 2.64% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 8.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On TrueBlue

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Invenomic Capital Management LP grew its stake in shares of TrueBlue by 60.5% in the fourth quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP now owns 442,225 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,012,000 after buying an additional 166,660 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of TrueBlue in the fourth quarter valued at $53,000. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of TrueBlue by 25.7% in the fourth quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 122,100 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $556,000 after buying an additional 25,000 shares in the last quarter. Jain Global LLC bought a new position in shares of TrueBlue in the fourth quarter valued at $58,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of TrueBlue by 12.7% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 56,959 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $260,000 after buying an additional 6,400 shares in the last quarter. 97.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on TBI. Robert W. Baird set a $5.50 target price on shares of TrueBlue in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of TrueBlue from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, April 4th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of TrueBlue from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of TrueBlue from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $5.75.

TrueBlue Company Profile

TrueBlue, Inc is a Tacoma, Washington–based workforce solutions provider specializing in temporary staffing, permanent placement and managed service solutions. Operating through its subsidiaries and brands, TrueBlue connects clients across manufacturing, logistics, retail, construction and public sector markets with skilled professionals for both short-term and long-term engagements. The company’s offerings encompass on-demand blue-collar labor, specialized industrial staffing, recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) and contingent workforce management.

TrueBlue’s primary service lines include PeopleReady, which supplies general labor for construction, hospitality and event services; PeopleManagement, which focuses on technical and industrial professionals; PeopleScout, a global RPO business offering end-to-end talent acquisition and consulting; and Staff Management | SMX, which delivers seasonal staffing for large-scale events, amusement parks and federal workforce contracts.