RHI vs FORTY vs BBSI Stock Comparison

Robert Half, Formula Systems (1985) and Barrett Business Services Prices as of Nov 5, 2026 Peers: Industry group
RHI Robert Half Inc.
$42.96 +27.6% 1M +67.0% 1Y
Market cap
$4.40B
P/E
35.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$5.30B
Div. yield
5.49%
Staffing Industrials
2 wins

Head to Head

10 decided of 12

Formula Systems (1985) leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Formula Systems (1985) 5, Barrett Business Services 3, Robert Half 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionRHIFORTYBBSILeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $4.40B $1.63B $731.58M RHI
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 35.3x 2.6x 21.1x FORTY
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 31.8x — 21.7x BBSI
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months -2.9% +24.8% +5.6% FORTY
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 2.3% 21.6% 2.8% FORTY
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 10.1% — –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — — — –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 5.49% 14.25% 1.05% FORTY
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +67.0% -27.7% -25.4% RHI
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -18.4%/yr -0.8%/yr +8.1%/yr BBSI
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 62.0% 56.1% 43.4% BBSI
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 44/100 86/100 52/100 FORTY

Percentile Scorecard

RHIFORTYBBSI

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisRHIFORTYBBSI
Valuation 50 #57 of 114 98 #2 of 52 64 #42 of 114
Growth 7 #91 of 98 91 #5 of 46 31 #68 of 98
Profitability 50 #48 of 95 83 #8 of 42 45 #53 of 95
Financial Health 47 #67 of 126 60 #25 of 61 53 #60 of 126
Shareholder Returns 66 #25 of 71 97 #2 of 30 70 #22 of 71
Overall 44 86 52
  • RHI ranked among 131 companies in Business Services
  • FORTY ranked among 65 companies in Technology Services
  • BBSI ranked among 131 companies in Business Services

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodRHIFORTYBBSISPY
1 month +27.6%-9.9%-2.8% -5.9%
3 months +5.6%-2.1%-8.2% -4.6%
6 months +56.8%-28.1%+1.6% +0.2%
Year to date +58.2%-36.2%-16.1% +7.5%
1 year +67.0%-27.7%-25.4% +8.2%
3 years -43.9%+69.0%+22.6% +68.3%
3 years, per year -17.5%+19.1%+7.0% +19.0%
5 years -63.8%-3.8%+47.7% +56.5%
5 years, per year -18.4%-0.8%+8.1% +9.4%
10 years +14.8%+178.1%+176.0% +251.5%
10 years, per year +1.4%+10.8%+10.7% +13.4%

Risk

MeasureRHIFORTYBBSISPY
Volatility, 1Y 62.0%56.1%43.4% 13.6%
Downside volatility, 1Y 50.2%85.9%54.3% 14.2%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.100.830.37 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 1.08-0.49-0.58 0.60
Max drawdown, 5Y -82.4%-55.5%-45.4% -25.4%
From 52-week high -6.4%-44.1%-26.0% -5.9%
52-week high $45.90$190.56$41.05 $779.14
52-week low $21.86$102.01$26.83 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleRHIFORTYBBSI
P/E now vs peer median 35.3xmedian 21.1x 2.6xmedian 18.8x 21.1xmedian 21.1x
P/S now vs peer median 0.8xmedian 0.9x 0.6xmedian 0.7x 0.6xmedian 0.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 28.0xmedian 11.7x —median 10.2x 10.9xmedian 11.7x
P/FCF now vs peer median 21.0xmedian 15.3x —median 14.4x 47.1xmedian 15.3x
P/B now vs peer median 3.6xmedian 2.3x 1.0xmedian 1.3x 3.6xmedian 2.3x
PEG now vs peer median -1.00median 0.88 0.02median 1.35 -3.60median 0.88

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsRHIFORTYBBSI
Revenue $5.30B $2.93B $1.27B
Gross profit $1.98B $580.29M $253.07M
Operating income $71.91M $249.80M $52.24M
Net income $121.73M $697.91M $35.08M
Free cash flow $209.23M – $15.52M
R&D – $21.15M –
EPS (diluted) $1.21 $39.97 $1.42
Cash & equivalents $321.29M $863.79M $27.04M
Total debt – $168.15M –
Shares (diluted) 100.31M 15.79M 24.71M
Enterprise value $3.01B -$1.27B $304.88M

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricRHIFORTYBBSI
P/E 35.3x 2.6x 21.1x
P/FCF 21.0x – 47.1x
P/Operating cash flow 17.9x – 20.0x
P/S 0.8x 0.6x 0.6x
P/B 3.6x 1.0x 3.6x
P/Tangible book 3.6x 1.0x 3.6x
EV/EBITDA 28.0x – 10.9x
EV/EBIT 56.7x 3.8x 12.7x
EV/Revenue 0.8x 0.3x 0.5x
EV/FCF 19.5x – 42.8x
EV/Operating cash flow 16.6x – 18.1x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -1.00 0.02 -3.60

Growth

14 metrics
MetricRHIFORTYBBSI
Revenue growth (1Y) -2.9% 24.8% 5.6%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) -7.3% 3.9% 5.9%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -3.6% 22.3% -3.3%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) -10.0% -3.2% 2.3%
Operating income growth (1Y) -39.3% 26.5% -17.0%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -50.0% 1.6% -3.1%
Net income growth (1Y) -21.7% 255.1% -34.9%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -36.3% 61.1% -9.2%
EPS growth (1Y) -21.9% 700.9% -30.9%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -35.2% 112.1% -5.9%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -16.1% – 854.5%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -30.3% – -4.5%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -11.6% – 234.5%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -32.4% – -18.5%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricRHIFORTYBBSI
Gross margin 37.3% 19.8% 20.0%
EBITDA margin 2.7% – 4.8%
Operating margin 1.4% 8.5% 4.1%
Pretax margin 3.7% 7.1% 4.8%
Net margin 2.3% 21.6% 2.8%
FCF margin 3.9% – 1.2%
Operating cash flow margin 4.6% – 2.9%
Return on equity 10.1% 40.1% 17.1%
Return on assets 4.3% 19.5% 4.7%
Return on invested capital – 10.1% –
Return on capital employed 5.1% 11.2% 15.4%
Asset turnover 1.9x 0.8x 1.7x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.0x – 1.0x
Stock comp / revenue 0.9% – 0.8%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricRHIFORTYBBSI
Debt / assets – 4.8% –
Debt / equity – 0.1x –
Net debt / EBITDA – – –
Debt / FCF – – –
Liabilities / assets 57.6% 52.8% 71.4%
Equity / assets 42.4% 47.2% 28.6%
Interest coverage – – 312.8x
Current ratio 1.5x 1.5x 1.1x
Quick ratio 0.8x 1.4x 1.6x
Cash ratio 0.2x 0.6x 0.2x
Altman Z-score – – 3.32

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricRHIFORTYBBSI
Dividend yield 5.5% 14.2% 1.1%
Net buyback yield 0.2% – 7.8%
Shareholder yield 5.6% 14.2% 8.9%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – –
Payout ratio (FCF) – – –
Dividend growth (1Y) – – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusRHIFORTYBBSI
Forward P/E 31.8xFY2026 – 21.7xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $1.35FY2026 – $1.40FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +1.5%FY2026 – -32.7%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +49.6% – +37.9%
Revenue, next fiscal year $5.51BFY2026 – $1.34BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +2.5%FY2026 – +8.0%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +6.5% – +8.8%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersRHIFORTYBBSI
Held by institutions 100.0% – 88.6%
Institutions holding 444 – 198
Change in shares held, QoQ +1.7% – +1.1%
Institutions buying 270 – 111
Institutions selling 117 – 55
Buyers to sellers 2.31 – 2.02

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

RHIFORTYBBSI
RHI 1.00 -0.03 0.39
FORTY -0.03 1.00 0.06
BBSI 0.39 0.06 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, RHI, FORTY and BBSI?

Robert Half (RHI) is the largest by market capitalisation: Robert Half (RHI) $4.40B, Formula Systems (1985) (FORTY) $1.63B, Barrett Business Services (BBSI) $731.58M.

Which stock is cheaper, RHI, FORTY and BBSI?

Formula Systems (1985) (FORTY) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Robert Half (RHI) 35.3x, Formula Systems (1985) (FORTY) 2.6x, Barrett Business Services (BBSI) 21.1x). On next year's consensus earnings, Barrett Business Services (BBSI) is cheapest (Robert Half (RHI) 31.8x, Barrett Business Services (BBSI) 21.7x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Formula Systems (1985) (FORTY) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Robert Half (RHI) -2.9%, Formula Systems (1985) (FORTY) +24.8%, Barrett Business Services (BBSI) +5.6%.

Which company is more profitable?

Formula Systems (1985) (FORTY) has the highest net margin (Robert Half (RHI) 2.3%, Formula Systems (1985) (FORTY) 21.6%, Barrett Business Services (BBSI) 2.8%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Robert Half (RHI) returned the most: Robert Half (RHI) +67.0%, Formula Systems (1985) (FORTY) -27.7%, Barrett Business Services (BBSI) -25.4%. Over five years, Barrett Business Services (BBSI) compounded fastest (Robert Half (RHI) -18.4%/yr, Formula Systems (1985) (FORTY) -0.8%/yr, Barrett Business Services (BBSI) +8.1%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Formula Systems (1985) (FORTY) has the highest dividend yield: Robert Half (RHI) 5.49%, Formula Systems (1985) (FORTY) 14.25%, Barrett Business Services (BBSI) 1.05%.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Barrett Business Services (BBSI) has been the steadiest (Robert Half (RHI) 62.0%, Formula Systems (1985) (FORTY) 56.1%, Barrett Business Services (BBSI) 43.4%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, RHI, FORTY and BBSI?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Formula Systems (1985) (FORTY) leads on 5. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.