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SellModerate Confidence
Investment thesis

Korn Ferry has delivered four consecutive earnings beats at consistent margins and trades at an attractive 12.4x forward earnings, but with an earnings report due in two days, only 2.6% headroom to the near-term price target, and falling on-balance volume, the setup demands patience rather than immediate action.

Thesis pillars

  • Perfect Earnings Beat Streak→Stable
  • Attractive Forward Valuation→Stable
  • Earnings Binary Event Risk→Stable
  • +1 more pillar — see the Why tab for full reasoning

Full reasoning →

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Korn Ferry (KFY) Stock Analysis

Range Bound setup

SellValueModerate Confidence

Industrials · Staffing & Employment Services

Sell if holding. At $73.02, A.R:R 1.0:1 is below the 1.5:1 minimum. Reward from here is too thin for a buy — the engine flags exit. Additional concerns: Thin upside margin: 5.1%; V7 low-quality RISK_OFF penalty: -0.5 (Q=5.5).

Korn Ferry is a global consulting firm selling talent and organizational services across five solution areas: Executive Search, Consulting, Professional Search & Interim, Digital and RPO. It reported $2,730.1 million of fiscal 2025 fee revenue with 9,253 employees in 103 offices... Read more

$73.02+5.1% A.UpsideScore 5.9/10#2 of 9 Staffing & Employment Services
QualityF-score8 / 9FCF yield6.20%
IncomeYield3.01%(5y avg 1.35%)Payout38.94%sustainable
Stop $69.50Target $76.71(analyst − 15%)A.R:R 1.0:1
Analyst target$90.25+23.6%4 analysts
$76.71our TP
$73.02price
$90.25mean
$100

Sell if holding. At $73.02, A.R:R 1.0:1 is below the 1.5:1 minimum. Reward from here is too thin for a buy — the engine flags exit. Additional concerns: Thin upside margin: 5.1%; V7 low-quality RISK_OFF penalty: -0.5 (Q=5.5). Chart setup: RSI 55 mid-range, Bollinger mid-band. Score 5.9/10, moderate confidence.

Passes 7/8 gates (positive momentum, clean insider activity, no SEC red flags, news events none recent, earnings proximity 52d clear, semi cycle peak clear, materials cycle peak clear). Fails on favorable risk/reward ratio. Suitability: aggressive.

10-K grounded · weekly refresh

About Korn Ferry

About Korn Ferry

Korn Ferry generated fee revenue of $2,730.1 million in fiscal 2025 across five solution areas, led by Executive Search at $846.2 million and Consulting at $662.7 million, and reported net income attributable to the company of $246.1 million. The firm employed 9,253 full-time professionals in 103 offices across 51 countries as of April 30, 2025. Its 350 Marquee and Diamond accounts represented approximately 39% of consolidated fee revenue.

Korn Ferry earns revenue through custom consulting and talent acquisition engagements, embedded solutions, and subscription and licensed products from its Korn Ferry Talent Suite, where subscription and license revenue reached $137.7 million, up 5.1%. Professional Search & Interim contributed $503.5 million at an average bill rate of $133 per hour, Digital $363.5 million, and RPO $354.1 million, while Consulting billed an average of $439 per hour. The firm points to proprietary data, including over 108 million assessments, as a differentiator. More than 83% of fiscal 2025 assignments came from clients served in the prior three years, and about 25% of fee revenue came from cross-solution referrals. Consulting rivals named in the 10-K include AON, Deloitte, McKinsey, Mercer and Willis Towers Watson, while Egon Zehnder, Heidrick & Struggles, Russell Reynolds and Spencer Stuart compete in executive search.

Show full overview

Client and consultant concentration frame the main exposure. The Marquee and Diamond program share has more than doubled since inception, tying a sizable slice of fee revenue to a few hundred relationships. Within the firm, a small number of consultants generally hold primary responsibility for each client relationship, and the top six consultants generated business equal to roughly 3% of fee revenue and the top ten about 5%. Because a consultant's book is portable, a departure may move client work to a competitor. Starting or ending multiple RPO engagements may also swing fee revenue noticeably.

See also: Industrials · Staffing & Employment Services

From Korn Ferry's most recent 10-K filing, extracted October 11, 2026.

TrendMatrix Research · upcoming catalyst calendar

Upcoming dated catalysts

Tue, Dec 8, 202652d to earnings· next earnings call

Thesis

Rewards
Strong earnings beat streak (4/4)
Attractive valuation
Positive momentum
Risks
Thin upside margin: 5.1%
V7 low-quality RISK_OFF penalty: -0.5 (Q=5.5)
Sector modifier (Industrials): -0.7

Key Metrics

P/E (TTM)13.8
P/E (Fwd)11.4
Mkt Cap$4.1B
EV/EBITDA9.0
Profit Mgn9.5%
ROE14.5%
Rev Growth6.8%
Beta1.26
Dividend3.01%
Rating analysts9

Quality Signals

Piotroski F8/9MoatNarrow

Options Flow

P/C0.88neutral
IV137%elevated

Concentration Risks(10-K Item 1A)

  • MEDIUMCustomerMarquee and Diamond accounts39%
    10-K Item 1: 'our 350 Marquee and Diamond accounts represented approximately 39% of consolidated fee revenue'

Model-generated analysis — not investment advice. Not a registered investment advisor. Past performance does not guarantee future results.

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Performance. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Performance figures reflect the published model only and do not reflect any individual subscriber's actual results.

Methodology · Editorial policy & full disclaimer

Rating Breakdown

1 floor-breaker

Growth below the gate floor. Component breakdown shows what dragged the score down.static

Earnings Growth
3.1
Revenue Growth
4.2
GatesA.R:R 1.0 < 1.5@spotMomentum 7.5>=5.5Insider activity: OKNo SEC red flagsNEWS EVENTS NONE RECENTEARNINGS PROXIMITY 52d clearSEMI CYCLE PEAK CLEARMATERIALS CYCLE PEAK CLEARRange BoundSuitability: Aggressive
RSI
55 · Neutral
↑ 20D MA↓ 50D MA↑ 200D MAGOLDEN CROSSSupport $70.19Resistance $77.11

Price Targets

$70
$77
A.Upside+5.1%
A.R:R1.0:1

Position Sizing

ConvictionNone
Suggested %0%
Max %0%
RegimeRisk-Off

Risk Alerts

! asymmetry at 1.0 (below the engine's 1.5 threshold)@spot

Earnings

B
B
B
B
4/4 beats
Next Earnings2026-12-08 (52d)

Verdict History

reverse chrono — latest first
Loading history...
Verdicts are recorded on every nightly pipeline run. Rows capture transitions (verdict flips, score deltas ≥0.3, entry/TP/SL changes). Rows with a ▶ can be expanded to see the change reason. Aggregate cohort performance is tracked in the recommendation ledger.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is KFY stock a buy right now?

Sell if holding. At $73.02, A.R:R 1.0:1 is below the 1.5:1 minimum. Reward from here is too thin for a buy — the engine flags exit. Additional concerns: Thin upside margin: 5.1%; V7 low-quality RISK_OFF penalty: -0.5 (Q=5.5). Chart setup: RSI 55 mid-range, Bollinger mid-band. Prior stop was $69.50. Score 5.9/10, moderate confidence.

What is the KFY stock price target?

Take-profit target: $76.71 (+5.1% upside). Prior stop was $69.50. Stop-loss: $69.50.

What are the risks of investing in KFY?

Thin upside margin: 5.1%; V7 low-quality RISK_OFF penalty: -0.5 (Q=5.5); Sector modifier (Industrials): -0.7.

Is KFY overvalued or undervalued?

Korn Ferry trades at a P/E of 13.8 (forward 11.4). TrendMatrix value score: 7.9/10. Verdict: Sell.

What do analysts say about KFY?

9 analysts cover KFY with a consensus score of 4.1/5. Average price target: $90.

What does Korn Ferry do?Korn Ferry is a global consulting firm selling talent and organizational services across five solution areas: Executive...

Korn Ferry is a global consulting firm selling talent and organizational services across five solution areas: Executive Search, Consulting, Professional Search & Interim, Digital and RPO. It reported $2,730.1 million of fiscal 2025 fee revenue with 9,253 employees in 103 offices across 51 countries. Its 350 Marquee and Diamond accounts represented about 39% of fee revenue, and its proprietary assessment data and Talent Suite platform anchor its differentiation.

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