Stocks · Industrials · Staffing & Employment Services
Barrett Business Services, Inc. BBSI
$31.23 +2.36% Close, Oct 5, 2026 · NASDAQ · Market cap $749.3M
Next earnings report: Nov 4, 2026
Scroll or pinch to zoom, drag to move. Daily prices adjusted for splits. Markers: E = earnings (green beat, red miss), S = split, D = dividend.
Three things to know
- The shares trade at 23.0× trailing earnings, higher than 90% of the company's own readings over the past five years.
- Diluted EPS over the last four quarters was $1.36, down 32.7% year over year.
- The diluted share count fell 5.7% in a year, mainly through buybacks.
PromtFinance scores
Each score is a percentile within the Industrials sector (0–100). Under each score: how the stock ranks in its sector on every component. As of Oct 6, 2026.
Growth19Very weak
How fast revenue, earnings and cash flow are growing.
- Revenue growth (TTM, YoY)Bottom 41%
- EPS growth (TTM, YoY)Bottom 21%
- Revenue growth, 3-year CAGRTop 46%
- Revenue growth accelerationBottom 20%
Quality48Neutral
Returns on capital, margins, earnings quality and balance-sheet strength.
- Return on invested capitalTop 27%
- Gross marginBottom 28%
- Operating marginBottom 37%
- Cash conversion (OCF / net income)Bottom 19%
- Accruals (lower is better)Bottom 16%
- Net debt / EBITDA (lower is better)Top 20%
- Interest coverTop 2%
Value68Positive
How cheap the shares are relative to earnings, cash flow and their own history.
- Earnings yieldTop 24%
- Free-cash-flow yieldBottom 39%
- EBITDA / enterprise valueTop 21%
- Sales / enterprise valueTop 8%
- P/E vs own 5-year history (lower is better)Bottom 14%
Momentum30Weak
Strength and persistence of the price trend, including versus the S&P 500.
- 12-month return excluding last monthBottom 18%
- 6-month returnTop 48%
- 1-year return vs S&P 500Bottom 18%
- Distance from 52-week highBottom 38%
- Trend checklist (0–4)Bottom 41%
Revisions15Very weak
Earnings surprises and analyst sentiment (estimate-revision history is being collected).
- Average EPS surprise, last 4 quartersBottom 12%
- Consecutive EPS beatsBottom 16%
- Share of analysts rating BuyTop 47%
- Upside to consensus price targetBottom 46%
Stability77Positive
Low volatility, shallow drawdowns, low market sensitivity and modest leverage.
- Volatility, 60 days (lower is better)Bottom 41%
- Maximum drawdown, 3 yearsTop 39%
- Beta vs S&P 500 (lower is better)Top 10%
- Net debt / EBITDA (lower is better)Top 20%
What changed
Latest four quarters versus the same period a year earlier (growth: versus one quarter earlier).
| Measure | Before | Now | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth (YoY) | 7.1% | 5.6% | ↓ |
| EPS growth (YoY) | -20.6% | -32.7% | ↓ |
| Gross margin | 21.8% | 19.8% | ↓ |
| Operating margin | 5.2% | 4.1% | ↓ |
| FCF margin | -1.0% | 1.2% | ↑ |
Fundamental momentum
| Measure | Now (TTM) | Year / quarter before | Sector rank | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth (TTM, YoY) | 5.6% | 7.1% | ↓ | Bottom 41% |
| EPS growth (TTM, YoY) | -32.7% | -20.6% | ↓ | Bottom 21% |
| Gross margin | 19.8% | 21.8% | ↓ | Bottom 28% |
| Operating margin | 4.1% | 5.2% | ↓ | Bottom 37% |
| Net margin | 2.8% | 4.5% | ↓ | — |
| Free-cash-flow margin | 1.2% | -1.0% | ↑ | — |
| Return on invested capital | 9.8% | — | Top 27% | |
| Revenue growth, 3-year CAGR | 5.6% | — | Top 46% |
Quality of earnings and balance sheet
- Cash conversion (OCF / net income)Above 1× means profits are backed by cash.
- 1.04×
- Accruals (net income − OCF) / assetsLower is better; high accruals can signal weaker earnings quality.
- -0.2%
- Stock-based compensation / revenueA cost to shareholders through dilution.
- 0.8%
- Receivables growth vs revenue growthReceivables growing much faster than sales can be a warning.
- +8.5 pp
- Net debt / EBITDABelow 1× is conservative; above 3× is high leverage.
- -0.04×
- Interest cover (operating income / interest)How many times operating profit covers interest.
- 629.4×
Shareholder returns
- Dividend yield (dividends paid, TTM)
- 1.07%
- Net buyback yield (TTM)
- 7.96%
- Shareholder yield
- 9.03%
- Share count change, 1 year
- -5.7%
- Share count change, 3-year CAGR
- -3.5%
Shareholder yield = dividends + net buybacks over the last four quarters, divided by market cap.
Based on the four quarters through Jun 30, 2026 (filed Aug 6, 2026).
Earnings and expectations
Earnings momentum
- Consecutive EPS beats
- 0
- Beats in the last 8 reports
- 4 of 8
- Average EPS surprise, last 4
- -75.5%
- Average 2-day reaction, last 8
- +0.8%
- Positive 20 days after report
- 5 of 8
Analysts
- Consensus price target
- $40.00
- Target vs current price
- +28.1%
- Analysts with a rating
- 5
- Share rating Buy or Strong Buy
- 60%
- Consensus rating
- Buy
How the stock reacted to recent reports
| Report date | EPS surprise | 2 days | 5 days | 20 days | 60 days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 5, 2026 | -6.3% | +0.1% | -21.7% | -15.7% | — |
| May 6, 2026 | -293.3% | -3.1% | -3.8% | +6.5% | +28.5% |
| Feb 25, 2026 | +0.0% | +1.3% | -10.0% | -6.1% | -0.1% |
| Nov 5, 2025 | -2.5% | +1.2% | -13.8% | -11.8% | -5.0% |
| Aug 6, 2025 | +7.7% | -0.2% | +6.3% | +9.2% | -9.4% |
| May 7, 2025 | +69.2% | -1.5% | +0.8% | +1.1% | +6.4% |
| Feb 26, 2025 | +1.6% | +0.4% | -3.3% | +2.3% | +3.1% |
| Nov 6, 2024 | +7.2% | +7.9% | +14.4% | +18.5% | +15.7% |
Returns from the close before each report. Past reactions do not determine future ones.
Earnings history
| Report date | EPS | Estimate | Surprise | Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 5, 2026 | $0.52 | $0.56 | -6.3% | $319.3M |
| May 6, 2026 | -$0.59 | -$0.15 | -293.3% | $307.0M |
| Feb 25, 2026 | $0.64 | $0.64 | +0.0% | $321.1M |
| Nov 5, 2025 | $0.79 | $0.81 | -2.5% | $318.9M |
| Aug 6, 2025 | $0.70 | $0.65 | +7.7% | $307.7M |
| May 7, 2025 | -$0.04 | -$0.13 | +69.2% | $292.6M |
| Feb 26, 2025 | $0.63 | $0.62 | +1.6% | $304.8M |
| Nov 6, 2024 | $0.74 | $0.69 | +7.2% | $294.3M |
Valuation in context
| Multiple | Now | 5-year median | 5-year percentile | Sector rank (cheapness) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| P/E (trailing) | 23.0× | 16.1× | 90th | Top 24% |
| P/E (forward) | 23.3× | — | — | — |
| EV / EBITDA | 10.8× | — | — | Top 21% |
| EV / Sales | 0.59× | — | — | Top 8% |
| Free-cash-flow yield | 2.07% | — | — | Bottom 39% |
| Earnings yield | 4.35% | — | — | Top 24% |
P/E over the past five years
Range 11.8× – 24.3× since Jun 30, 2021. Each point: price on the filing date divided by trailing-twelve-month EPS known then.
What moved the stock over the past year
- Price return, 1 year
- -29.5%
- Earnings per share growth (TTM)
- -32.7%
- Change in P/E multiple
- +4.9%
Most of the move came from earnings growth.
Technical state
Trend checklist
- ✗ Price above 20-day average
- ✗ Price above 50-day average
- ✗ Price above 200-day average
- ✓ 50-day average above 200-day
- ✗ MACD histogram positive
Trend quality
- Days above the 50-day average
- 0
- Days above the 200-day average
- 0
- 50-day average slope (20 days)
- -6.7%
- 200-day average slope (20 days)
- -0.9%
- Distance from 50-day average
- -8.0%
- Distance from 200-day average
- -6.5%
- RSI (14)
- 41.5
- Relative volume
- 1.14×
Risk and drawdowns
- Volatility, 60 days (annualized)
- 50.3%
- Volatility vs own 5-year history
- 97th percentile · High for this stock
- Beta vs S&P 500 (2 years, weekly)
- 0.53
- Correlation with S&P 500
- 0.23
- Current drawdown from 1-year high
- -30.4%
- Maximum drawdown, 3 years
- -45.4%
Largest declines in the past six years
| From peak | To low | Decline | Length | Recovery |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 4, 2025 | Feb 26, 2026 | -45.4% | 120 days | Not yet recovered |
| Nov 3, 2021 | Mar 1, 2022 | -31.2% | 80 days | 116 days (Aug 16, 2022) |
| Dec 2, 2022 | May 4, 2023 | -21.1% | 104 days | 129 days (Nov 7, 2023) |
| Jan 21, 2025 | Apr 8, 2025 | -14.2% | 54 days | 71 days (Jul 22, 2025) |
| Dec 17, 2020 | Jan 29, 2021 | -12.9% | 28 days | 15 days (Feb 22, 2021) |
Declines of 10% or more from a closing high, measured on daily closes.
Financial statements
- Market cap
- $749.3M
- P/E (TTM)
- 23.0
- EPS, diluted (TTM)
- $1.36
- Revenue (TTM)
- $1.27B
- Dividend yield
- 1.02%
- 52-week range
- $25.33 – $45.53
| FY 2021 | FY 2022 | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $955.2M | $1.05B | $1.07B | $1.14B | $1.24B |
| Gross profit | $204.5M | $234.8M | $242.5M | $253.3M | $260.9M |
| Operating income | $43.9M | $59.0M | $60.6M | $59.8M | $62.2M |
| Net income | $38.1M | $47.3M | $50.6M | $53.0M | $54.4M |
| EPS (diluted) | $1.25 | $1.64 | $1.85 | $1.98 | $2.09 |
| Q3 2024 | Q4 2024 | Q1 2025 | Q2 2025 | Q3 2025 | Q4 2025 | Q1 2026 | Q2 2026 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $294.3M | $304.8M | $292.6M | $307.7M | $318.9M | $321.1M | $307.0M | $319.3M |
| Net income | $19.6M | $16.8M | -$1.0M | $18.5M | $20.6M | $16.4M | -$14.8M | $12.9M |
| EPS (diluted) | $0.73 | $0.63 | -$0.04 | $0.70 | $0.79 | $0.64 | -$0.59 | $0.52 |
| FY 2021 | FY 2022 | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating cash flow | -$15.5M | $27.8M | $67.2M | $10.1M | $66.0M |
| Capital expenditure | -$6.8M | -$16.0M | -$11.8M | -$14.2M | -$18.8M |
| Free cash flow | -$22.3M | $11.8M | $55.4M | -$4.1M | $47.2M |
| Dividends paid | -$9.1M | -$8.5M | -$8.1M | -$8.1M | -$8.2M |
| Net share buybacks | -$17.3M | -$47.2M | -$34.2M | -$29.1M | -$44.8M |
Cash outflows are shown as negative numbers.
- Cash and short-term investments
- $67.9M
- Total assets
- $711.3M
- Total liabilities
- $507.5M
- Total debt
- $24.5M
- Net debt
- -$2.5M
- Shareholders’ equity
- $203.8M
As of Jun 30, 2026 (filed Aug 6, 2026).
Dividends
| Ex-date | Amount | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Aug 21, 2026 | $0.08 | Sep 4, 2026 |
| May 22, 2026 | $0.08 | Jun 5, 2026 |
| Mar 13, 2026 | $0.08 | Mar 27, 2026 |
| Nov 21, 2025 | $0.08 | Dec 5, 2025 |
| Aug 22, 2025 | $0.08 | Sep 5, 2025 |
| May 23, 2025 | $0.08 | Jun 6, 2025 |
| Mar 14, 2025 | $0.08 | Mar 28, 2025 |
| Nov 22, 2024 | $0.08 | Dec 6, 2024 |
Short interest
- Shares sold short
- 1,190,623
- Days to cover
- 7.30
- Change vs previous report
- +16.9%
FINRA short interest, settlement date Sep 15, 2026.
Stock splits
- Jun 24, 2024
- 4-for-1
- Dec 5, 2013
- 1-for-2
- May 20, 2005
- 3-for-2
- May 24, 1994
- 2-for-1