ManpowerGroup MAN reported impressive first-quarter 2026 results, with both earnings and revenues beating the respective Zacks Consensus Estimate.
MAN’s adjusted earnings (excluding 46 cents from non-recurring items) were 51 cents per share, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 1 cent and increased 16% from the year-ago quarter’s level. Total revenues were $4.5 billion, which beat the consensus estimate by $171.4 million and improved 10.3% on a year-over-year basis.
ManpowerGroup Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
ManpowerGroup Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | ManpowerGroup Inc. Quote
MAN’s shares have lost 22.7% over the past year compared with a 27.4% decline of the industry. The Zacks S&P 500 composite has risen 37.3% over the said time frame.
MAN: Other Quarterly Details
Revenues from America of $1.15 billion were above our expectations of $1.05 billion and increased 5.6% year over year on a reported basis. In the United States, revenues reached $654.9 million, falling short of our estimate of $674.2 million and declining 4.9% year over year. In the Other Americas subgroup, revenues of $460.7 million beat our projection of $383.2 million and increased 25.2% year over year on a reported basis.
Revenues from Southern Europe of $2.10 billion were above our projection of $2.03 billion, rising 14.6% year over year on a reported basis. Revenues from France were $1.06 billion, above our $949.5 million expectation and up 10.7% year over year on a reported basis. Revenues from Italy amounted to $474.7 million, which missed our estimate of $487.5 million but increased 19.3% year over year on a reported basis. The Other Southern Europe sub-segment generated revenues of $558 million, which missed our expectation of $599.3 million but rose 18.6% year over year on a reported basis.
Northern Europe revenues rose 8.1% year over year on a reported basis to $790.1 million, exceeding our estimate of $760.2 million. Asia Pacific and Middle East revenues totaled $510.5 million, outperforming our estimate of $491.3 million and rising 7.1% year over year on a reported basis. The intercompany elimination loss of $7.1 million was wider than our expected loss of $5.5 million but reflected an improvement of 6.6% year over year on a reported basis.
The company registered an operating profit of $28.3 million, which missed our estimate of $54.7 million but was marginally up year over year on a reported basis.
Key Balance Sheet & Cash Flow Figures
ManpowerGroup exited the quarter with a cash and cash equivalents balance of $224.9 million compared with $871 million in the December-end quarter of 2025. The long-term debt balance was $1.03 billion at the end of the first quarter compared with $1.05 billion in the preceding quarter.
During the quarter, the company used $126.3 million of cash from operating activities. Capital expenditures were $9 million. It spent $0.3 million on repurchasing common stock in the quarter.
MAN’s Q2 2026 Guidance
Management guided second-quarter EPS to be in the range of 91 cents to $1.01. The company’s guided range includes an estimated favorable currency impact of 5 cents and a 43% effective tax rate.
ManpowerGroup currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Stocks to Consider
Some top-ranked stocks in the broader Zacks Business Services sector are WEX Inc. WEX and Coherent Corp. COHR.
WEX carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. It has a long-term earnings growth expectation of 8.6%.
WEX delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 4.6%, on average.
Coherent Corp. also holds a Zacks Rank of 2 at present. It has a long-term earnings growth expectation of 38.1%.
COHR beat earnings estimates in each of the last four quarters, with the earnings surprise being 7.7%, on average.
#1 Semiconductor Stock to Buy (Not NVDA)
The incredible demand for data is fueling the market's next digital gold rush. As data centers continue to be built and constantly upgraded, the companies that provide the hardware for these behemoths will become the NVIDIAs of tomorrow.
One under-the-radar chipmaker is uniquely positioned to take advantage of the next growth stage of this market. It specializes in semiconductor products that titans like NVIDIA don't build. It's just beginning to enter the spotlight, which is exactly where you want to be.
See This Stock Now for Free >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
ManpowerGroup Inc. (MAN): Free Stock Analysis Report
Coherent Corp. (COHR): Free Stock Analysis Report
WEX Inc. (WEX): Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).