ManpowerGroup MAN reported impressive second-quarter 2026 results, with earnings and revenues beating the respective Zacks Consensus Estimate.
MAN’s adjusted earnings (excluding 14 cents from non-recurring items) were 99 cents per share, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 3.1% and increased 26.9% year over year, driven by improving demand, disciplined cost management and strong execution across key markets.
ManpowerGroup Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
ManpowerGroup Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | ManpowerGroup Inc. Quote
Revenues were $4.86 billion, which topped the Consensus Estimate by 3.8% and rose 7.5% year over year (5.8% in constant currency). Strong growth in the United States, Latin America and select European markets supported top-line performance.
MAN Benefits From Broad-Based Regional Growth
Revenues from the Americas climbed 14.4% year over year to $1.21 billion, ahead of growth across the company's other geographic segments. The United States generated revenues of $714.3 million, up 6%, while Other Americas revenues increased 29% to $498 million.
Southern Europe remained the largest contributor, with revenues increasing 7.4% to $2.31 billion. France posted revenues of $1.18 billion, up 2.5%, while Italy contributed $521.9 million, rising 9.6%. Other Southern Europe revenues advanced 16.2% to $609.2 million.
Northern Europe revenues improved 3.9% to $825.5 million. Asia-Pacific Middle East revenues declined 1.2% on a reported basis to $518.7 million but increased 5% in constant currency. Intercompany eliminations narrowed to a loss of $5 million from $9.7 million a year earlier.
Manpower Shows Improving Brand Momentum
Management highlighted continued strength across its portfolio, led by the Manpower brand, whose organic constant-currency revenues increased 8% year over year, marking its fifth consecutive quarter of growth. Demand remained robust across manufacturing, automotive, aerospace, logistics and retail, while U.S. sales activity continued to strengthen.
Experis posted an organic constant-currency revenue decline of 2%, a marked improvement from the 9% decline in the first quarter, supported by stronger demand for cloud migration, application development, data and AI services. Talent Solutions' revenues were flat year over year after declining 1% in the previous quarter as recruitment process outsourcing trends strengthened and managed service provider demand remained solid.
MAN Expands Profitability Through Cost Discipline
Gross profit increased 2.2% year over year to $780.3 million, while gross margin contracted 80 basis points to 16.1%, reflecting changes in business mix and the sale of the higher-margin Jefferson Wells U.S. business.
Selling and administrative expenses declined 15.3% year over year to $668.3 million. Operating profit improved to $112 million from an operating loss of $25.3 million in the prior-year quarter. The company continued executing its strategic transformation program, which is expected to deliver $200 million in permanent cost savings by 2028, while advancing AI initiatives to improve productivity and create new commercial opportunities.
ManpowerGroup's Balance Sheet & Cash Flow
ManpowerGroup ended the quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $180.6 million compared with $871 million at 2025-end. Long-term debt declined to $567.3 million from $1.05 billion at the end of December 2025 following debt repayment.
Free cash flow represented an outflow of $9 million in the quarter, a significant improvement from the $207 million outflow recorded a year earlier. Capital expenditures totaled $6 million and the company did not repurchase any shares during the quarter.
MAN Guides for Q3 2026
Management expects third-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings per share in the range of 96 cents to $1.06. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings per share is pegged at 96 cents. The outlook includes an estimated unfavorable currency impact of 2 cents per share and assumes a 44% effective tax rate.
For the third quarter, revenues are projected to increase in the range of 2%-6% year over year on a reported basis, or 3%-7% in constant currency. Gross margin is expected to be between 15.9% and 16.1%, while adjusted EBITA margin is projected in the range of 2.1%-2.3%.
Currently, ManpowerGroup 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
A couple of better-ranked stocks in the broader Zacks Business Services sector are Veralto Corporation VLTO and Thomson Reuters TRI.
Veralto Corporation carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. It has a long-term earnings growth expectation of 8.4%. VLTO delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 4.9% on average.
Thomson Reuters also holds a Zacks Rank of 2 at present. It has a long-term earnings growth expectation of 15.1%. TRI's earnings beat estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, with an average surprise of 3.1%.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).