Robert Half Inc. (NYSE:RHI) Q3 2023 Earnings Call October 24, 2023 5:00 PM ET

Company Participants

M. Keith Waddell - President and Chief Executive Officer

Michael Buckley - Chief Financial Officer

Conference Call Participants

Andrew Steinerman - JPMorgan

Mark Marcon - Baird

Josh Chan - UBS

Stephanie Moore - Jefferies

Princy Thomas - Barclays

Trevor Romeo - William Blair

Kartik Mehta - Northcoast Research

Tobey Sommer - Truist Securities

George Tong - Goldman Sachs

Operator

Hello, and welcome to the Robert Half Third Quarter 2023 Conference Call. Today's conference is being recorded. [Operator Instructions] Our hosts for today's call are Mr. Keith Waddell, President and Chief Executive Officer of Robert Half; and Mr. Michael Buckley, Chief Financial Officer.

Mr. Waddell, you may begin.

M. Keith Waddell

Hello, everyone. We appreciate your time today. Before we get started, I'd like to remind you that the comments made on today's call contain forward-looking statements, including predictions and estimates about our future performance. These statements represent our current judgment of what the future holds. However, they're subject to the risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties are described in today's press release and in our most recent 10-K and 10-Q filed with the SEC. We assume no obligation to update the statements made on today's call.

During this presentation, we may mention some non-GAAP financial measures and reference these figures as adjusted. Reconciliations and further explanations of these measures are included in a supplemental schedule to our earnings press release. Our presentation of revenues and the related growth rates for each of our contract functional specializations includes intersegment revenues from services provided to Protiviti in connection with the company's blended talent solutions and consulting operations. This is how we measure and manage these businesses internally. The combined amount of intersegment revenues with Protiviti is also separately disclosed.

For your convenience, our prepared remarks for today's call are available in the Investor Center of our website, roberthalf.com. We delivered above consensus top and bottom line results for the third quarter, notwithstanding the ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty that lengthens both client and job candidate decision cycles. Both talent solutions and Protiviti exceeded expectations.

Gross margins remained strong due to pricing discipline and the ongoing benefit from the rising mix of revenues from higher skilled services. Our operating cost base also benefited from the targeted actions we've taken to align costs with revenues. We remain confident both in our ability to whether the current climate and in our future growth prospects as the macro landscape improves.