Insperity Announces Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2023 Results
Breaking New Grounds: Insperity’s Revenue Hits $6.5 Billion, Fueled by Expansion and Workday Collaboration
In their latest financial report, Insperity showcased impressive growth with a 2023 revenue of $6.5 billion, up 9% year-over-year, and net income reaching $171.4 million. Strategic investments and a new partnership with Workday highlight the company’s forward momentum. Despite economic challenges, Insperity’s commitment to innovation and shareholder value, including $215.7 million returned through buybacks and dividends, underscores its market resilience.
HOUSTON Insperity, Inc. (NYSE: NSP), a leading provider human resources and business performance solutions for America’s best businesses, today reported results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2023. Insperity will be hosting a conference call today at 8:30 a.m. ET to discuss these results and our 2024 outlook and will be posting an accompanying presentation to its investor website at http://ir.insperity.com.
- Q4 average number of WSEEs paid and revenues up 2.5% and 6%, respectively
- Q4 net income of $19.6 million; diluted EPS of $0.52
- Q4 adjusted EBITDA of $56.0 million; adjusted EPS of $0.75
- 2023 average number of paid WSEEs and revenues up 6% and 9%, respectively
- 2023 net income and diluted EPS of $171.4 million and $4.47, respectively
- 2023 adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EPS of $353.6 million and $5.52, respectively
- Return to shareholders of $215.7 million in 2023 through the repurchase of 1,259,000 shares at a cost of $131.5 million and $84.2 million in cash dividends
Fourth Quarter Results
The average number of worksite employees (“WSEE”) paid per month increased 2.5% over Q4 2022 to 315,072 WSEEs. Revenues in Q4 2023 increased 6.1% to $1.6 billion on the 2.5% increase in paid WSEEs and a 3.5% increase in revenue per WSEE. Macro-economic headwinds continued to impact worksite employee growth in our client base as a minimum level of hiring in our client base over the course of 2023 turned into a low level of net reductions in Q4 2023.
“We were pleased with the results reflecting a solid year in a more difficult environment in the small business community,” said Paul J. Sarvadi, Insperity chairman and chief executive officer. “We are excited about our new strategic partnership with Workday, announced today, and the potential to accelerate Insperity’s long-term trajectory for growth, profitability and value creation.”
Gross profit decreased 7.9% over Q4 2022 to $222.1 million on the 2.5% increase in paid WSEEs and a 10.0% decrease in gross profit per WSEE per month, primarily due to a comparison to a period of unusually low benefits costs in Q4 2022. Relative to our expectations, pricing, benefits costs and contributions from our payroll tax area were all favorable.
Operating expenses increased 5.1% over Q4 2022 and included continued investment in our growth, with an 8% increase in the average number of hired Business Performance Advisors, and investments in our technology and service offerings.
Net income and diluted earnings per share (“EPS”) were $19.6 million and $0.52, respectively. Adjusted EPS and adjusted EBITDA were $0.75 and $56.0 million, respectively.
Full Year Results
The average number of WSEEs paid per month increased 5.8% over 2022 to 312,102 WSEEs. Revenues increased by 9.2% to $6.5 billion on the 5.8% increase in paid WSEEs and a 3.2% increase in revenue per WSEE.
Gross profit increased 2.5% on the increase in paid WSEEs, but decreased 3.1% on a per WSEE per month basis, primarily due to the elevated healthcare costs resulting from large claim activity in Q2 2023 and higher prescription drug costs throughout the year. Pricing exceeded our targets over the course of 2023, which was an important objective in the current inflationary environment.
Operating expenses increased 7.5% over 2022. This increase included the impact of inflation on our costs in areas such as corporate salaries and wages, technology costs and travel and training costs. In addition to the increase in hired Business Performance Advisors, with the growth in the number of clients and WSEEs over the past couple of years, we increased the number of service and support personnel. Our 2023 operating expenses also included costs associated with our implementation of SalesForce across both our sales and service organizations.
Reported net income and diluted EPS were $171.4 million and $4.47, respectively. Adjusted EPS and Adjusted EBITDA were $5.52 and $353.6 million, respectively.
Cash outlays in 2023 included the repurchase of approximately 1,259,000 shares of our common stock at a cost of $131.5 million, dividends totaling $84.2 million, and capital expenditures of $40.1 million. Adjusted cash at December 31, 2023 totaled $171.1 million and $280 million remains available under our $650 million credit facility.
“We are excited about the strategic partnership with Workday and over the course of 2024 will be developing the solution and our go-to-market strategy ,” said Douglas S. Sharp, executive vice president of finance, chief financial officer and treasurer. “We look forward to hosting an analyst and investor day in the latter half of May this year to discuss this potential in further detail.”
2024 Guidance
The company will be discussing both Q1 and full year 2024 guidance, including the impact of the new strategic partnership with Workday, on its earnings conference call. We will post the guidance promptly after the call to our investor website at http://ir.insperity.com.
Conference Call and Webcast
Insperity will be hosting a conference call today at 8:30 a.m. ET to discuss these results and the guidance discussed in this press release, and answer questions from investment analysts. To listen in, call 888-506-0062 and use conference i.d. number 607399. The call will also be webcast at http://ir.insperity.com. The conference call script will be available at the same website later today. A replay of the conference call will be available at 877-481-4010, conference i.d. 49708. The webcast will be archived for one year.
About Insperity
Since 1986, Insperity’s mission has been to help businesses succeed so communities prosper. Offering the most comprehensive suite of scalable HR solutions available in the marketplace, Insperity is defined by an unrivaled breadth and depth of services and level of care. Through an optimal blend of premium HR service and technology, Insperity delivers the administrative relief, reduced liabilities and better benefit solutions that businesses need for sustained growth. With 2023 revenues of $6.5 billion and more than 90 offices throughout the U.S., Insperity is currently making a difference in thousands of businesses and communities nationwide. For more information, visit http://www.insperity.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
The statements contained herein that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. You can identify such forward-looking statements by the words “anticipates,” “expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “projects,” “believes,” “estimates,” “likely,” “possibly,” “probably,” “could,” “goal,” “opportunity,” “objective,” “target,” “assume,” “outlook,” “guidance,” “predicts,” “appears,” “indicator” and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties. In the normal course of business, in an effort to help keep our stockholders and the public informed about our operations, from time to time, we may issue such forward-looking statements, either orally or in writing. Generally, these statements relate to business plans or strategies; including our strategic partnership with Workday, Inc.; projected or anticipated benefits or other consequences of such plans or strategies; or projections involving anticipated revenues, earnings, average number of worksite employees, benefits and workers’ compensation costs, or other operating results. We base these forward-looking statements on our current expectations, estimates and projections. We caution you that these statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions that we cannot predict. In addition, we have based many of these forward-looking statements on assumptions about future events that may prove to be inaccurate. Therefore, the actual results of the future events described in such forward-looking statements could differ materially from those stated in such forward-looking statements. Among the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially are:
- adverse economic conditions;
- failure to comply with or meet client expectations regarding certain COVID-19 relief programs;
- bank failures or other events affecting financial institutions; labor shortages, increasing competition for highly skilled workers, and evolving employee expectations regarding the workplace;
- impact of inflation;
- vulnerability to regional economic factors because of our geographic market concentration;
- failure to comply with covenants under our credit facility;
- impact of a future outbreak of highly infectious or contagious disease;
- our liability for WSEE payroll, payroll taxes and benefits costs, or other liabilities associated with actions of our client companies or WSEEs, including if our clients fail to pay us;
- increases in health insurance costs and workers’ compensation rates and underlying claims trends, health care reform, financial solvency of workers’ compensation carriers, other insurers or financial institutions, state unemployment tax rates, liabilities for employee and client actions or payroll-related claims;
- an adverse determination regarding our status as the employer of our WSEEs for tax and benefit purposes and an inability to offer alternative benefit plans following such a determination;
- cancellation of client contracts on short notice, or the inability to renew client contracts or attract new clients;
- the ability to secure competitive replacement contracts for health insurance and workers’ compensation insurance at expiration of current contracts;
- regulatory and tax developments and possible adverse application of various federal, state and local regulations;
- failure to manage growth of our operations and the effectiveness of our sales and marketing efforts;
- the impact of the competitive environment and other developments in the human resources services industry, including the PEO industry, on our growth and/or profitability;
- an adverse final judgment or settlement of claims against Insperity;
- disruptions of our information technology systems or failure to enhance our service and technology offerings to address new regulations or client expectations;
- our liability or damage to our reputation relating to disclosure of sensitive or private information as a result of data theft, cyberattacks or security vulnerabilities;
- failure of third-party providers, such as financial institutions, data centers or cloud service providers;
- our ability to fully realize the anticipated benefits of our strategic partnership and plans to develop a joint solution with Workday, Inc.; and
- our ability to integrate or realize expected returns on future product offerings, including through acquisitions, strategic partnerships, and investments.
These factors are discussed in further detail in Insperity’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Any of these factors, or a combination of such factors, could materially affect the results of our operations and whether forward-looking statements we make ultimately prove to be accurate.
Any forward-looking statements are made only as of the date hereof and, unless otherwise required by applicable securities laws, we undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.