# Cbiz (CBZ.US)

Canonical: https://gigainvestors.com/s/CBZ

Analysis as of: 2026-10-16T07:27:17.096Z. Financial observations: FY1996–FY2026.

Listing currency: USD. Reporting currency: USD.

## Verdict

Not a wonderful business

Quality tests for Buy: not passed (profit record: pass; earnings resilience is evidence only). Published buy qualification: no.

Share price: $54.73 per share; close as of 2026-10-15.

Estimated value: low $44.34 per share, central $50.45 per share, high $58.59 per share. Buy at or below the central value $50.45 per share. Valuation as of 2026-10-16T07:27:17.096Z; scenarios are not confidence intervals.

Expected annual return: 9.4% at the stated quote. About 9.4% a year at today's price (required return 10.0%). required return 10.0% a year (10% floor; US 10-year bond 5.1% + 4 points).

## Checklist

### understandable: pass

- 0 revenue declines in the last 10 years (informational)

- Financial history: 10 years

- Years with declining revenue: 0

- Years with a net loss: 0

- Operating margin variation: 0.25×

Chart: Operating margin; fiscal year observations.

- FY2017: 0.08×

- FY2018: 0.10×

- FY2019: 0.08×

- FY2020: 0.10×

- FY2021: 0.07×

- FY2022: 0.12×

- FY2023: 0.10×

- FY2024: 0.04×

- FY2025: 0.08×

- LTM to Jun 2026: 0.07×

### moat: pass

- ROIC, median of available years: 23.0%

- ROIC, second-lowest year: 10.5%

- Typical minus recent gross margin: 1.4 pp

- Typical gross margin (annual median): 13.6%

- Recent gross margin (lower of latest and 3-year median): 12.2%

- Years with nonpositive capital: 0

- Capital spending / revenue: 1.0%

- ROIC including acquisitions, ten-year median: 8.7%

Chart: ROIC excluding acquisitions; fiscal year observations.

- FY2017: 24.8%

- FY2018: 43.9%

- FY2019: 20.1%

- FY2020: 25.9%

- FY2021: 21.1%

- FY2022: 37.4%

- FY2023: 25.6%

- FY2024: 4.1%

- FY2025: 13.5%

- LTM to Jun 2026: 10.5%

### economics: pass

- Owner earnings / net income, 5-yr: 1.38×

- Cash conversion uses consolidated totals: No

- Owner earnings, five-year total: $626M

- Net income, five-year total: $454M

- Return on incremental invested capital: >100%

- Working capital / revenue, annual change: -3.1 pp

- Working capital / revenue, change between three-year averages: -22.1 pp

- Working capital / revenue, final three-year average: 20.1%

Chart: Annual owner cash / profit; fiscal year observations.

- FY2021: 1.26×

- FY2022: 1.23×

- FY2023: 1.11×

- FY2024: 1.86×

- FY2025: 1.70×

### management: fail

- Historical market-dollar context (not the management verdict): 2016 to 2025 (9 years)

- potential debt-funded buybacks (informational)

- buybacks unrelated to price (informational)

- ROIC first 3 years vs last 3 years: 24.8% vs 13.5%

- Per-share earnings: 0.75 to 1.83 (three-year endpoint medians)

- five-year and ten-year diluted share growth both above threshold

- acquired goodwill and intangibles (proxy) exceeds half of ten-year net income with low and deteriorating ROIC

- Management verdict uses per-share economic progress: Yes

- Ordinary dilution, 10-year annual growth: 1.8%

- Ordinary dilution, 5-year annual growth: 2.7%

- Market cap gain: $2.0B

- Cumulative retained earnings: $717M

- Diluted shares, 10-year annual growth: 1.8%

- Diluted shares, 5-year annual growth: 2.7%

- $1 test, starting fiscal year: FY2016

- $1 test, ending fiscal year: FY2025

- Per-share value growth: 11.8%

- Per-share value change: $1.08

- Per-share value, starting three-year median: $0.75

- Per-share value, ending three-year median: $1.83

- Buybacks concentrated in cheaper years (correlation): -0.14

- Average buyback yield: 3.0%

- Buyback history: 10 years

- Debt-funded buybacks: Yes

- Acquisition spending: $2.4B

- Cumulative net income, 10 years: $755M

- ROIC, first three-year median: 24.8%

- ROIC, last three-year median: 13.5%

Chart: Earnings per share; fiscal year observations.

- FY2016: $0.75

- FY2017: $0.90

- FY2018: $1.09

- FY2019: $1.27

- FY2020: $1.41

- FY2021: $1.32

- FY2022: $2.01

- FY2023: $2.39

- FY2024: $0.78

- FY2025: $1.83

### accounting: pass

- Sloan accruals: -1.7%

- Receivables to sales index (DSRI): 0.68×

- Restructuring years, last five: 1

- Stock compensation / operating cash flow: 13.5%

- Earnings backed by cash: Yes

- Operating cash / earnings: 1.67×

- Accounting red flags: 0

- Goodwill and intangibles / equity: 1.63×

Chart: Sloan accruals; fiscal year observations.

- FY2016: -2.8%

- FY2017: -1.8%

- FY2018: -4.0%

- FY2019: -1.9%

- FY2020: -4.4%

- FY2021: -3.6%

- FY2022: -1.1%

- FY2023: -1.6%

- FY2024: -1.8%

- FY2025: -1.7%

## Holders

## Price story

Down 36% since Jan 2025 · "CBZ Q1 Deep Dive: Integration Headwinds and Margin Pressure Temper AI-Driven Ambitions" (finance.yahoo.com, May 2026) · sales +0.3%

Story as of 2026-10-16T09:58:28.349Z; price observation 2026-10-15.

Price needs cash profits to grow 1.9% a year for ten years

- 2025-05-12: CBZ Q1 Earnings Call: Revenue Misses Expectations as Integration and Economic Headwinds Shape Outlook ([finance.yahoo.com](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/cbz-q1-earnings-call-revenue-093312799.html))

- 2025-10-30: CBIZ maintains $2.8B–$2.95B revenue outlook for 2025 as Marcum integration drives margin gains ([seekingalpha.com](https://seekingalpha.com/news/4510952-cbiz-maintains-2_8b-2_95b-revenue-outlook-for-2025-as-marcum-integration-drives-margin-gains?utm_source=feed_news_all&utm_medium=referral&feed_item_type=news))

- 2026-07-30: CBIZ Inc. (CBZ) Surges 17% on $5 Billion Grant Thornton Merger ([finance.yahoo.com](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/cbiz-inc-cbz-surges-17-022516722.html))

### Sales · FY2025–2026

sales +0.3%; source https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/944148/000094414826000038/cbz-20251231.htm; observed 2026-02-26.

- FY2017: $855M 

- FY2018: $922M 

- FY2019: $948M 

- FY2020: $964M 

- FY2021: $1.1B 

- FY2022: $1.4B 

- FY2023: $1.6B 

- FY2024: $1.8B 

- FY2025: $2.8B 

- FY2026: $2.8B 

### Gross margin · FY2026

gross margin 12.2%; source https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/944148/000094414826000038/cbz-20251231.htm; observed 2026-02-26.

- FY2017: 11.7% 

- FY2018: 14.3% 

- FY2019: 13.2% 

- FY2020: 14.4% 

- FY2021: 14.4% 

- FY2022: 15.8% 

- FY2023: 14.0% 

- FY2024: 10.1% 

- FY2025: 12.9% 

- FY2026: 12.2% 

## Owner memo

Memo as of 2026-10-16T08:06:05.509Z.

### How it makes money

Operates in specialty business services; annual sales are USD 2.8 billion.

- Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/944148/000094414826000038/cbz-20251231.htm (filed 2026-02-26); FY2025: revenue 2757991000; grossProfit 355393000; margin = grossProfit / revenue.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16); CBZ.US: CBIZ, Inc. provides financial, insurance, and advisory services in the United States and Canada. It operates through Financial Services, Benefits and Insurance Services, and National Practices segments. The Financial Services segment offers accounting and tax, financial advisory, national technology, and government healthcare consulting services. The Benefits and Insurance Services segment provides employee benefits consulting, payroll/human capital management, property and casualty insurance, and retirement and investment services. The National Practices segment offers information technology managed networking and hardware services. The company primarily serves small and medium-sized businesses, as well as individuals, governmental entities, and not-for-profit enterprises. CBIZ, Inc. was incorporated in 1987 and is headquartered in Independence, Ohio.

### Why customers stay

Margins ranged from 10.1% to 14% during 2023–25; it earns 23% on its capital.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-26); FY2023: grossProfit / revenue = 14%.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-26); FY2024: grossProfit / revenue = 10.1%.

- Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/944148/000094414826000038/cbz-20251231.htm (filed 2026-02-26); FY2025: grossProfit / revenue = 12.9%.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-26); 10-year return on capital observations [[2017,0.24838674269456407],[2018,0.43868479928381077],[2019,0.20111323267748965],[2020,0.25870562157455707],[2021,0.21084610179218605],[2022,0.374438423906669],[2023,0.25607963902583464],[2024,0.041279026294222865],[2025,0.1351871657900442],[2026,0.10505493624799453]]; median 0.22961642224337506. ROIC follows the displayed moat series; financial companies use return on tangible equity.

### Can it raise prices

Kept about a 16% gross margin through 2022 cost inflation.

- Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/944148/000094414826000038/cbz-20251231.htm (filed 2026-02-26); Gross margin observations: [[2021,0.1441636310156798],[2022,0.15819427909338596],[2023,0.14027453597738554]]; range within 2 percentage points.

### Where the cash goes

Paid dividends in 5 of 10 years; bought back USD 160.1 million of shares.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-26); FY2016: growth capex 0; upkeep 4141000; owner earnings 58022000. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-26); FY2017: growth capex 0; upkeep 11892000; owner earnings 61546000. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-26); FY2018: growth capex 0; upkeep 14624000; owner earnings 70621000. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-26); FY2019: growth capex 0; upkeep 13873000; owner earnings 79186000. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-26); FY2020: growth capex 0; upkeep 11576000; owner earnings 89862000. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-26); FY2021: growth capex 0; upkeep 8984000; owner earnings 88981000. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-26); FY2022: growth capex 0; upkeep 8641000; owner earnings 129608000. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-26); FY2023: growth capex 0; upkeep 23052000; owner earnings 134185000. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-26); FY2024: growth capex 0; upkeep 12914000; owner earnings 76184000. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.

- Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/944148/000094414826000038/cbz-20251231.htm (filed 2026-02-26); FY2025: growth capex 0; upkeep 16959000; owner earnings 196755000. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-26); Dividend observations: [[2016,0],[2017,0],[2018,0],[2019,10608000],[2020,6486000],[2021,7311000],[2022,10035000],[2023,93400000],[2024,0],[2025,0]]. Zero only counted when supported by a complete cash-flow statement.

- Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/944148/000094414826000038/cbz-20251231.htm (filed 2026-02-26); FY2025: cash repurchases 160076000 USD.

### Are managers owners

Insiders own 4.9% of the company.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16); CBZ.US SharesStats.PercentInsiders = 4.88 percentage points; cache date 2026-10-16.

### What the price says

The price assumes cash profits grow 1.9% yearly over ten years; actual growth was 13.3%.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-26); Ten-year compound average after fade. Initial solved rate 0.014512926410980787. Price 54.73; FX 1; discount 0.1; same standard ten-year fade to terminal 0.03. FY2015 owner earnings/share 0.8939707361509119 → FY2025 3.1112428842504745. Closing-price date 2026-10-15.

## Monthly share-price history (USD per share)

- 2016-10: $11.05 per share

- 2016-11: $12.40 per share

- 2016-12: $13.70 per share

- 2017-01: $13.10 per share

- 2017-02: $13.30 per share

- 2017-03: $13.55 per share

- 2017-04: $15.75 per share

- 2017-05: $15.10 per share

- 2017-06: $15.00 per share

- 2017-07: $14.85 per share

- 2017-08: $15.15 per share

- 2017-09: $16.25 per share

- 2017-10: $16.95 per share

- 2017-11: $14.75 per share

- 2017-12: $15.45 per share

- 2018-01: $16.50 per share

- 2018-02: $18.05 per share

- 2018-03: $18.25 per share

- 2018-04: $18.60 per share

- 2018-05: $20.65 per share

- 2018-06: $23.00 per share

- 2018-07: $22.00 per share

- 2018-08: $23.90 per share

- 2018-09: $23.70 per share

- 2018-10: $22.18 per share

- 2018-11: $21.09 per share

- 2018-12: $19.70 per share

- 2019-01: $19.60 per share

- 2019-02: $20.63 per share

- 2019-03: $20.24 per share

- 2019-04: $19.31 per share

- 2019-05: $19.80 per share

- 2019-06: $19.59 per share

- 2019-07: $23.37 per share

- 2019-08: $22.34 per share

- 2019-09: $23.50 per share

- 2019-10: $27.37 per share

- 2019-11: $26.86 per share

- 2019-12: $26.96 per share

- 2020-01: $27.00 per share

- 2020-02: $26.04 per share

- 2020-03: $20.92 per share

- 2020-04: $23.75 per share

- 2020-05: $22.65 per share

- 2020-06: $23.97 per share

- 2020-07: $24.18 per share

- 2020-08: $24.32 per share

- 2020-09: $22.87 per share

- 2020-10: $22.67 per share

- 2020-11: $24.22 per share

- 2020-12: $26.61 per share

- 2021-01: $25.91 per share

- 2021-02: $30.15 per share

- 2021-03: $32.66 per share

- 2021-04: $33.59 per share

- 2021-05: $33.21 per share

- 2021-06: $32.77 per share

- 2021-07: $32.34 per share

- 2021-08: $34.11 per share

- 2021-09: $32.34 per share

- 2021-10: $36.71 per share

- 2021-11: $36.03 per share

- 2021-12: $39.12 per share

- 2022-01: $38.63 per share

- 2022-02: $38.91 per share

- 2022-03: $41.97 per share

- 2022-04: $41.89 per share

- 2022-05: $40.96 per share

- 2022-06: $39.96 per share

- 2022-07: $45.62 per share

- 2022-08: $43.66 per share

- 2022-09: $42.78 per share

- 2022-10: $49.64 per share

- 2022-11: $49.65 per share

- 2022-12: $46.85 per share

- 2023-01: $47.59 per share

- 2023-02: $50.09 per share

- 2023-03: $49.49 per share

- 2023-04: $52.69 per share

- 2023-05: $50.42 per share

- 2023-06: $53.28 per share

- 2023-07: $52.89 per share

- 2023-08: $56.11 per share

- 2023-09: $51.90 per share

- 2023-10: $51.96 per share

- 2023-11: $57.89 per share

- 2023-12: $62.59 per share

- 2024-01: $63.66 per share

- 2024-02: $75.53 per share

- 2024-03: $78.50 per share

- 2024-04: $71.18 per share

- 2024-05: $75.82 per share

- 2024-06: $74.10 per share

- 2024-07: $69.40 per share

- 2024-08: $73.60 per share

- 2024-09: $67.29 per share

- 2024-10: $68.93 per share

- 2024-11: $82.58 per share

- 2024-12: $81.83 per share

- 2025-01: $85.81 per share

- 2025-02: $78.17 per share

- 2025-03: $75.86 per share

- 2025-04: $68.10 per share

- 2025-05: $72.24 per share

- 2025-06: $71.71 per share

- 2025-07: $61.12 per share

- 2025-08: $64.54 per share

- 2025-09: $52.96 per share

- 2025-10: $55.00 per share

- 2025-11: $48.70 per share

- 2025-12: $50.45 per share

- 2026-01: $39.35 per share

- 2026-02: $28.64 per share

- 2026-03: $26.85 per share

- 2026-04: $30.50 per share

- 2026-05: $33.20 per share

- 2026-06: $32.08 per share

- 2026-07: $55.08 per share

- 2026-08: $54.49 per share

- 2026-09: $54.69 per share

- 2026-10: $54.73 per share

## Annual estimated value (USD per share)

- FY2016: low $10.34 per share, central $11.76 per share, high $13.66 per share

- FY2017: low $12.12 per share, central $13.84 per share, high $16.07 per share

- FY2018: low $12.84 per share, central $14.61 per share, high $16.96 per share

- FY2019: low $13.97 per share, central $16.25 per share, high $18.86 per share

- FY2020: low $15.56 per share, central $18.73 per share, high $21.79 per share

- FY2021: low $19.22 per share, central $23.02 per share, high $26.78 per share

- FY2022: low $26.93 per share, central $33.56 per share, high $39.15 per share

- FY2023: low $29.01 per share, central $33.01 per share, high $38.33 per share

- FY2024: low $31.74 per share, central $36.12 per share, high $41.94 per share

- FY2025: low $38.39 per share, central $43.68 per share, high $50.73 per share

Historical values use today's bond yield for every fiscal year

Historical values use today's FX rate into trading currency for every fiscal year

Historical values use current restated fundamentals and current commodity classification; they are not point-in-time estimates

## Sources

[Original 10-K filing](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/944148/000094414826000038/cbz-20251231.htm); period 2025-12-31, filed 2026-02-26.

Estimates depend on assumptions and are not guarantees or investment advice. Underlying data remains subject to its source licenses; public reading does not grant bulk redistribution rights.