# TrueBlue (TBI.US)

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

Analysis as of: 2026-10-16T07:32:15.589Z. Financial observations: FY1996–FY2025.

Listing currency: USD. Reporting currency: USD.

## Verdict

Not a wonderful business

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

Share price: $8.54 per share; close as of 2026-10-15.

## Checklist

### understandable: fail

- 6 revenue declines in the last 10 years

- more than 5 revenue declines in ten years

- more than 2 net loss years

- negative average operating margin

- operating margin variation exceeds 0.35

- Financial history: 10 years

- Years with declining revenue: 6

- Years with a net loss: 5

- Operating margin variation: 11.21×

Chart: Operating margin; fiscal year observations.

- FY2016: -0.01×

- FY2017: 0.03×

- FY2018: 0.03×

- FY2019: 0.03×

- FY2020: -0.09×

- FY2021: 0.03×

- FY2022: 0.03×

- FY2023: -0.01×

- FY2024: -0.06×

- FY2025: -0.02×

### moat: fail

- ROIC median below threshold

- ROIC worst years below threshold (more than 1 bad year allowed)

- Recent gross margin fell 4.6pp below the typical margin (limit 4pp)

- ROIC, median of available years: 5.0%

- ROIC, second-lowest year: -21.9%

- Typical minus recent gross margin: 4.6 pp

- Typical gross margin (annual median): 25.9%

- Recent gross margin (lower of latest and 3-year median): 21.2%

- Years with nonpositive capital: 0

- Capital spending / revenue: 1.3%

- ROIC including acquisitions, ten-year median: 5.3%

Chart: ROIC excluding acquisitions; fiscal year observations.

- FY2016: -3.3%

- FY2017: 13.3%

- FY2018: 16.6%

- FY2019: 13.8%

- FY2020: -39.6%

- FY2021: 13.7%

- FY2022: 15.6%

- FY2023: -5.0%

- FY2024: -21.9%

- FY2025: -5.6%

### economics: fail

- owner earnings cash conversion below threshold

- incremental invested capital return below threshold

- Cash conversion uses consolidated totals: No

- Owner earnings, five-year total: -$39M

- Net income, five-year total: -$64M

- Return on incremental invested capital: 0.0%

- Working capital / revenue, annual change: 0.1 pp

- Working capital / revenue, change between three-year averages: 0.4 pp

- Working capital / revenue, final three-year average: 12.0%

Chart: Owner earnings · five years; fiscal year observations.

- FY2021: $62M

- FY2022: $74M

- FY2023: -$20M

- FY2024: -$120M

- FY2025: -$35M

### management: fail

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

- potential debt-funded buybacks (informational)

- buybacks leaned toward cheaper years (informational)

- ROIC first 3 years vs last 3 years: 13.3% vs -5.6%

- Per-share earnings: 1.34 to -1.61 (three-year endpoint medians)

- per-share value declined or ends nonpositive

- 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: -3.3%

- Ordinary dilution, 5-year annual growth: -3.3%

- Market cap gain: -$903M

- Cumulative retained earnings: -$240M

- Diluted shares, 10-year annual growth: -3.3%

- Diluted shares, 5-year annual growth: -3.3%

- $1 test, starting fiscal year: FY2016

- $1 test, ending fiscal year: FY2025

- Per-share value change: -$2.94

- Per-share value, starting three-year median: $1.34

- Per-share value, ending three-year median: -$1.61

- Buybacks concentrated in cheaper years (correlation): 0.10

- Average buyback yield: 5.2%

- Buyback history: 10 years

- Debt-funded buybacks: Yes

- Acquisition spending: $30M

- Cumulative net income, 10 years: -$37M

- ROIC, first three-year median: 13.3%

- ROIC, last three-year median: -5.6%

Chart: Earnings per share; fiscal year observations.

- FY2016: -$0.37

- FY2017: $1.34

- FY2018: $1.63

- FY2019: $1.61

- FY2020: -$4.01

- FY2021: $1.74

- FY2022: $1.86

- FY2023: -$0.45

- FY2024: -$4.17

- FY2025: -$1.61

### accounting: pass

- Sloan accruals: 1.6%

- Receivables to sales index (DSRI): 1.05×

- Restructuring years, last five: 0

- Earnings backed by cash: Yes

- Accounting red flags: 0

- Goodwill and intangibles / equity: 0.22×

Chart: Sloan accruals; fiscal year observations.

- FY2016: -24.5%

- FY2017: -4.0%

- FY2018: -5.4%

- FY2019: -2.8%

- FY2020: -30.0%

- FY2021: 4.0%

- FY2022: -5.7%

- FY2023: -5.4%

- FY2024: -16.1%

- FY2025: 1.6%

## Holders

- [Richard Pzena](https://gigainvestors.com/PIM): tracked 13F investor; follow the investor page for holding quarter and amounts.

## Price story

Down 70% since Mar 2022 · sales +3.1%

Story as of 2026-10-16T09:59:39.859Z; price observation 2026-10-15.

- 2026-07-08: TrueBlue (TBI) Recovering from Improved Demand for Staffing ([finance.yahoo.com](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/trueblue-tbi-recovering-improved-demand-121738311.html))

### Sales · FY2024–2025

sales +3.1%; source https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/768899/000076889926000009/tbi-20251228.htm; observed 2026-02-18.

- FY2016: $2.8B 

- FY2017: $2.5B 

- FY2018: $2.5B 

- FY2019: $2.4B 

- FY2020: $1.8B 

- FY2021: $2.2B 

- FY2022: $2.3B 

- FY2023: $1.9B 

- FY2024: $1.6B 

- FY2025: $1.6B 

### Gross margin · FY2025

gross margin 21.2%; source https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/768899/000076889926000009/tbi-20251228.htm; observed 2026-02-18.

- FY2016: 24.7% 

- FY2017: 25.3% 

- FY2018: 26.6% 

- FY2019: 26.2% 

- FY2020: 23.9% 

- FY2021: 25.8% 

- FY2022: 26.7% 

- FY2023: 26.5% 

- FY2024: 25.9% 

- FY2025: 21.2% 

## Owner memo

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

### How it makes money

Operates in staffing & employment services; annual sales are USD 1.6 billion.

- Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/768899/000076889926000009/tbi-20251228.htm (filed 2026-02-18); FY2025: revenue 1615997000; grossProfit 343019000; margin = grossProfit / revenue.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-04); TBI.US: TrueBlue, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides specialized workforce solutions in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Puerto Rico. It operates through three segments: PeopleReady, PeopleManagement, and PeopleSolutions. The PeopleReady segment provides general, industrial, and skilled trade contingent staffing services for construction, transportation, manufacturing, retail, hospitality, and energy industries. The PeopleManagement segment offers contingent, on-site industrial staffing, and commercial driver services, which includes on-site management and recruitment for the contingent industrial workforce of manufacturing, warehousing, and distribution facilities; and recruitment and management of contingent and dedicated commercial drivers to the transportation and distribution industries under the Staff Management, SIMOS Insourcing Solutions, and Centerline Drivers brands. The PeopleSolutions segment provides recruitment process outsourcing, talent advisory services, and managed service provider solutions including sourcing, screening, hiring, and onboarding services; operates Affinix, a technology platform for sourcing, screening, and delivering a permanent workforce to its clients; talent advisory solutions, such as employer branding, recruitment marketing, talent insights, candidate assessment, and talent acquisition strategy consulting services; and contingent labor programs, including vendor selection, performance management, compliance monitoring, and risk management. TrueBlue, Inc. was formerly known as Labor Ready, Inc. and changed its name to TrueBlue, Inc. in December 2007. The company was incorporated in 1985 and is headquartered in Tacoma, Washington.

### Why customers stay

Margins ranged from 21.2% to 26.5% during 2023–25; it earns 5% on its capital.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-18); FY2023: grossProfit / revenue = 26.5%.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-18); FY2024: grossProfit / revenue = 25.9%.

- Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/768899/000076889926000009/tbi-20251228.htm (filed 2026-02-18); FY2025: grossProfit / revenue = 21.2%.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-18); 10-year return on capital observations [[2016,-0.03326449710739195],[2017,0.1326528688493201],[2018,0.16592038061276945],[2019,0.13821022835633284],[2020,-0.39638147154599834],[2021,0.13742237423577217],[2022,0.15578232253264837],[2023,-0.050484981645722245],[2024,-0.21890568438407226],[2025,-0.05598642334106397]]; median 0.049694185870964074. ROIC follows the displayed moat series; financial companies use return on tangible equity.

### Can it raise prices

Kept about a 27% gross margin through 2022 cost inflation.

- Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/768899/000076889926000009/tbi-20251228.htm (filed 2026-02-18); Gross margin observations: [[2021,0.25778171181557785],[2022,0.26712282582078484],[2023,0.2654745486278507]]; range within 2 percentage points.

### Where the cash goes

Paid dividends in 2 of 10 years; bought back USD 1.1 million of shares.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-18); FY2016: growth capex 0; upkeep 29042000; owner earnings 2399000. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-18); FY2017: growth capex 0; upkeep 21958000; owner earnings 79613000. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-18); FY2018: growth capex 0; upkeep 17054000; owner earnings 89749000. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-18); FY2019: growth capex 0; upkeep 28119000; owner earnings 72503000. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-18); FY2021: growth capex 7450000; upkeep 27556000; owner earnings 61634000. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.12087484180809294.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-18); FY2022: growth capex 0; upkeep 30626000; cash acquisitions 0; owner earnings 73840000. Growth capex plus acquisitions / owner earnings = 0.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-18); Dividend observations: [[2016,0],[2017,0],[2018,0],[2019,1329000],[2020,922000],[2021,0],[2022,0],[2023,0],[2024,0],[2025,0]]. Zero only counted when supported by a complete cash-flow statement.

- Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/768899/000076889926000009/tbi-20251228.htm (filed 2026-02-18); FY2025: cash repurchases 1097000 USD.

### What the price says

The price is 0.2 times annual sales; cash earnings are negative.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-18); Closing price 8.54 USD; reporting-to-trading FX 1; FY2025 annual sales per share 54.13906663539817; price multiple 0.15774191412484057. FY2025 cash earnings/share -1.1653991758517874. Closing-price date 2026-10-15.

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

- 2016-10: $17.50 per share

- 2016-11: $20.95 per share

- 2016-12: $24.65 per share

- 2017-01: $24.75 per share

- 2017-02: $25.95 per share

- 2017-03: $27.35 per share

- 2017-04: $27.35 per share

- 2017-05: $26.85 per share

- 2017-06: $26.50 per share

- 2017-07: $25.55 per share

- 2017-08: $20.45 per share

- 2017-09: $22.45 per share

- 2017-10: $27.10 per share

- 2017-11: $28.45 per share

- 2017-12: $27.50 per share

- 2018-01: $27.35 per share

- 2018-02: $27.20 per share

- 2018-03: $25.90 per share

- 2018-04: $26.65 per share

- 2018-05: $25.80 per share

- 2018-06: $26.95 per share

- 2018-07: $27.05 per share

- 2018-08: $29.30 per share

- 2018-09: $26.05 per share

- 2018-10: $23.33 per share

- 2018-11: $25.25 per share

- 2018-12: $22.25 per share

- 2019-01: $24.39 per share

- 2019-02: $23.02 per share

- 2019-03: $23.64 per share

- 2019-04: $24.16 per share

- 2019-05: $21.24 per share

- 2019-06: $22.06 per share

- 2019-07: $19.77 per share

- 2019-08: $19.41 per share

- 2019-09: $21.10 per share

- 2019-10: $22.90 per share

- 2019-11: $23.31 per share

- 2019-12: $24.06 per share

- 2020-01: $21.91 per share

- 2020-02: $14.88 per share

- 2020-03: $12.76 per share

- 2020-04: $15.53 per share

- 2020-05: $15.46 per share

- 2020-06: $15.27 per share

- 2020-07: $15.43 per share

- 2020-08: $16.92 per share

- 2020-09: $15.49 per share

- 2020-10: $15.52 per share

- 2020-11: $19.10 per share

- 2020-12: $18.69 per share

- 2021-01: $18.59 per share

- 2021-02: $20.83 per share

- 2021-03: $22.02 per share

- 2021-04: $28.30 per share

- 2021-05: $27.13 per share

- 2021-06: $28.11 per share

- 2021-07: $27.19 per share

- 2021-08: $27.33 per share

- 2021-09: $27.08 per share

- 2021-10: $27.85 per share

- 2021-11: $26.02 per share

- 2021-12: $27.67 per share

- 2022-01: $26.60 per share

- 2022-02: $27.20 per share

- 2022-03: $28.89 per share

- 2022-04: $25.57 per share

- 2022-05: $22.02 per share

- 2022-06: $17.90 per share

- 2022-07: $21.64 per share

- 2022-08: $20.54 per share

- 2022-09: $19.08 per share

- 2022-10: $19.66 per share

- 2022-11: $21.58 per share

- 2022-12: $19.58 per share

- 2023-01: $19.63 per share

- 2023-02: $18.70 per share

- 2023-03: $17.80 per share

- 2023-04: $15.15 per share

- 2023-05: $16.54 per share

- 2023-06: $17.71 per share

- 2023-07: $14.95 per share

- 2023-08: $15.13 per share

- 2023-09: $14.67 per share

- 2023-10: $11.07 per share

- 2023-11: $13.94 per share

- 2023-12: $15.34 per share

- 2024-01: $13.78 per share

- 2024-02: $11.75 per share

- 2024-03: $12.52 per share

- 2024-04: $10.42 per share

- 2024-05: $10.80 per share

- 2024-06: $10.30 per share

- 2024-07: $11.95 per share

- 2024-08: $7.97 per share

- 2024-09: $7.89 per share

- 2024-10: $7.49 per share

- 2024-11: $7.52 per share

- 2024-12: $8.40 per share

- 2025-01: $8.15 per share

- 2025-02: $6.28 per share

- 2025-03: $5.31 per share

- 2025-04: $4.34 per share

- 2025-05: $6.00 per share

- 2025-06: $6.48 per share

- 2025-07: $7.22 per share

- 2025-08: $5.97 per share

- 2025-09: $6.13 per share

- 2025-10: $4.74 per share

- 2025-11: $4.90 per share

- 2025-12: $4.55 per share

- 2026-01: $5.36 per share

- 2026-02: $4.23 per share

- 2026-03: $3.91 per share

- 2026-04: $5.49 per share

- 2026-05: $6.21 per share

- 2026-06: $6.97 per share

- 2026-07: $7.08 per share

- 2026-08: $10.49 per share

- 2026-09: $9.20 per share

- 2026-10: $8.54 per share

## Annual estimated value (USD per share)

- FY2016: low $22.66 per share, central $25.79 per share, high $29.95 per share

- FY2017: low $21.00 per share, central $23.89 per share, high $27.75 per share

- FY2018: low $23.83 per share, central $27.11 per share, high $31.48 per share

- FY2019: low $20.97 per share, central $23.86 per share, high $27.71 per share

- FY2020: low $18.19 per share, central $20.60 per share, high $23.80 per share

- FY2021: low $20.70 per share, central $23.53 per share, high $27.30 per share

- FY2022: low $23.35 per share, central $26.46 per share, high $30.60 per share

- FY2023: low $19.62 per share, central $22.23 per share, high $25.69 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/768899/000076889926000009/tbi-20251228.htm); period 2025-12-28, filed 2026-02-18.

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.