Sep 9, 2026 earnings call — Korn Ferry completes combination with AMS
Korn Ferry completed its combination with AMS and targets $140 million of run-rate incremental EBITDA within 1 year.
Revenue $0.8B (est $0.7B) · EPS $1.43 (est $1.36) · Next-quarter revenue outlook $0.9B–$0.9B
Key quotes
"And last week, we took another significant step in that direction with the completion of our combination with AMS."
"In this quarter, the RPO new wins were something like $160 million and 50% of those were from new logos."
"In fact, more than 90% of our Marquee and Diamond accounts have an active TalentSuite subscription today."
Analyst Q&A 5
growth by segment and AI in search
Q (Tobey Sommer · Truist): He asked how to think about growth rates in each new reporting segment. He also asked how AI is changing search completion times or margins.
A: Management said they look at the firm as a whole and expect historical growth similar to the past, around 10%-11%, 12%. They noted regional differences (APAC weaker, EMEA strong but Middle East hurt, Americas steady) and said workforce solutions and search grew about 10% to 11% this quarter. On AI they said it is affecting searches but they will be very cautious because they have significant proprietary data and that AI is increasing demand for their IP.
"We have significant proprietary data, you know, comp data, on 30 million people around the world, 30 thousand companies." — Gary D. Burnison
timing of AMS savings and seasonality
Q (Trevor Romeo · William Blair): How much of the $40 million synergy is immediate versus back-loaded? And how should we think about AMS seasonality (campus hiring, holidays)?
A: They said they expect to reach $140 million of run rate EBITDA within 1 year of the announcement/close and Gary is confident they will hit the incremental $40 million faster than a year. On seasonality, Robert said AMS will follow Korn Ferry patterns with a low watermark in Q3 because of US Thanksgiving and year-end holidays when clients and staff take time off.
"Well, what we said, when we announced the investment was that we would get to $140 million of run rate EBITDA within 1 year." — Gary D. Burnison
new business mix and AMS EBITDA split
Q (George Tong · Goldman Sachs): They asked how the 12% new business growth breaks down between RPO or lumpy wins and recurring revenue, and whether AMS EBITDA increases will come from revenue or cost synergies.
A: Management said RPO is recurring and that RPO new wins in the quarter were about $160 million, with 50% from new logos; outsourcing wins can be lumpy but are sticky and two-thirds of AMS business is in RPO with long-tenured clients. They said their focus for the AMS EBITDA increase is on revenue (many revenue opportunities across contingent workforce, early careers, technology consulting) while also capturing economies of scale. Robert added the firm's backlog was about $1.9 billion at quarter end and roughly 60% of it comes out within the next year; AMS brings additional durability (about 40% in the first year and 60% over the next 4 years).
"So if you look at our backlog, George, we were at the end of the quarter, about $1.9 billion." — Robert Rozek
macro vs company and AI impact; AMS progress
Q (Mark Marcon · Baird): How much of the quarter's performance was driven by the macro versus company actions, and how has the macro evolved? Also how is AI different from LinkedIn for clients and pricing? Finally, how were AMS and Korn Ferry getting along and what was AMS's trajectory into the close?
A: Gary said rising rates and conflict in The Middle East are headwinds and have hurt EMEA, but longer-term demographic supply-demand imbalance supports continued demand for talent. He cited U.S. job projections to show labor scarcity. On AI he said LinkedIn was about finding people, while AI makes everyone's resume look perfect and increases the value of their IP, and pricing on the platform has moved up. On AMS they said AMS's growth trend was similar to Korn Ferry; going into the close annualized revenue was about $650 million excluding credit and the near-term forecast did not change. They are synchronizing go-to-market now and expect it will take about 8 months to get everyone on the same systems, targeting May 1, 2027 for full platform unification.
"I mean, The US economy is only projected to produce like 5 million or 6 million jobs over the next decade, you know, compared to 25 million over the previous decade." — Gary D. Burnison
integration milestones and AMS impact on other businesses
Q (Josh Chan · UBS): What metrics and milestones will you watch to judge integration progress over the next quarters? And will AMS directly or indirectly affect other Korn Ferry businesses?
A: They said they will watch expansion of enterprise, marquee and diamond accounts and cross referrals; the first principle is 'do no harm' while deepening relationships and bringing new offerings to market. Robert reminded investors that platform integration and most cost actions are weighted after the integration (target May 1), while top-line go-to-market work is already starting. Gary said AMS will deepen other businesses because post-transaction there will be roughly a couple thousand frontline consultants and cross-referral incentives are already in place; they see productivity around $2 million per consultant with room to expand.
"And, you know, we are looking at that productivity and, you know, we see that productivity as being about $2 million per consultant and that has obviously, that has room for significant expansion." — Gary D. Burnison