Korn Ferry Common Stock (KFY) fair value

ACCE thesis

Korn Ferry sells executive search, leadership assessment and consulting, plus a Professional Search and Digital Consulting business that works with boards and C-suites on succession and pay. Its edge sits in proprietary assessment data and long-running client relationships in senior hiring, which are harder to replicate than commodity staffing and give it pricing power on higher-value engagements. Revenue growth of 6.8% is coming through alongside a 14.5% ROE and an 11.8% operating margin, and the stock trades at 13.8x trailing and 13.0x forward earnings, a modest multiple for a business with those returns. The catalyst to watch is whether demand for senior search and leadership advisory holds up as corporate hiring cycles turn, since that determines whether the margin profile can keep expanding. At a 4.1B market cap and no index membership, the name is under-followed enough that a deeper look at the consulting mix and margin trajectory is warranted.