Barrett Business Services (BBSI) Q3 FY2026 earnings: revenue $334 million, up 4.7% on the year

Barrett Business Services Inc. (BBSI) reported revenue of $334 million for Q3 FY2026, the quarter ended 30 September 2026, up 4.7% on the same quarter a year earlier. Net income was $17 million, down 18.8% on the year, and diluted earnings per share $0.69. The figures are the company's own, from the 10-Q it filed with the SEC on 5 November 2026.

Revenue

$334 million

+4.7% on the year · +4.6% on the quarter

Q4 FY2024Q3 FY2026

Operating margin

6.4%

7.8% a year earlier

Q4 FY2024Q3 FY2026

Net income

$17 million

-18.8% on the year · +30.1% on the quarter

Q4 FY2024Q3 FY2026

Diluted EPS

$0.69

-12.7% on the year · +32.7% on the quarter

Q4 FY2024Q3 FY2026

this quarterthe same quarter a year earlierHover a bar for its figure.

What management said

Guidance figures: 1 lowered, 3 kept.

Revenue rose 5% year over year: Total revenues were $334.1 million, against $318.9 million a year earlier. The second-quarter release showed revenue up 4%.
Gross billings grew 3%: Gross billings were $2.40 billion, against $2.32 billion a year earlier. Management attributed the growth to PEO services, from net new clients and higher billings per WSE per day.
Net income fell to $16.8 million: Net income was $16.8 million, or $0.69 per diluted share, against $20.6 million, or $0.79 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter.

Read the earnings call summary

Income statement (profit and loss)

$ million	Q3 FY2026	Q2 FY2026	Q3 FY2025	On the quarter	On the year
Revenue	334	319	319	+4.6%	+4.7%
Cost of revenue	261	254	242	+2.7%	+7.9%
Gross profit	72.7	64.9	76.8	+12.1%	-5.3%
Gross margin	21.8%	20.3%	24.1%
Selling, general and administrative	48.9	47.2	49.9	+3.6%	-2.0%
Operating income	21.2	15.4	24.8	+37.8%	-14.3%
Operating margin	6.4%	4.8%	7.8%
Interest expense	0.0	0.0	0.0	+2.4%	-4.4%
Pre-tax income	22.5	17.3	26.8	+30.1%	-15.8%
Income tax	5.8	4.5	6.1	+29.9%	-5.7%
Effective tax rate	25.7%	25.7%	22.9%
Net income	16.8	12.9	20.6	+30.1%	-18.8%
Net margin	5.0%	4.0%	6.5%
Diluted EPS	$0.69	$0.52	$0.79	+32.7%	-12.7%

$ million except per share.

Free cash flow is operating cash flow less capital expenditure; the effective tax rate is income tax over pre-tax income; margins are the line over revenue. Gross profit is revenue less cost of revenue, and operating income is revenue less the company's own total costs, where the statement does not print those lines. Those four are arithmetic on the filed numbers; everything else is as filed. Money is in $ million as the company files it, or in $ billion by the switch above the tables; per share figures and share counts are as they are.

Cash flow

$ million	Q3 FY2026	Q2 FY2026	Q3 FY2025	On the quarter	On the year
Operating cash flow	26.9	-55.9	38.4		-30.0%
Capital expenditure	5.4	5.5	4.4	-2.7%	+23.0%
Free cash flow	21.6	-61.4	34.1		-36.7%
Free cash flow margin	6.5%	-19.2%	10.7%
Cash from investing	9.8	19.4	1.3	-49.7%	+670.4%
Cash from financing	-13.2	-17.2	-10.8
Depreciation and amortisation	2.6	2.3	2.1	+13.4%	+22.0%
Share-based compensation	2.6	2.4	2.9	+6.0%	-11.0%
Buybacks	9.1	15.2	7.5	-40.4%	+20.3%
Dividends paid	1.9	1.9	2.1	-0.6%	-6.1%
Dividend per share	$0.08	$0.08	$0.08	0.0%	0.0%
Diluted shares, weighted	24m	25m	26m	-1.2%	-6.7%
Shares outstanding at period end	24m	24m	26m	-0.5%	-6.5%

Cash flow lines for the quarter; where the company files them year to date, the quarter is the difference between two filings.

Balance sheet

$ million	Q3 FY2026	Q2 FY2026	Q3 FY2025	On the quarter	On the year
Shareholders' equity	208	204	240	+2.0%	-13.5%
Debt	n/a	0.0	0.0
Operating lease liabilities	16.0	17.3	18.2	-7.6%	-12.5%
Other liabilities	523	490	520	+6.7%	+0.6%
Total liabilities and equity	747	711	778	+5.0%	-4.0%
Fixed assets	76.8	74.0	63.9	+3.8%	+20.2%
Goodwill	47.8	47.8	47.8	0.0%	0.0%
Investments	27.6	40.9	62.1	-32.3%	-55.5%
Cash and equivalents	46.1	27.0	47.7	+70.5%	-3.3%
Receivables	329	301	301	+9.0%	+9.4%
Other assets	219	220	256	-0.3%	-14.2%
Total assets	747	711	778	+5.0%	-4.0%

Questions

What was Barrett Business Services' revenue in Q3 FY2026?

Barrett Business Services (BBSI) reported revenue of $334 million for Q3 FY2026, the quarter ended 30 September 2026, up 4.7% on the same quarter a year earlier.

How much did Barrett Business Services earn in Q3 FY2026?

Net income for Q3 FY2026 was $17 million, down 18.8% on the year, and diluted earnings per share $0.69.

When did Barrett Business Services report Q3 FY2026 results?

Barrett Business Services filed its 10-Q for the quarter ended 30 September 2026 with the SEC on 5 November 2026.

Quarterly results, the last 20 quarters

	Q4 FY2021 *	Q1 FY2022	Q2 FY2022	Q3 FY2022	Q4 FY2022 *	Q1 FY2023	Q2 FY2023	Q3 FY2023	Q4 FY2023 *	Q1 FY2024	Q2 FY2024	Q3 FY2024	Q4 FY2024 *	Q1 FY2025	Q2 FY2025	Q3 FY2025	Q4 FY2025 *	Q1 FY2026	Q2 FY2026	Q3 FY2026
Revenue	257	246	262	274	272	255	265	273	277	266	280	294	305	293	308	319	321	307	319	334
Cost of revenue	201	206	195	207	211	213	198	205	211	226	212	220	233	250	234	242	253	264	254	261
Gross profit	55.9	40.4	66.9	66.9	60.7	41.5	67.0	68.3	65.6	39.6	67.9	74.4	71.4	42.6	73.3	76.8	68.3	43.2	64.9	72.7
Gross margin	22%	16%	26%	24%	22%	16%	25%	25%	24%	15%	24%	25%	23%	15%	24%	24%	21%	14%	20%	22%
SG&A	41.3	40.2	42.3	43.0	44.2	41.2	43.8	44.2	45.6	42.4	45.6	49.1	48.8	44.8	48.2	49.9	47.6	47.5	47.2	48.9
Operating income	13.3	-1.3	23.1	22.3	14.9	-1.4	21.5	22.3	18.2	-4.7	20.4	23.5	20.6	-4.2	23.0	24.8	18.5	-6.5	15.4	21.2
Operating margin	5%	-1%	9%	8%	5%	-1%	8%	8%	7%	-2%	7%	8%	7%	-1%	7%	8%	6%	-2%	5%	6%
Interest expense	-0.1	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.1	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Pre-tax income	14.9	0.3	24.6	23.9	16.4	1.0	23.7	24.7	19.7	-1.4	23.5	25.7	23.1	-1.5	25.3	26.8	20.9	-4.4	17.3	22.5
Tax rate	29%	9%	27%	27%	30%	14%	28%	26%	26%	n/a	29%	24%	27%	n/a	27%	23%	21%	n/a	26%	26%
Net income	10.6	0.3	18.0	17.4	11.5	0.8	17.0	18.2	14.6	-0.1	16.7	19.6	16.8	-1.0	18.5	20.6	16.4	-14.8	12.9	16.8
Net margin	4%	0%	7%	6%	4%	0%	6%	7%	5%	-0%	6%	7%	6%	-0%	6%	6%	5%	-5%	4%	5%
Diluted EPS	$0.35	$0.01	$0.62	$0.61	$0.41	$0.03	$0.62	$0.67	$0.54	-$0.01	$0.62	$0.74	$0.63	-$0.04	$0.70	$0.79	$0.64	-$0.59	$0.52	$0.69
Operating cash flow	44.8	-30.2	-7.2	34.4	30.8	-26.5	3.3	33.2	57.2	9.0	-51.3	-0.9	53.4	5.2	-53.8	38.4	76.1	-22.1	-55.9	26.9
Capital expenditure	1.8	6.8	1.7	3.0	4.5	3.0	2.8	2.3	3.7	2.8	4.9	3.3	3.2	4.5	4.4	4.4	5.5	5.7	5.5	5.4
Free cash flow	43.1	-37.0	-8.9	31.3	26.3	-29.5	0.5	30.9	53.5	6.2	-56.3	-4.2	50.2	0.7	-58.2	34.1	70.6	-27.8	-61.4	21.6
Buybacks	6.5	8.6	19.9	10.6	8.1	8.0	10.1	10.9	5.1	7.1	7.0	8.0	7.0	9.2	8.1	7.5	17.1	20.3	15.2	9.1
Dividends paid	2.3	2.2	2.2	2.1	2.0	2.1	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.1	2.1	2.1	2.0	2.1	2.0	2.0	1.9	1.9
Shares outstanding	30m	29m	29m	28m	27m	27m	27m	26m	26m	26m	26m	26m	26m	26m	25m	26m	25m	25m	24m	24m
Filing	10-K	10-Q	10-Q	10-Q	10-K	10-Q	10-Q	10-Q	10-K	10-Q	10-Q	10-Q	10-K	10-Q	10-Q	10-Q	10-K	10-Q	10-Q	10-Q

Each quarter as filed, linked to its filing.

* The fourth quarter is the full year less the first three quarters, because the company files the year and not the quarter on its own. A fourth quarter's EPS, and its diluted share count where shown, are from the company's results press release for that quarter, checked against the company's filed figures or a second data source. Money is in $ million as the company files it, or in $ billion by the switch above the tables; per share figures and the share count are as they are. Free cash flow is operating cash flow less capital expenditure; the effective tax rate is income tax over pre-tax income; margins are the line over revenue. Gross profit is revenue less cost of revenue, and operating income is revenue less the company's own total costs, where the statement does not print those lines. Cash flow lines filed year to date are the difference between two filings. Shares outstanding are at the period end where the balance sheet tags them, otherwise the count on the filing's cover page. A derived fourth-quarter EPS is left blank when a split in the year makes the arithmetic meaningless.

10-Q for the period ended 30 September 2026, filed 5 November 2026: the filing.