CBZ vs HURN: Which Is the Better Buy in 2026?

Same yardstick, side by side (as of August 2026). Valuation lined up like this is most meaningful for two names in the same corner of the market, which these are. Figures are approximate; verify before investing.

The metrics above tell you which is the marginally better business. The bigger risk for most people is not picking the slightly worse stock, it is over-concentrating. CBZ and HURN share themes, so owning both, or adding either to what you already hold, can quietly push a large share of your portfolio into one bet.

This is the part a generic comparison page cannot answer, because it depends on what you own. Connect your brokerage and Walnut shows your real, combined CBZ and HURN exposure, flags overlap with your existing positions, and tells you if adding one would tip you past a concentration you are comfortable with, read-only by default, with your login staying at your broker. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

CBIZ, Inc. is a national professional-services firm that provides accounting and tax, financial advisory and consulting, employee benefits consulting, property and casualty insurance brokerage, and technology and managed IT services, primarily to middle-market businesses. It reports through three segments: Financial Services (the largest, covering accounting, tax, and advisory), Benefits and Insurance Services, and National Practices. Much of its revenue is recurring and fee-based, tied to compliance calendars, benefits renewals, and long-standing client relationships rather than a single product cycle. Its November 2024 acquisition of Marcum LLP, valued at roughly $2.3 billion, was the largest deal in its history and roughly doubled the company's scale, pushing combined annualized revenue toward $2.8 billion and making CBIZ the largest advisor of its kind in the US.

Full CBZ guide

Huron Consulting Group was formed in 2002 by former Arthur Andersen partners and has built itself into a global professional services firm organized around three industry segments. Healthcare produced ~50% of revenues before reimbursable expenses in the first half of 2026, Education ~29%, and Commercial ~21%. The work runs through two capabilities: consulting and managed services covers performance improvement, cost reduction, clinical operations, revenue cycle and research administration, while the digital practice implements and then operates enterprise platforms from Workday, Oracle and Salesforce for the same client base. As of June 30, 2026 Huron employed ~5,335 revenue-generating professionals outside managed services, plus ~3,913 managed services staff, a headcount that more than doubled year over year after the RelateCare acquisition added roughly ~1,100 people in patient access. Buying capability is a standing part of the model, with Eclipse Insights, Treliant and WP&C folded in during 2025.

Full HURN guide

Both fit overlapping themes, but they are not interchangeable. The useful comparison is which set of drivers and risks you want exposure to.

• CBZ drivers: Marcum integration and scale synergies; Recurring, fee-based revenue base.
• HURN drivers: Healthcare demand and the shift toward managed services; Education, where budget stress is itself the demand driver.

A faster-growing, richer-valued name usually swings harder, so it suits a longer horizon and a higher tolerance for volatility; a steadier, more cash-generative business suits a more conservative or income-minded investor. The honest test is which set of risks you could hold through a drawdown: CBIZ carries acquisition-related debt from the Marcum deal, so higher-for-longer interest rates and slower deleveraging are a risk to earnings. For HURN, the central risk is the one the market has already repriced twice this year: if generative AI compresses the hours clients will pay for, a business built on utilization and staffing leverage degrades fast, and Huron's consulting utilization near ~81% sits closer to the top of its historical range than the bottom.

Pick CBZ if you believe its drivers more; HURN if you believe its. Many investors hold both, but since they share themes, that is a concentrated bet, not diversification. Decide deliberately and check overlap. For the full detail, see the CBZ and HURN guides.

CBZ. CBIZ traded around $40 in July 2026, with a trailing P/E near 15 and a forward P/E closer to 9 on guided adjusted earnings, well below its multi-year average multiple. The valuation compression reflects the shift from acquisition-fueled 52% revenue growth in 2025 to guided low-to-mid single-digit organic growth in 2026. Reported quarterly results have at times included large non-operating gains from Marcum acquisition accounting, so adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow are the cleaner gauges of the underlying run-rate.

HURN. At roughly ~$152 a share against ~15.9M shares outstanding, Huron carries a market capitalization near ~$2.4B and an enterprise value around ~$3.2B once net debt is counted. That works out to about ~16x the midpoint of management's 2026 adjusted EPS guidance and roughly ~12x guided adjusted EBITDA, below where the larger listed consultancies have typically traded. Trailing GAAP earnings look considerably weaker than the adjusted figures because of intangible amortization, transaction costs and investment write-downs, and the gap between the two is wide enough to be worth re-checking each quarter.

Headline figures (approximate, JULY 2026): CBZ shows revenue (ttm) ~$2.8B, q1 2026 revenue ~$848.6M (+1.3% YoY), 2026 revenue guidance ~$2.8B to $2.9B (2-5% growth), 2026 adjusted eps guidance ~$4.00 to $4.10 (raised); HURN shows revenue (ttm, before reimbursable expenses) ~$1.77B, 2026 rbr guidance ~$1.85B to ~$1.89B, adjusted diluted eps guidance (2026) ~$9.00 to ~$9.40, market cap ~$2.4B.

CBZ and HURN are related but distinct: same themes, different businesses and risks. Neither wins in the abstract; the right pick is whichever thesis you actually believe, sized so you are not over-concentrated in one theme. Walnut can show your combined CBZ and HURN exposure against your real portfolio. It is not an investment adviser.