Korn Ferry (KFY) Stock Price & How to Invest

Korn Ferry sells advice and people. The company runs five reported solutions: Executive Search (~$924M of FY'26 fee revenue), Consulting (~$692M), Professional Search & Interim (~$561M), Recruitment Process Outsourcing or RPO (~$367M), and Digital (~$364M), which packages the firm's assessment data, pay benchmarks and leadership IP into subscriptions. Roughly 8,965 employees worked there before the AMS deal closed on September 1, 2026, and the combined firm now describes nearly 17,000 colleagues across more than 130 offices. Fee revenue is the number management guides to and analysts model, because reimbursed out of pocket costs are passed straight through.

The investment picture is a steady compounder with a cyclical engine underneath it. FY'26 (year ended April 30, 2026) fee revenue rose ~7% to ~$2.91B, net income reached ~$277M at a ~9.5% margin, and adjusted diluted EPS was ~$5.28, with the fourth quarter running a ~17.0% adjusted EBITDA margin. The first quarter of fiscal 2027 (three months to July 31, 2026, reported September 9) came in ahead of guidance: fee revenue of ~$757M, up ~7% year over year, against a guided ~$725M to ~$745M, net income of ~$69M, and EPS of ~$1.43 against a ~$1.36 consensus and a ~$1.32 to ~$1.38 guided range. That quarter predates AMS, so it is the last clean look at the standalone business. What changes the shape of the business is AMS: a ~$1.1B purchase of a UK recruitment outsourcing firm with ~$650M of annual fee revenue, which roughly triples the RPO line and spends most of the balance sheet cushion Korn Ferry had built up. Consensus for the fiscal year ending April 2027 now sits near ~$3.5B of revenue and ~$5.66 of EPS, with ~$870M expected in the October quarter, the first to include AMS.

The stock has given back much of its run. It closed near ~$72.63 on October 16, 2026, down ~5% over one month and ~7% over three, though still up ~9% year to date and ~6% over one year, inside a ~$59 to ~$88 52 week range. That puts the market cap around ~$4.06B.

Executive search revenue turns over quickly when hiring freezes, and Korn Ferry has no long contracted backlog in that line to cushion a downturn. The AMS integration is the largest the company has attempted, it added roughly ~$580M of borrowings on top of the debt already carried (~$598M of total debt against ~$816M of cash at July 31, 2026, before the deal closed), and consultant attrition during integrations is a well documented failure mode in this industry. AI tools that automate sourcing and screening put fee pressure on the lower end of recruiting even as they create demand for leadership advice at the top, and which effect dominates over five years is genuinely unsettled. Digital has been flat for a year, which weakens the argument that the mix is becoming less cyclical. The shares fell from near ~$88 to ~$73 between late summer and mid-October 2026 despite a quarter ahead of guidance, which suggests the market is pricing integration risk and hiring-cycle risk rather than the latest results. Roughly half of fee revenue comes from outside the Americas, so currency swings move reported growth by several points in either direction.

4 analysts publish price targets on KFY, averaging $90.25 against a $73.03 price as of October 2026, or +23.6%. The published targets run from $82.00 to $100.00, a narrow spread, and the ratings split 4 buy, 1 hold, 0 sell. Over the last six months there have been 4 raises and 0 cuts among the published actions. A price target is what an analyst published on a date, not a prediction, and sell-side ratings skew positive across the whole market.

Read the full KFY forecast and price target for the target table, the recent rating actions by firm, and how the consensus has shifted.

We give no verdict on Korn Ferry. Both cases are real, which is why the question is contested at all, so here is the strongest version of each.

The case for buying. The AMS deal reshapes the revenue mix. AMS brought roughly ~$650M of annual fee revenue and ~$100M of run rate adjusted EBITDA, against Korn Ferry's own ~$367M RPO line. The most optimistic published target, $100.00, assumes this works close to its best case.

The case against. Executive search revenue turns over quickly when hiring freezes, and Korn Ferry has no long contracted backlog in that line to cushion a downturn. The most pessimistic target, $82.00, is roughly what KFY is worth if this bites instead.

Read the full bull and bear case on KFY, including what would have to change to break either one. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

A simple financial snapshot. These are approximations and refresh quarterly; for current figures see Korn Ferry's investor relations page or your broker.

• Revenue (TTM): ~$2.96B fee revenue, Q1 FY'27 up ~7% year over year
• Margins (TTM): ~11.8% operating, ~9.5% net
• Net income (TTM): ~$276M
• EPS: ~$5.29 trailing; Q1 FY'27 ~$1.43 vs ~$1.36 consensus
• P/E: ~13.7x trailing, ~11.4x forward
• Market cap: ~$4.06B at ~$72.63 per share (October 16, 2026)
• Dividend: ~$0.55 per quarter, ~$2.20 annualized, yield ~3.0%
• Balance sheet before the AMS close: ~$816M cash against ~$598M total debt (July 31, 2026)

At ~$72.63 the stock trades near ~13.7 times trailing and ~11.4 times forward earnings, and at about ~9 times EV to EBITDA, cheaper than in September even though the July quarter beat guidance. The multiple sits below the broader market and below most consulting peers, which reflects how quickly search revenue can reverse rather than any doubt about current profitability, and the net cash position that supported the old valuation has now largely been converted into AMS. The October quarter, expected to be reported around December 8, 2026, is the first period where investors see the combined cost base.

Other names that sit close to KFY: same theme, named as a direct competitor, or held beside it in the same funds. Each entry says which. Worth a look if you are thinking about diversification within a thesis rather than concentration on one ticker.

There are three common ways to get KFY exposure. Buy shares (or fractional shares) directly at any major broker. Hold an ETF that includes it, which spreads the position across many companies. Or build it into a focused thematic portfolio, so KFY sits alongside other stocks that express the same thesis.

Walnut takes the portfolio route. Describe a thesis where KFY fits (for example “AI infrastructure” or “dividend-growth large-caps”) and the AI proposes 5 to 6 constituents with target weights. You review the plan and fund it through your own broker when you're ready.

New to this? Start with how to invest in stocks, see how to analyze a stock with AI, or compare the best AI stock analyzers.

KFY is a cash generative, moderately priced consulting and search firm, now around ~11 times forward earnings with a ~3% dividend yield, whose next two years hinge on integrating AMS without losing the margin discipline that got the stock re-rated.

Whether KFY is worth buying today depends more on your time horizon and what you already hold than on any single call. We walk through valuation, what would have to go right, and the risks in is KFY a buy or a sell?, and where the stock could go from here in the KFY stock forecast.

For income investors, whether KFY pays a dividend and how the payout looks is covered in does KFY pay a dividend? And to weigh KFY against a peer, read the full side-by-side comparisons: KFY vs MRSH and KFY vs WTW.