One-glance verdict
Undervalued
$45.39 our estimate vs market $11.30
Wall Street consensus: $16.67 (-63.3% lower than our fair-value estimate)
75% below our estimate, below the bear case
Fundamentals snapshot
The Hackett Group, Inc.
HCKT · NMS · Technology · Information Technology Services
Current price
$11.30
52-week range
$9.16 - $20.68
Market cap
$281.12M
Balance sheet
Stretched
15.53x Strong cushion
Net debt $68.86M. Interest coverage shows how many times profit covers the interest bill.
What stands out
3 Rewards
2 Risks
3 rewards · 2 risks
- Reward Returns 17.9% on equity, ahead of 50% of its peers.
- Reward Free cash flow was positive in 10/10 years.
- Risk Net debt grew 94.8% over 3 years.
- Risk Operating margin compressed from 18.6% to 12.0% over 3 years.
What this company does
The Hackett Group, Inc.
The Hackett Group helps big companies improve how they do business using technology and smart advice. They mainly make money by selling their consulting services and software that helps businesses become more efficient. This matters because companies are always looking for ways to work smarter and save money, and Hackett provides the tools and expertise to do just that.
How the company got here
The Hackett Group started in 1991 as a company focused on 'benchmarking' (comparing one company's performance against others). In 1997, a new advisory firm called Answerthink, Inc. was formed and it acquired the original Hackett business. After going public in 1998, the company expanded beyond just data comparison into broader business and technology consulting. To better reflect its well-known research brand, the company officially changed its name to The Hackett Group in 2008. In recent years, it has heavily focused on 'digital transformation' (helping companies adopt modern technology) and is now centered on using artificial intelligence to improve its clients' operations.
What it actually does
Think of The Hackett Group as a doctor for big businesses. They use a huge database of performance information to diagnose how well a company is running its behind-the-scenes departments, like finance, human resources, and IT. They show companies how their performance stacks up against top-performing 'world-class' companies and provide a roadmap for how to improve. This often involves redesigning processes to be more efficient, cutting unnecessary costs, and helping companies install and use powerful business software to modernize their operations.
Global Strategy & Business Transformation (S&BT)
This is the company's main line of business and generates the majority of its revenue. It includes their core consulting and executive advisory services, where they use their benchmarking data to advise clients on how to improve their business functions. Companies pay for access to Hackett's research, expert advice, and detailed plans to help them streamline operations, reduce costs, and manage their 'working capital' (the cash available to run the day-to-day business) more effectively. This segment helps businesses answer the question, 'How can we be better and more efficient?'
Oracle Solutions
This part of the company is a specialized technology consulting service focused entirely on software made by Oracle, a major business software provider. Companies that use or want to use Oracle's applications for things like finance or human resources pay The Hackett Group for their expertise. The Hackett Group helps them choose the right Oracle products, install them, and make sure they are running correctly to meet the company's goals. This is a hands-on business that helps clients get the most out of their significant technology investments.
SAP Solutions
Similar to their Oracle business, this segment is dedicated to helping clients with software from another major provider, SAP. A company called Answerthink, which is part of The Hackett Group, handles these services. They guide businesses through the entire process of using SAP software, from initial planning and selection to implementation, customization, and employee training. This division ensures that companies can effectively use SAP's powerful tools to run their business more efficiently.
What management is betting on now
The company's biggest bet is on Generative Artificial Intelligence (Gen AI), the same technology behind tools like ChatGPT. They are building their own AI-powered software platforms, like Hackett AI XPLR™ and ZBrain®, to deliver their advice and solutions to clients faster and more effectively. Their strategy is to become a 'platform-led' company, meaning they want clients to use their proprietary AI tools as part of their consulting services. Management believes this will help their clients achieve 'digital transformation' (the shift to modern, technology-driven ways of working) and give Hackett a competitive edge.
Price history
How the share price has moved
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Earnings history
Last 8 quarters — what happened
Click any quarter to read the call summary and what the numbers say.
FY2024 Q3
$9.35M
FY2024 Q4
$19.62M
FY2025 Q1
$2.65M
FY2025 Q2
$3.74M
FY2025 Q3
$5.54M
FY2025 Q4
$14.65M
FY2026 Q1
$-7.48M
FY2026 Q2
$12.58M
Revenue
$69.33M
Net income
$4.41M
Diluted EPS
0.18
Operating cash flow
$15.16M
Free cash flow
$12.58M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$68.80M
Net income
$4.28M
Diluted EPS
0.17
Operating cash flow
$-5.07M
Free cash flow
$-7.48M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$75.75M
Net income
$5.59M
Diluted EPS
0.21
Operating cash flow
$19.07M
Free cash flow
$14.65M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$73.11M
Net income
$2.55M
Diluted EPS
0.09
Operating cash flow
$11.39M
Free cash flow
$5.54M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$78.90M
Net income
$1.66M
Diluted EPS
0.06
Operating cash flow
$5.65M
Free cash flow
$3.74M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$77.86M
Net income
$3.14M
Diluted EPS
0.11
Operating cash flow
$4.19M
Free cash flow
$2.65M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$79.23M
Net income
$3.56M
Diluted EPS
0.12
Operating cash flow
$20.64M
Free cash flow
$19.62M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$79.78M
Net income
$8.59M
Diluted EPS
0.31
Operating cash flow
$10.58M
Free cash flow
$9.35M
Fetching…
Sources
Is it cheap or expensive?
Fair value $45.39 vs current price $11.30
Wall Street consensus is the average analyst price target: $16.67 (-63.3% lower than our fair-value estimate).
Our most-likely fair value is $45.39 a share — about 301.7% above today's price of $11.30, so the stock currently looks cheap (undervalued).
Is it drowning in debt?
Stretched
Net debt $68.9M. Interest coverage 15.5x.
Net debt
$68.86M
Interest coverage
15.53x
The Hackett Group, Inc.'s profit covers its interest bill about 15.5 times over. which is stronger than every peer shown here and 2 peers sit below 1x, which is the danger zone where profit does not fully cover the interest bill.
Stretched
Worse cushion
Baseline
Better cushion
HCKT
BASELINE
The Hackett Group, Inc.
Total debt $83.03M Interest coverage 15.53x This is the baseline the peer rows are being compared against.
Total debt $67.50M Interest coverage 4.38x -72% vs HCKT Carries about 3.5x less debt cushion than HCKT.
Total debt $865.16M Interest coverage 5.49x -65% vs HCKT Carries about 2.8x less debt cushion than HCKT.
Total debt $63.99M Interest coverage 0.73x -95% vs HCKT Carries about 21.4x less debt cushion than HCKT.
Total debt $303.65M Interest coverage 15.51x -0% vs HCKT Has roughly the same debt cushion as HCKT.
Total debt $22.50M Interest coverage -54.10x -100% vs HCKT This peer has almost no interest-payment cushion compared with HCKT.
What you should know
The case for and against HCKT
3 Rewards
2 Risks
Rewards
-
Returns 17.9% on equity, ahead of 50% of its peers.
-
Free cash flow was positive in 10/10 years.
-
Trades at 17.9x P/E vs peer median 23.7x (24.5% cheaper).
Risks
-
Net debt grew 94.8% over 3 years.
-
Operating margin compressed from 18.6% to 12.0% over 3 years.
The numbers
All the key metrics, grouped by purpose
Tap any ? icon to learn what it means.
Valuation
How expensive the stock looks
P/E (TTM)
17.94x
Forward P/E
7.09x
P/B
4.12x
P/S
0.99x
EV/EBITDA
8.25x
PEG ratio
0.71x
Profitability
How much profit each dollar creates
Gross margin
41.8%
Operating margin
12.0%
Net margin
5.9%
ROE
17.9%
ROA
11.2%
Health
Liquidity and balance-sheet strength
Debt / equity
1.22x
Current ratio
1.94x
Quick ratio
1.74x
Total debt
$83.03M
Total cash
$14.16M
Growth
How the business has been compounding
Revenue TTM
$286.99M
Revenue 5Y CAGR
2.3%
EPS TTM
0.63
EPS 5Y CAGR
-28.9%
Cash flow
How much cash the business throws off
Operating CF TTM
$40.55M
Free CF TTM
$32.44M
FCF margin
11.3%
Dividend
Shareholder payout
Yield
4.2%
Payout ratio
76.2%
Last ex-div date
2026-09-18