One-glance verdict
Undervalued
$41.60 our estimate vs market $9.72
Wall Street consensus: $9.75 (-76.6% lower than our fair-value estimate)
77% below our estimate, below the bear case
Fundamentals snapshot
TrueBlue, Inc.
TBI · NYQ · Industrials · Staffing & Employment Services
Current price
$9.72
52-week range
$3.18 - $11.03
Market cap
$295.92M
Balance sheet
Distressed
-27.98x Concerning
Net debt $115.19M. Interest coverage shows how many times profit covers the interest bill.
What stands out
1 Reward
3 Risks
1 rewards · 3 risks
- Reward Free cash flow was positive in 7/10 years.
- Risk Return on equity was -20.2% last year — the company lost money on shareholders' equity.
- Risk Operating margin compressed from 3.2% to 0.6% over 3 years.
- Risk Insider ownership is only 7.7% (peer median: 10.1%).
What this company does
TrueBlue, Inc.
TrueBlue provides temporary and permanent staffing services to various industries like construction and manufacturing. Their main money comes from connecting businesses with the workers they need, helping companies manage their workforce efficiently. This matters because it means TrueBlue helps keep businesses running smoothly by providing essential human resources.
How the company got here
TrueBlue started in 1985 as Labor Ready, Inc., focusing on providing temporary workers for various industries. The company grew by acquiring other staffing firms and expanding its services. A key turning point was its rebranding to TrueBlue in 2007, signaling a broader vision beyond just temporary labor. This evolution reflects the changing needs of businesses seeking more comprehensive workforce solutions.
What it actually does
TrueBlue acts as a bridge between companies needing workers and individuals looking for jobs, primarily in industrial and skilled trades. Think of them as a specialized matchmaker for businesses that need extra hands for specific projects or ongoing operations. They help fill roles in sectors like construction, manufacturing, and transportation, ensuring companies have the right people when they need them.
PeopleReady
This is TrueBlue's largest segment, focusing on providing general, industrial, and skilled trade workers on a temporary basis. Companies in construction, manufacturing, and transportation often use PeopleReady when they have a surge in demand or need specialized skills for a limited time. It's like a quick-response team for a company's immediate staffing needs, making up a significant portion of TrueBlue's overall business.
PeopleManagement
PeopleManagement offers more integrated staffing solutions, particularly for large industrial clients in manufacturing and warehousing, as well as for the transportation industry's commercial drivers. This segment goes beyond just providing workers; it often involves managing the entire contingent workforce on-site for a client. It's a substantial part of TrueBlue's operations, focusing on managing and optimizing a client's temporary workforce.
PeopleSolutions
This segment provides a range of services aimed at helping companies manage their entire talent acquisition process, from sourcing and screening to hiring and onboarding permanent employees. They also offer consulting on talent strategy and manage vendor relationships for contingent labor programs. While smaller than the other two, PeopleSolutions represents TrueBlue's move into more strategic, long-term workforce management for its clients.
What management is betting on now
TrueBlue's management is focused on leveraging technology to improve efficiency and expand its service offerings. They are investing in platforms like Affinix to streamline the process of finding and placing workers, aiming to make their operations faster and more effective. The strategy also involves growing their higher-margin PeopleSolutions segment, which offers more specialized talent advisory and outsourcing services, indicating a push towards more value-added solutions for clients.
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
$-12.72M
FY2024 Q4
$854.00K
FY2025 Q1
$-26.80M
FY2025 Q2
$-16.05M
FY2025 Q3
$-23.38M
FY2025 Q4
$-7.49M
FY2026 Q1
$-12.61M
FY2026 Q2
$-23.95M
Revenue
—
Net income
$-3.37M
Diluted EPS
-0.11
Operating cash flow
$-20.58M
Free cash flow
$-23.95M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
—
Net income
$-19.80M
Diluted EPS
-0.66
Operating cash flow
$-9.78M
Free cash flow
$-12.61M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
—
Net income
$-31.54M
Diluted EPS
-1.06
Operating cash flow
$-4.37M
Free cash flow
$-7.49M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
—
Net income
$-1.92M
Diluted EPS
-0.06
Operating cash flow
$-19.77M
Free cash flow
$-23.38M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
—
Net income
$-160.00K
Diluted EPS
-0.01
Operating cash flow
$-11.79M
Free cash flow
$-16.05M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
—
Net income
$-14.35M
Diluted EPS
-0.48
Operating cash flow
$-22.11M
Free cash flow
$-26.80M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
—
Net income
$-11.71M
Diluted EPS
-0.41
Operating cash flow
$6.13M
Free cash flow
$854.00K
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Sources
Revenue
—
Net income
$-7.63M
Diluted EPS
-0.26
Operating cash flow
$-7.13M
Free cash flow
$-12.72M
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Sources
Is it cheap or expensive?
Fair value $41.60 vs current price $9.72
Wall Street consensus is the average analyst price target: $9.75 (-76.6% lower than our fair-value estimate).
Our most-likely fair value is $41.60 a share — about 327.9% above today's price of $9.72, so the stock currently looks cheap (undervalued).
Is it drowning in debt?
Distressed
Net debt $115.2M. Interest coverage -28.0x.
Net debt
$115.19M
Interest coverage
-27.98x
TrueBlue, Inc.'s profit covers its interest bill about 0.0 times over. which is weaker than most peers shown here and 2 peers sit below 1x, which is the danger zone where profit does not fully cover the interest bill.
Distressed
Worse cushion
Baseline
Better cushion
TBI
BASELINE
TrueBlue, Inc.
Total debt $138.44M Interest coverage -27.98x This is the baseline the peer rows are being compared against.
Total debt $0.00 Interest coverage 22.66x This peer still has a real interest-payment cushion, while TBI does not.
Total debt $128.70M Interest coverage 2.19x This peer still has a real interest-payment cushion, while TBI does not.
Total debt $24.50M Interest coverage 363.53x This peer still has a real interest-payment cushion, while TBI does not.
Total debt $608.00K Interest coverage -2.07x Neither company has much profit cushion over interest right now.
Total debt $3.50M Interest coverage -9.94x Neither company has much profit cushion over interest right now.
What you should know
The case for and against TBI
1 Reward
3 Risks
Rewards
-
Free cash flow was positive in 7/10 years.
Risks
-
Return on equity was -20.2% last year — the company lost money on shareholders' equity.
-
Operating margin compressed from 3.2% to 0.6% over 3 years.
-
Insider ownership is only 7.7% (peer median: 10.1%).
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)
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Forward P/E
11.90x
P/B
1.16x
P/S
0.17x
EV/EBITDA
594.04x
PEG ratio
0.80x
Profitability
How much profit each dollar creates
Gross margin
21.5%
Operating margin
0.6%
Net margin
-3.3%
ROE
-20.2%
ROA
-2.7%
Health
Liquidity and balance-sheet strength
Debt / equity
0.54x
Current ratio
2.28x
Quick ratio
2.10x
Total debt
$138.44M
Total cash
$23.25M
Growth
How the business has been compounding
Revenue TTM
$2.49B
Revenue 5Y CAGR
10.7%
EPS TTM
-1.88
EPS 5Y CAGR
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Cash flow
How much cash the business throws off
Operating CF TTM
$-54.49M
Free CF TTM
$-73.72M
FCF margin
-3.0%
Dividend
Shareholder payout
Yield
0.0%
Payout ratio
0.0%
Last ex-div date
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