The Hackett Group (HCKT)
NASDAQ:HCKT
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The Hackett Group
(NASDAQ:HCKT)
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Rating:57Neutral
Price Target:
$10.00
▼(-28.37% Downside)
Action:Reiterated
Date:05/09/26
The score is held back primarily by weak technicals (broad downtrend and negative momentum) and a softer operating/cash flow profile (revenue decline, margin compression, and lower TTM free cash flow). These are partially offset by a strong, low-leverage balance sheet, reasonable valuation with a high dividend yield, and earnings-call guidance pointing to sequential improvement and a potential Q3 EPS inflection.
Positive Factors
Low Leverage / Strong Balance Sheet
The company’s very low debt-to-equity provides durable financial flexibility to fund platform investments, sustain dividends and buybacks, and absorb cyclical revenue swings. Low leverage reduces refinancing risk and supports strategic optionality over the next several quarters.
Negative Factors
Sustained Revenue Softness
Material year-over-year revenue declines signal weaker client demand and elongated decision cycles. Persistent top-line softness limits operating leverage, constrains reinvestment capacity, and makes it harder to demonstrate scale economics from platform investments until demand recovery stabilizes.
Read all positive and negative factors
Positive Factors
Negative Factors
Low Leverage / Strong Balance Sheet
The company’s very low debt-to-equity provides durable financial flexibility to fund platform investments, sustain dividends and buybacks, and absorb cyclical revenue swings. Low leverage reduces refinancing risk and supports strategic optionality over the next several quarters.
Read all positive factors
The Hackett Group (HCKT) vs. SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY)
Market Cap
$252.90M
Dividend Yield2.41%
Average Volume (3M)219.84K
Price to Earnings (P/E)18.2
Beta (1Y)0.83
Revenue Growth-5.71%
EPS Growth-38.81%
CountryUS
Employees1,618
SectorTechnology
Sector Strength88
IndustryInformation Technology Services
Share Statistics
EPS (TTM)0.53
Shares Outstanding25,188,887
10 Day Avg. Volume176,523
30 Day Avg. Volume219,838
Financial Highlights & Ratios
PEG Ratio-0.75
Price to Book (P/B)8.01
Price to Sales (P/S)1.78
P/FCF Ratio16.81
Enterprise Value/Market Cap1.36
Enterprise Value/Revenue1.16
Enterprise Value/Gross Profit2.93
Enterprise Value/Ebitda9.66
Forecast
1Y Price Target
$17.67Price Target Upside26.55% Upside
Rating ConsensusStrong Buy
Number of Analyst Covering3
EPS Forecast (FY)1.65
Revenue Forecast (FY)$297.64M
The Hackett Group Business Overview & Revenue Model
Company Description
The Hackett Group, Inc. operates as a strategic advisory and technology consulting firm primarily in North America and internationally. It offers best practice intelligence center, an online searchable repository; best practice accelerators that p...
How the Company Makes Money
The Hackett Group makes money primarily by selling professional services and advisory offerings to enterprises. Key revenue streams include: (1) Consulting and transformation services: Fees for project-based consulting engagements, often covering ...
The Hackett Group Earnings Call Summary
Earnings Call Date:May 05, 2026
(Q1-2026)
| % Change Since: |
Next Earnings Date:Aug 11, 2026
Earnings Call Sentiment Neutral
The call presented a balanced view: meaningful near-term headwinds including an 11% year-over-year revenue decline, margin compression, materially lower quarter-end cash and increased DSO, and ongoing transition-related charges. Offsetting these challenges are clear strategic positives — accelerated migration to proprietary AI platforms with early productivity/margin gains (notably ~500 bps uplift in U.S. SBT project margins), strong SAP growth (+21% YoY), recurring revenue representing 24% of sales, new large OneStream wins, an IBM go-to-market collaboration, share repurchases and maintained dividend. Management provided concrete Q2 guidance and expects sequential margin and revenue improvement with an anticipated Q3 inflection where adjusted EPS should exceed prior-year levels assuming flat revenues. Overall, risks and short-term financial pressures are balanced by credible strategic progress and a pathway to improved margins and growth as platform adoption scales.Positive Updates
Platform-Enabled Transition and Early Productivity Gains
Company accelerated migration to AI platform-enabled sales and delivery (AI XPLR, XT, AIX, ZBrain) and reported early productivity improvements; U.S. Strategy & Business Transformation (SBT) project margins increased by ~500 basis points on engagements leveraging XT and XPLR.
Negative Updates
Revenue Decline
Total revenues before reimbursements were $67.8 million in Q1, down 11% year-over-year; Global S&BT down 15% YoY to $36.4 million; Oracle Solutions down 24% YoY to $15.4 million.
Read all updates
Q1-2026 Updates
Positive
Negative
Platform-Enabled Transition and Early Productivity Gains
Company accelerated migration to AI platform-enabled sales and delivery (AI XPLR, XT, AIX, ZBrain) and reported early productivity improvements; U.S. Strategy & Business Transformation (SBT) project margins increased by ~500 basis points on engagements leveraging XT and XPLR.
Read all positive updates
Company Guidance
For Q2 2026 management guided total revenues before reimbursements of $68.5–$70.0 million, adjusted diluted EPS of $0.33–$0.35 (assuming a 26.6% GAAP effective tax rate on adjusted earnings vs. 27.2% prior year), adjusted gross margin of ~44%–45%, adjusted SG&A and interest expense of about $19.5 million, and adjusted EBITDA of ~20%–21% of revenues; they expect to incur an AI transition charge of ≈$0.5 million (severance, excluded from non‑GAAP), cash flow from operations to be up sequentially, sequential revenue improvement in Global S&BT and Oracle (both down year‑over‑year) and SAP up year‑over‑year but down sequentially due to lower VAR sales, a reduction in accounts receivable of roughly $8–$9 million by the end of Q2 (including $4M VAR receivable collected in early Q2), DSO at 67 days, a Q2 dividend of $0.12 per share payable July 6, ~333k shares repurchased in Q1 for ~$4.6M and a remaining repurchase authorization of ~$22 million, and they see Q3 as an inflection point where adjusted EPS should exceed last year’s on flat revenues.The Hackett Group Financial Statement Overview
Summary
Income Statement
62
Positive
Balance Sheet
74
Positive
Cash Flow
58
Neutral
| Breakdown | TTM | Dec 2025 | Dec 2024 | Dec 2023 | Dec 2022 | Dec 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Income Statement | ||||||
| Total Revenue | 296.56M | 305.63M | 313.86M | 296.59M | 293.74M | 278.81M |
| Gross Profit | 117.17M | 117.17M | 123.24M | 116.38M | 115.58M | 105.66M |
| EBITDA | 35.51M | 28.71M | 48.51M | 52.68M | 58.69M | 50.85M |
| Net Income | 14.08M | 12.94M | 29.63M | 34.15M | 40.80M | 41.55M |
Balance Sheet | ||||||
| Total Assets | 204.39M | 204.64M | 191.88M | 181.43M | 184.99M | 207.54M |
| Cash, Cash Equivalents and Short-Term Investments | 6.07M | 18.20M | 16.37M | 20.96M | 30.25M | 45.79M |
| Total Debt | 81.11M | 79.52M | 15.68M | 34.42M | 61.11M | 3.77M |
| Total Liabilities | 138.38M | 136.54M | 76.30M | 91.35M | 126.72M | 63.69M |
| Stockholders Equity | 66.01M | 68.10M | 115.57M | 90.08M | 58.28M | 143.85M |
Cash Flow | ||||||
| Free Cash Flow | 22.31M | 32.44M | 43.65M | 33.30M | 54.25M | 43.11M |
| Operating Cash Flow | 31.04M | 40.30M | 47.73M | 37.40M | 58.90M | 46.35M |
| Investing Cash Flow | -9.50M | -8.63M | -10.62M | -4.10M | -4.66M | -3.24M |
| Financing Cash Flow | -24.67M | -29.77M | -41.66M | -42.56M | -69.74M | -46.74M |
The Hackett Group Technical Analysis
Negative
13.96
Price Trends
12.55
Negative
14.76
Negative
16.99
Negative
Market Momentum
-1.00
Positive
38.27
Neutral
24.07
Neutral
Evaluating momentum and price trends is crucial in stock analysis to make informed investment decisions. For HCKT, the sentiment is Negative. The current price of 13.96 is above the 20-day moving average (MA) of 11.45, above the 50-day MA of 12.55, and below the 200-day MA of 16.99, indicating a bearish trend. The MACD of -1.00 indicates Positive momentum. The RSI at 38.27 is Neutral, neither overbought nor oversold. The STOCH value of 24.07 is Neutral, not indicating any strong overbought or oversold conditions. Overall, these indicators collectively point to a Negative sentiment for HCKT.
The Hackett Group Risk Analysis
The Hackett Group disclosed 22 risk factors in its most recent earnings report. The Hackett Group reported the most risks in the "Finance & Corporate" category.
Finance & Corporate - Financial and accounting risks. Risks related to the execution of corporate activity and strategy
Latest Risks Added 0 New Risks
The Hackett Group Peers Comparison
UnderperformOutperform
Sector (61)
Name | Overall Rating | Market Cap | P/E Ratio | ROE | Dividend Yield | Revenue Growth | EPS Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
78 Outperform | $417.87M | 6.77 | 31.81% | ― | 17.04% | 45.20% | |
68 Neutral | $211.93M | 16.88 | 11.20% | 3.03% | 1.41% | 39.19% | |
61 Neutral | $37.18B | 12.37 | -10.20% | 1.83% | 8.50% | -7.62% | |
57 Neutral | $252.90M | 18.19 | 15.84% | 2.41% | -5.71% | -38.81% | |
47 Neutral | $216.53M | -1.04 | 125.36% | ― | 0.15% | -359.97% | |
47 Neutral | $235.75M | -1.37 | -19.59% | ― | -5.40% | -172.56% |
* Technology Sector Average
HCKT
The Hackett Group
10.64
-13.52
-55.95%
III
Information Services Group
4.37
-0.15
-3.23%
UIS
Unisys
2.87
-2.00
-41.07%
CNDT
Conduent
1.60
-0.78
-32.77%
IBEX
IBEX
31.21
2.37
8.22%
The Hackett Group Corporate Events
Business Operations and StrategyExecutive/Board ChangesDividendsFinancial DisclosuresShareholder Meetings
Hackett Group Balances AI Investment With Dividend Commitment
Neutral
May 5, 2026
At its April 30, 2026 annual meeting, The Hackett Group’s shareholders elected director John R. Harris to a new term running to the 2029 meeting and approved an expansion and three-year extension of the employee stock purchase plan. Investor...
Glossary
BuyA stock rated as a "Buy" is expected to perform better than the overall market or a specific benchmark over the near-to-medium term. This rating suggests the stock is likely to deliver higher returns compared to other stocks in the same sector or market index. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
HoldA stock rated as a "Hold" is expected to perform in line with the overall market or a specific benchmark. This rating indicates that the stock is neither particularly compelling nor unfavorable for investment. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
SellA stock rated as a "Sell" is expected to perform worse than the overall market or a specific benchmark over the near-to-medium term. This rating suggests the stock may deliver lower returns compared to other stocks in the same sector or market index. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
Disclaimer
This AI Analyst Stock Report is automatically generated by our AI systems using advanced algorithms and publicly available financial, technical, and market data. While the information provided aims to be accurate and insightful, it is intended for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. Any content created by an AI (Artificial Intelligence) system may contain inaccuracies and/or contain errors. Investing in stocks carries inherent risks, and past performance is not indicative of future results. This report does not account for your personal financial circumstances, objectives, or risk tolerance. Always conduct your own research or consult with a qualified financial advisor before making investment decisions. The analysis and recommendations provided are based on historical and current data and may not fully reflect future market conditions or unexpected developments. Neither the creators of this report nor its affiliated entities guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of the information presented. Use this report at your own discretion and risk.