Shares of ManpowerGroup Inc. MAN, +4.54% jumped 3.8% in premarket trading Thursday, after the staffing services company reported third-quarter profit that beat expectations even as revenue fell a bit short, as demand for labor remained “solid.” Net income rose to $111.3 million, or $2.13 a share, from $97.7 million, or $1.77 a share, in the year-ago period. Excluding nonrecurring items, such as integration costs related to the U.S. Experis acquisition, adjusted earnings per share came to $2.21, above the FactSet consensus of $2.17. Revenue fell 6.6% to $4.80 billion, below the FactSet consensus of $4.87 billion, as the stronger U.S. dollar flipped revenue growth to negative from up 5.4%. Cost of revenue fell 8.5%, as gross margin improved to 18.3% from 16.6%. “[L]abor markets remain resilient and we see continued solid demand as we begin the fourth quarter,” said Chief Executive Jonas Prising. The stock has dropped 7.8% over the past three months through Wednesday, while the S&P 500 SPX, -0.37% has lost 6.7%.
