Barrett Business Services Inc (BBSI) is fairly valued and Kelly Services Inc (KELYA) is overvalued.
Against our estimates of intrinsic value, BBSI trades at the wider discount: a margin of safety of +4%, against -163% for KELYA.
Values as of the 22 Sept 2026 close.
Discounting its cash flows at 9.6% (average of 3 methods) values the shares at $34.76; the price of $33.26 is 4% below that value, and 74% of that value comes from beyond year five.
Leak Score 55/100 on 9 of 12 signals
Its through-the-cycle earnings (0.7% median margin), capitalised at 9.0% with no growth, values the shares at $6.34; the price of $16.66 is 163% above that value.
Leak Score 24/100 on 6 of 12 signals
| Metric | BBSI | KELYA |
|---|---|---|
| Verdict | Fairly valued | Overvalued |
| Price | $33.26 | $16.66 |
| Intrinsic value | $34.76 | $6.34 |
| Margin of safety | +4% | -163% |
| Leak Score | 55/100 (9/12) | 24/100 (6/12) |
| Market cap | $806M | $599M |
| Revenue growth, 5 years | 7.1% | -1.2% |
| Operating margin | 4.1% | 0.8% |
| Net margin | 2.8% | -6.7% |
| Return on equity | 16.3% | -24.4% |
| Debt to equity | 0.12 | 0.13 |
| P/E | 24.6x | — |
| Forward P/E | 16.6x | 9.2x |
| P/B | 3.9x | 0.6x |
| Dividend yield | 1.0% | 1.8% |