Kelly Services
Through the investors’ lenses
0 of 2 cleared2 of 7 criteria
Each of these investors has said in public what they look at before buying. Click a name to see how this company measures up — a tick where it passes one of their tests, a cross where it does not.
Warren Buffett 1/4
| Measure | KELYA | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Owner earnings | $-220.20m | positive | ✗ |
| Return on equity | -26.0% | US median 2.8% | ✗ |
| Debt to equity | 0.10x | US median 0.57x | ✓ |
| Operating margin | -1.6% | US median 3.1% | ✗ |
Passes 1 of 4. These are the measures Warren Buffett published, applied to Kelly Services’s own figures — their criteria, not their view of this company. What he looks at, and why →
Benjamin Graham 1/3
| Measure | KELYA | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current ratio | 1.54x | 2.00x published | ✗ |
| Long-term debt to working capital | 0.23x | 1.00x published | ✓ |
| Positive earnings, ten years running | 0 yrs | 10 published | ✗ |
Passes 1 of 3. These are the measures Benjamin Graham published, applied to Kelly Services’s own figures — their criteria, not their view of this company. What he looks at, and why →
| Basis | Payout | Why |
|---|---|---|
| GAAP earnings | negative | whyLost $7.24 per share — no earnings to pay from. |
| Operating cash flow | 9.0% | whyBefore capital spending. |
| Free cash flow | 9.6% | whyAfter maintaining the business. |
All bases agree, within a point.
Coverage rating 72 / 100 — Adequate. ? Peer standing 47/50Direction 25/30Stability 0/20
Free cash flow payout, last 6 years
| Fiscal year | Payout |
|---|---|
| 2025-12-28 | 9.6% |
| 2024-12-29 | 69.0% |
| 2023-12-31 | 17.9% |
| 2022-01-02 | 5.4% |
| 2021-01-03 | 1.8% |
| 2019-12-29 | 14.5% |
94% of the 62 consumer discretionary here pay out more — comfortable for the sector.
The arithmetic
- GAAP earnings — dividends declared per share $0.313 ÷ diluted EPS $-7.24
- Operating cash flow — dividends paid $11.0m ÷ operating cash flow $123m
- Free cash flow — dividends paid $11.0m ÷ (operating cash flow $123m − capex $8.50m)
Where the figures came from
- 10-K filed 2026-02-12 · accession 0000055135-26-000053
Every one is public at sec.gov and free to check. That is the point — you should not have to take our word for any of it.
Caveats on this company
- DPS derived from dividends paid ($0.31); no per-share tag filed
Computed by an open pipeline reading SEC XBRL directly. If any number here looks wrong to you, tell us — that is more useful to us than agreement.
What the free cash flow payout ratio measures, and where every company here sits on it.
Also on: rated adequate · when it files.
Who else looks like this
Every figure above is computed from Kelly Services’s own filing, and every company here is measured the same way. Screen all of them on any of these twelve measures, or on the rules two investors published — free, and nothing you screen leaves your browser.
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