Is KFY a high-quality business?

AlphaMadera's AlphaQuality grade scores Korn Ferry on six pillars — profitability, capital efficiency, balance-sheet strength, growth durability, cash generation, and shareholder yield. The composite letter grade reflects how KFY compares to a Buffett-style quality bar.

What is Korn Ferry's AlphaQuality grade?

AlphaQuality assigns a letter grade (A through F) to KFY based on a six-pillar quantitative model. The live page shows the composite grade plus each pillar's individual score with the underlying metrics.

What makes KFY a quality stock?

AlphaQuality looks at return on capital, free-cash-flow margins, debt-to-equity, revenue stability, dividend and buyback policy, and operating-margin trend. Stocks scoring well across all six pillars earn higher grades — the methodology favors compounders over cyclicals.

KFY - Korn Ferry

Price: -- -- | CONSENSUS: Buy DETAILS | PRICE TARGET: $70.00 DETAILS

AlphaQuality

Quantitative six-pillar business-quality grade

Platform & Compounding FCF

AlphaQuality — archetype-weighted quantitative grade

B 72.1 / 100 composite

Composite Grade

Composite of six pillars weighted for platform & compounding fcf businesses. Purely quantitative — no stock price or analyst input.

Profitability

Weight: 25%

C 56.9

5yr Avg ROIC 9.4% 57/100
Operating Margin Trend +0.04 pp/yr 56/100

Capital Efficiency

Weight: 15%

B- 67.8

5yr Avg ROE 11.4% 67/100
5yr Share-Count CAGR -0.3% 69/100

Growth Quality

Weight: 25%

B+ 79.0

5yr Revenue CAGR 11.0% 82/100
5yr EPS CAGR 21.8% 97/100
Revenue-Growth Years (5) 2/5 40/100

Cash Generation

Weight: 20%

A- 82.0

5yr FCF Margin 11.6% 74/100
5yr FCF/NI Conversion 1.44x 92/100

Balance Sheet

Weight: 10%

A+ 94.1

Net Debt / EBITDA -1.06x 100/100
Interest Coverage (EBIT/Int) 17.94x 97/100
Altman Z-Score 3.01 80/100

Stability

Weight: 5%

D+ 43.8

EPS Volatility (σ/μ) 0.58 23/100
Piotroski F-Score 7 78/100
Negative-Revenue Years (5) 3/5 40/100

4 of 4 gurus held; 1 new buy; 2 added; 1 trimmed; 1 full exit.

Holders: 4
Avg Δ position: +145.1%
New buys: 1
Full exits: 1

Dalio sold -100%
Laffont new
Greenblatt increased +433%

How this is calculated

AlphaQuality grades six pillars from 0-100 and weights each by archetype:

Profitability (25%) — 5yr Avg ROIC, Operating Margin Trend
Capital Efficiency (15%) — 5yr Avg ROE, 5yr Share-Count CAGR
Growth Quality (25%) — 5yr Revenue CAGR, 5yr EPS CAGR, Revenue-Growth Years (5)
Cash Generation (20%) — 5yr FCF Margin, 5yr FCF/NI Conversion
Balance Sheet (10%) — Net Debt / EBITDA, Interest Coverage (EBIT/Int), Altman Z-Score
Stability (5%) — EPS Volatility (σ/μ), Piotroski F-Score, Negative-Revenue Years (5)

We deliberately ignore stock price, analyst targets, and consensus ratings so the grade is suitable for backtesting forward returns. A minimum of 5 fiscal years of audited statements is required; distressed and highly leveraged infrastructure businesses are declared ungradable rather than forced into a numeric score.