Paychex stock jumps toward record territory after profit and revenue beats, raised guidance

Shares of Paychex Inc. /zigman2/quotes/202030365/composite PAYX +3.15% rose 1.3% into record territory in premarket trading Wednesday, after the human resources services company reported fiscal second-quarter profit and revenue that beat expectations and raised its full-year outlook. Net income for the quarter to Nov. 30 rose to $272.4 million, or 75 cents a share, form $258.7 million, or 72 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Excluding non-recurring items, adjusted earnings per share came to 73 cents, above the FactSet consensus of 66 cents. Total revenue slipped 1% to $983.7 million, but topped the FactSet consensus of $954.0 million, as management solutions revenue rose slightly versus expectations of a slight decline. For fiscal 2021, the company now expected adjusted EPS to decline 1% to 4% from a year ago, compared with the previous guidance range of a decline of 6% to 8%. Revenue for the year is now expected to be down 3% to flat, versus previous expectations of a decline of 2% to 4%. The stock, which is on track to open above the Dec. 18 record close of $96.92, has run up 27.0% over the past three months through Tuesday, while the S&P 500 /zigman2/quotes/210599714/realtime SPX +1.95% has advanced 13.9%.