Korn Ferry
KFY · Human Resource & Employment Services
$78.30
2.6%Upwork
UPWK · Human Resource & Employment Services
$9.48
1.0%The short version
- Korn Ferry is the larger business, with $2.9B of revenue in fiscal 2026 against $788M for Upwork, about 3.7 times as much.
- Korn Ferry grew revenue faster (6.4%, against 2.4%).
- Upwork kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (16.4% operating margin, against 12.8% operating margin).
- Upwork turned more of its sales into free cash flow (30.8% FCF margin, against 11.0% FCF margin).
- Upwork earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (31.0%, against 21.9%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Korn Ferry’s earnings: a P/E of 14.8x against 12.3x for Upwork.
| Latest fiscal year | KFY · FY26 | UPWK · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $4.0B | $1.2B |
| Revenue | $2.9B | $788M |
| Free cash flow | $324M | $242M |
| Net income | $277M | $115M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 6.4% | 2.4% |
| 5-year growth | 10.1% | 16.1% |
| Share count change | −0.5% | −1.7% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | — | 77.8% |
| Operating margin | 12.8% | 16.4% |
| Net margin | 9.4% | 14.7% |
| FCF margin | 11.0% | 30.8% |
| Return on capital | 21.9% | 31.0% |
| Return on equity | 14.5% | 19.2% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | −$731M | −$313M |
| Net debt / EBITDA | −1.5x | −2.0x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $220M | $136M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 14.8x | 12.3x |
| Piotroski F-score | 8 | 6 |
FY17
KFY $1.6B
UPWK $203M
FY18
KFY $1.8B
UPWK $253M
FY19
KFY $2.0B
UPWK $301M
FY20
KFY $2.0B
UPWK $374M
FY21
KFY $1.8B
UPWK $503M
FY22
KFY $2.6B
UPWK $618M
FY23
KFY $2.9B
UPWK $689M
FY24
KFY $2.8B
UPWK $769M
FY25
KFY $2.8B
UPWK $788M
FY26
KFY $2.9B
UPWK —
KFY
UPWK
FY17
KFY 7.4%
UPWK −1.5%
FY18
KFY 11.5%
UPWK −4.6%
FY19
KFY 7.1%
UPWK −6.2%
FY20
KFY 8.9%
UPWK −6.0%
FY21
KFY 8.6%
UPWK −10.8%
FY22
KFY 17.8%
UPWK −15.0%
FY23
KFY 11.1%
UPWK −1.6%
FY24
KFY 7.6%
UPWK 8.5%
FY25
KFY 12.5%
UPWK 16.4%
FY26
KFY 12.8%
UPWK —
KFY
UPWK
FY17
KFY $56.1M
UPWK −$5.8M
FY18
KFY $177M
UPWK $10.7M
FY19
KFY $212M
UPWK −$9.7M
FY20
KFY $195M
UPWK $16.0M
FY21
KFY $220M
UPWK $9.8M
FY22
KFY $452M
UPWK $10.3M
FY23
KFY $274M
UPWK $52.0M
FY24
KFY $229M
UPWK $150M
FY25
KFY $302M
UPWK $242M
FY26
KFY $324M
UPWK —
KFY
UPWK
FY17
KFY 9.9%
UPWK —
FY18
KFY 14.9%
UPWK −15.5%
FY19
KFY —
UPWK −10.5%
FY20
KFY —
UPWK −12.5%
FY21
KFY 12.6%
UPWK −31.0%
FY22
KFY 40.7%
UPWK −55.7%
FY23
KFY 21.9%
UPWK −6.9%
FY24
KFY 14.2%
UPWK 26.2%
FY25
KFY 21.2%
UPWK 31.0%
FY26
KFY 21.9%
UPWK —
KFY
UPWK
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Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.