Paychex Shares Fall 3% After Company Offers Below-consensus Guidance

Shares of payroll services company Paychex Inc. fell 3% Wednesday, after the company offered guidance for its next fiscal year that lagged estimates. Rochester, N.Y.-based Paychex said it had net income of $175.3 million, or 54 cents a share, in its fiscal fourth quarter, up from $178.1 million, or 49 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. Revenue rose to $798.6 million from $753.9 million. The FactSet consensus was for EPS of 53 cents and revenue of $798 million. The company said it now expects total revenue to rise about 5% in fiscal 2018 and for adjusted EPS to rise by 7% to 8%. Current FactSet consensus numbers are for EPS growth of 8.2% and revenue growth of 6%. BMO Capital Markets analyst Jeffrey Silber said the guidance implies slowing growth, and would likely weigh on the stock price. "Adjusted EBITDA margin of 42.7% was much better than the consensus 40.5%, but in line with our 42.7% estimate," he wrote in a note. "The upside (we believe vs. consensus) was driven by leverage from both operating expense and SG&A expenses." Shares have fallen 6% in 2017, while the S&P 500 has gained 8.7%.