CRA International (NASDAQ: CRAI) reported Q2 EPS of $0.80, $0.26 better than the analyst estimate of $0.54. Revenue for the quarter came in at $123 million versus the consensus estimate of $111.43 million.

Key Second-Quarter Fiscal 2020 Highlights

• Revenue grew 11.3% year over year to $123.0 million.
• Utilization was 66%, while quarter-end headcount was relatively unchanged compared with the first quarter of 2020 and increased 20.8% year over year.
• Net income increased 6.3% year over year to $5.9 million, or 4.8% of revenue, compared with $5.6 million, or 5.0% of revenue, in the second quarter of fiscal 2019; non-GAAP net income increased 4.7% year over year to $6.3 million, or 5.2% of revenue, compared with $6.1 million, or 5.5% of revenue, in the second quarter of fiscal 2019.
• Earnings per diluted share increased 10.3% year over year to $0.75; non-GAAP earnings per diluted share increased 9.6% year over year to $0.80.
• Non-GAAP EBITDA increased 2.0% to $11.9 million, or 9.7% of revenue, compared with $11.7 million, or 10.6% of revenue, in the second quarter of fiscal 2019.
• On a constant currency basis relative to the second quarter of fiscal 2019, revenue would have been higher by $0.8 million, GAAP net income would have been higher by $0.1 million, and GAAP earnings per diluted share would have remained unchanged. Non-GAAP net income, earnings per diluted share and EBITDA would have been higher by $0.1 million, $0.01 per diluted share, $0.1 million, respectively.
• CRA made dividend payments of $1.8 million during the quarter.

Management Commentary

“Our first priority is the health and well-being of our people as we continue to address our clients’ most important business challenges,” said Paul Maleh, CRA’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “We are focused on providing our colleagues with a foundation of stability and safety during this unprecedented time. Although our offices remain open and capable of hosting our colleagues, we have asked everyone to work from home whenever possible.”

“Continuing to build on a record fiscal 2019, CRA reported its highest second-quarter revenue in our company’s history. These results were led by double-digit revenue growth year over year in each of our Finance, Forensic Services, and Life Sciences practices, and continued strong contributions from our Labor & Employment and Risk, Investigations & Analytics practices. Geographically, we continue to see strong demand for our services resulting in revenue growth of 14.1% in our North American operations and 3.6% internationally on a constant currency basis.”

“Although we entered the year with lofty revenue expectations as evidenced by the increase in our headcount, we still grew second quarter profits year over year by effectively managing our consulting services and overhead. Combining the revenue and profit growth of the second-quarter with our strong Q1 performance, on a constant currency basis, we have increased revenue by 15.7% to $250.3 million and non-GAAP EBITDA by 24.2% to $25.1 million, achieving a margin of 10.0%. Although we are pleased with our performance through the second quarter, we recognize the challenges and uncertainties that accompany the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. We remain confident that the same factors that have driven our success in recent years will continue to drive our performance in the months and years ahead,” Maleh concluded.

For earnings history and earnings-related data on CRA International (CRAI) click here.