Paychex Inc. (NASDAQ: PAYX), a leading provider of human resources and payroll services, reported better-than-expected revenue and profit for the second quarter of fiscal 2025, sending the stock higher soon after the announcement this week. Paychex has stayed largely unaffected by recent market headwinds, aided by resilience of the small businesses sector which is a significant portion of the company’s overall revenue.

On Thursday, the Rochester-based tech firm’s stock pared most of its post-earnings gains as the session progressed. The shares have stayed above their 52-week average for over four months and set a new record in early November. PAYX has grown more than 17% in 2024 — with most of those gains occurring in the latter half – but slightly underperformed the S&P 500 during the year.

Strong Q2

In the November quarter, revenues grew by 5% annually to $1.32 billion, marginally beating analysts’ estimates. There was a 3% revenue growth in the core Management Solutions division amid a continued uptick in client count. That translated into an increase in adjusted net earnings to $1.14 per share in Q2 from $1.08 per share in the same period of 2024. Including special items, earnings were $413.4 million or $1.14 per share, up from last year’s profit of $392.7 million or $1.08 per share.

Commenting on the Q2 results, Paychex’s CEO John Gibson said, “Our sales activities and pipelines are strong, most notably in our PEO and middle market HCM businesses where we have invested, as you know, to take advantage of the growth opportunities we see in these attractive markets and where we believe our breadth of solutions provide us with a competitive advantage. We’re fully staffed across our sales and service teams for this critical time of year. We are also investing in advertising to drive improved awareness and adoption of our expanded product offerings.”

The company has consistently beaten earnings estimates in the past six quarters. For fiscal 2025, the Paychex leadership forecasts a 5-7% increase in adjusted earnings per share. Full-year revenue is expected to grow between 4% and 5.5%, with a 3-4% rise in Management Solutions revenue. The company expects other income to be in the range of $30 million to $35 million in FY25.

SMEs in Focus

Stable demand from small and medium-sized businesses, representing a significant portion of Paychex’s clientele, has enabled the company to maintain its momentum this year despite an unfavorable market environment. These companies often seek Paychex’s services when faced with labor issues and challenges like rising healthcare and benefits costs.

Paychex’s shares traded higher throughout Friday’s session and stayed slightly below $140. They have gained about 11% in the past six months.

The post Important takeaways from Paychex’s (PAYX) Q2 2025 earnings report first appeared on AlphaStreet.