AI Tax Assist Enhances HRB's Client Experience, Low Liquidity Ails

H&R Block, Inc. HRB stock has performed well in the past year. It has gained 17.5% against the industry’s 32% decline and outperforming Zacks S&P 500 composite’s 13.2% growth.HRB reported impressive results in the third quarter of fiscal 2025. H&R Block registered adjusted earnings (adjusting 7 cents from non-recurring items) of $5.38 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 5.1% and gained 8.9% from the year-ago reported figure. Total revenues of $2.28 billion marginally beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 1.4% and increased 4.2% year over year.How is H&R Block Faring?The surge in net average charges, coupled with higher company-owned tax return volumes, contributed to assisted tax preparation revenue growth. The top line will improve with the rise in service fees while the company maintains and improves service quality. Notably, this segment’s contribution to the top line has grown steadily from approximately 60% in the fiscal year 2022 to 62% in 2023 and 63% in 2024. This upward trajectory in revenue contributions is accompanied by rising revenue rates of 3.5% and 5% in fiscal 2023 and 2024, respectively.H&R Block’s mobile banking platform, Spruce, supports effective client acquisition and year-round user engagement. There were nearly 476,000 sign-ups in Spruce and it was approaching a milestone of $1 billion in customer deposits as of June 2024 since its launch on June 2022. In August, the company revealed that close to 50% of fiscal 2024 deposits came from non-tax sources. Strong trends have been witnessed in the first quarter of fiscal 2025 as well. This provides the company with leverage against the seasonal and competitive tax business.HRB’s incorporation of AI Tax Assist, a generative AI-powered technology, into DIY tax preparation boosted the top line. This technology enhances the customer experience by allowing them to prepare a paid DIY online return without extra charges. In 2024, the company’s proceeds from DIY tax preparation were nearly $350 million, contributing almost 10% of the top line and increasing 11% from the preceding year. HRB’s OpenAI collaboration is anticipated to improve AI Tax-Assist, attracting more customers and boosting the top line.The company operates in a highly competitive industry. This intense competitive pressure in all its services compels more innovation and differentiation while implementing disciplined cost management strategies. The requirement to invest in technology and talent to stay ahead increases the difficulty in balancing growth and profitability.H&R Block’s current ratio at the end of the third quarter of fiscal 2025 was 0.78, lower than the industry’s 0.92. That being said, the metric has declined 30.8% from the year-ago quarter due to higher current debt. HRB’s weak liquidity position is underscored by a current ratio below 1, signaling inefficiency in meeting short-term obligations. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Zacks Rank & Stocks to ConsiderHRB has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) at present.Some better-ranked stocks from the broader Zacks Consumer Discretionary sector are Adtalem Global Education ATGE and American Public Education APEI. These stocks carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.Adtalem Global Education has a long-term earnings growth expectation of 15%. ATGE delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 18.4%, on average.American Public Education has a long-term earnings growth expectation of 15%. APEI delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 122.5%, on average.5 Stocks Set to DoubleEach was handpicked by a Zacks expert as the #1 favorite stock to gain +100% or more in 2024. While not all picks can be winners, previous recommendations have soared +143.0%, +175.9%, +498.3% and +673.0%.Most of the stocks in this report are flying under Wall Street radar, which provides a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor.Today, See These 5 Potential Home Runs >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report American Public Education, Inc. (APEI): Free Stock Analysis Report H&R Block, Inc. (HRB): Free Stock Analysis Report Adtalem Global Education Inc. (ATGE): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks