CBIZ Reports Third-Quarter and Nine Months Ended September 30, 2026 Financial Results
Third-Quarter Financial Highlights:
Nine Months Ended September 30, 2026 Financial Highlights:
CLEVELAND, Oct. 19, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CBIZ, Inc., (NYSE: CBZ) (“CBIZ” or the “Company”), a leading national professional services advisor, today announced results for the third quarter and nine months ended September 30, 2026.
Proposed Transaction with Grant Thornton and New Mountain
As previously disclosed, CBIZ and an affiliate of Grant Thornton in the U.S. (“Grant Thornton”), backed by New Mountain Capital, announced on July 29, 2026 that they entered into a definitive merger agreement pursuant to which Grant Thornton will acquire CBIZ in an all-cash transaction with an enterprise value of $5.0 billion, or $55.00 per share (the “proposed transaction”).
The proposed transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026, subject to approval by CBIZ shareholders, receipt of required regulatory approvals, and satisfaction of other customary closing conditions. Following the completion of the proposed transaction, CBIZ’s common stock will no longer be listed on the New York Stock Exchange, and CBIZ will become a private company.
Full Year Financial Outlook and Conference Call Information
Due to the proposed transaction and as previously disclosed, the Company will not be providing financial guidance for the full year 2026 or hosting a conference call to discuss third quarter results.
About CBIZ
CBIZ, Inc. (NYSE: CBZ) is a leading professional services advisor to middle market businesses nationwide. With industry knowledge and expertise in accounting, tax, advisory, benefits, insurance, and technology, CBIZ delivers actionable insights to help clients anticipate what is next and discover new ways to accelerate growth. CBIZ has more than 9,500 team members across 23 major markets coast to coast. For more information, visit www.cbiz.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this release, including, without limitation, statements about the proposed transaction, our financial position, business strategy, plans and objectives for future performance, are forward-looking statements. You can identify these statements by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. Forward-looking statements are commonly identified by the use of such terms and phrases as “will,” “could,” “can,” “may,” “strive,” “hope,” “intend,” “believe,” “estimate,” “continue,” “plan,” “expect,” “project,” “anticipate,” “outlook,” “foreseeable future,” “seek” and words or phrases of similar import in connection with any discussion of future operating or financial performance. In particular, these include statements relating to future actions, future performance or results of current and anticipated services, sales efforts, expenses, and financial results.
From time to time, we may also provide oral or written forward-looking statements in other materials we release to the public. Any or all of our forward-looking statements in this release and in any other public statements that we make are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: that one or more closing conditions to the proposed transaction, including certain regulatory approvals, may not be satisfied or waived, on a timely basis or otherwise, or that the required approval by the shareholders of CBIZ may not be obtained; the risk that the proposed transaction may not be completed on the terms or in the time frame expected by CBIZ and Grant Thornton, or at all; unexpected costs, charges or expenses resulting from the proposed transaction; uncertainty of the expected financial performance and results of operations of the combined company following completion of the proposed transaction; failure to realize the anticipated benefits of the proposed transaction, including as a result of delay in completing the proposed transaction or integrating the businesses of CBIZ and Grant Thornton, on the expected timeframe or at all; the ability of the combined company to implement its business strategy; difficulties and delays in the combined company achieving revenue and cost synergies; inability of the combined company to retain and hire key personnel; the occurrence of any event that could give rise to termination of the proposed transaction; the risk that shareholder litigation in connection with the proposed transaction or other litigation, settlements or investigations may affect the timing or completion of the proposed transaction or result in significant costs of defense, indemnification and liability; evolving legal, regulatory and tax regimes; changes in general economic, competitive, technological and/or industry-specific conditions affecting the businesses and industries in which CBIZ and Grant Thornton operate; actions by third parties, including government agencies and ratings agencies, relating to the proposed transaction; risks that any debt financing anticipated in connection with the proposed transaction is not obtained or that such financing cannot be obtained on the anticipated timing or terms or unexpected costs or expenses in connection therewith; risks related to the disruption of management time from ongoing business operations due to the pendency of the proposed transaction, or other effects of the pendency of the proposed transaction on the relationship of any of the parties to the transaction with their employees, customers, partners, or other counterparties; risks that any announcements relating to the proposed transaction could have adverse effects on the market price of CBIZ’s common stock, credit ratings, or operating results, and may have an adverse effect on the ability of CBIZ to retain and hire key personnel, retain customers, and maintain relationships with business partners, suppliers and customers; the risk that the market price of CBIZ’s common stock may decline if the proposed transaction is not completed; our ability to maintain effective internal control over financial reporting and disclosure controls and procedures, including ability to remediate our material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting; payments on accounts receivable may be slower than expected, or amounts due on receivables or notes may not be fully collectible; our business could be adversely affected if the non-attest business assets we acquired, or the attest assets CBIZ CPAs P.C. acquired, from Marcum LLP (“Marcum”) do not perform to our expectations or we underestimate the liabilities we have assumed; we are dependent on the services of our executive officers, and other key employees, the loss of any of whom may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations; our profitability could suffer if we are not able to effectively utilize our employees, maintain operational efficiencies or manage our cost structure; restrictions imposed by independence requirements and conflict of interest rules, as well as the nature and terms of our current administrative service agreements, limit our ability to provide services to clients of the attest firms with which we have contractual relationships and the ability of such attest firms to provide attestation services to our clients; our goodwill and other intangible assets could become impaired, which could lead to material non-cash charges against earnings and a material impact on our results of operations and financial condition; certain liabilities resulting from acquisitions are estimated and could lead to a material impact on our results of operations; we may fail to realize the anticipated benefits of acquisitions, or they may prove disruptive and could result in the combined business failing to meet our expectations; claims or adverse publicity could harm our brand, reputation and ability to compete and attract and retain clients, talent and future acquisition targets; we may not be able to acquire and finance additional businesses, which could limit our ability to pursue our business strategy; we will incur transaction, integration, and restructuring costs in connection with our acquisition program; governmental regulations and interpretations are subject to changes, which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition; uncertainty in the current economic and geopolitical environment could lead to declines in demand for certain of our services; changes in the United States healthcare environment, including new healthcare legislation, may adversely affect the revenue and margins in our healthcare benefit business; we are subject to risks relating to processing customer transactions for our payroll and other transaction processing businesses; cyberattacks or other security breaches involving our computer systems or the systems of one or more of our vendors could materially and adversely affect our business; we are subject to risk as it relates to software that we license from third parties; we are reliant on information processing systems and any failure or disruptions of these systems could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations; we could be held liable for errors and omissions; the business services industry is competitive and fragmented, if we are unable to compete effectively, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be negatively impacted; failure to maintain our reputation and brand could impact our ability to attract and retain clients, employees and future acquisition targets, and may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations; we are dependent on our existing client base and our ability to retain and expand our relationships with those clients; our clients may terminate our engagements with little or no notice and without penalty, which may result in unexpected declines in our revenue or unexpected costs; given our levels of share-based compensation, our tax rate may vary significantly depending on our stock price; we may be subject to the actions of activist stockholders; rapid technological changes could significantly impact our competitive position, client relationships and operating results and our ability to realize the anticipated benefits of our acquisition of the non-attest business assets and liabilities of Marcum and CBIZ CPAs P.C.’s purchase of substantially all of Marcum’s attest business assets (the “Marcum Transaction”); the widespread outbreak of a communicable illness or any other public health crisis could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations; we require a significant amount of cash for interest payments on our debt and to expand our business as planned; terms of our amended and restated credit agreement providing for $2.0 billion in senior secured credit facilities, consisting of a $1.4 billion term loan and $600 million revolving credit facility, could adversely affect our ability to run our business and/or reduce stockholder returns; our failure to satisfy covenants in our debt instruments could cause a default under those instruments; our increased leverage following the Marcum Transaction may adversely impact our business; we may be more sensitive to revenue fluctuations than other companies, which could result in fluctuations in the market price of our common stock; the significant number of shares issuable as the stock consideration in the Marcum Transaction may adversely impact our stock price; the future issuance of additional shares could adversely affect the price of our common stock; and there is volatility in our stock price.
Such forward-looking statements can be affected by inaccurate assumptions we might make or by known or unknown risks and uncertainties. Should one or more of these risks materialize, or should the underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those anticipated, estimated, projected or implied. Consequently, no forward-looking statement can be guaranteed. Our actual future results may vary materially. All forward looking statements made in this release are made only as of the date hereof, and we undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. You are advised, however, to consult any further disclosures we make on related subjects in the current, quarterly, periodic and annual reports we file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Also note that we provide a cautionary discussion of the risks, uncertainties and possibly inaccurate assumptions relevant to our businesses in “Item 1. Business” and “Item 1A. Risk Factors” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025, as amended. These are factors that we think could cause our actual results to differ materially from expected and historical results. Other factors besides those described here could also adversely affect our operating or financial performance.
Non-GAAP Financial Measures
To supplement our consolidated financial statements, which are prepared and presented in accordance with United States Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (“GAAP”), we also present Adjusted Net Income (Loss), Adjusted Diluted Earnings Per Share (“EPS”), Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA Margin and Free Cash Flow, which are non-GAAP measures. These non-GAAP measures are adjusted to exclude the impact of the Marcum Transaction, integration costs, amortization of acquired intangible assets, and other significant non-operating related gains and losses management does not consider ongoing in nature. The presentation of non-GAAP financial information is designed to supplement the Company’s financial information presented in accordance with GAAP, is not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for, or superior to, the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with GAAP. We use these non-GAAP financial measures for financial and operational decision-making, and to evaluate results relative to employee compensation targets. We believe that these non-GAAP financial measures provide meaningful supplemental information to stockholders, debt holders, and other interested parties in assessing our performance. These non-GAAP financial measures also facilitate management’s internal comparisons to our historical performance by excluding significant acquisition expenses, certain one-time non-recurring items, and gains and losses that management does not consider ongoing in nature. We believe these non-GAAP financial measures are useful to investors both because (1) they allow for greater transparency with respect to key measures used by management in its financial and operational decision-making and (2) they are used by our stockholders and analyst community to determine the health of our business. These non-GAAP measures may not be comparable to similar non-GAAP measures presented by other companies. The presentation of such non-GAAP measures, which may include exclusions of non-recurring items, should not be construed as an inference that the Company's future results will be unaffected by other non-recurring items. Management provides specific information regarding the GAAP amounts excluded from or included in these non-GAAP financial measures. Additionally, management provides reconciliations of these non-GAAP financial measures to their most comparable financial measures presented in accordance with GAAP. Please see the schedules captioned “GAAP Reconciliation” at the end of this release for additional information and the applicable reconciliations.
Contact:
Investor Relations: Chris Sikora, VP, Investor Relations & Corporate Finance, chris.sikora@cbiz.com
Media: Amy McGahan, Director of Corporate & Strategic Communications, amy.mcgahan@cbiz.com
CBIZ, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio, (216) 447-9000
Excluding the impact of the above-mentioned income and expenses related to the deferred compensation plan, the operating results for the three months ended September 30, 2026, and 2025, are as follows (in thousands, except percentages):
Excluding the impact of the above-mentioned income and expenses related to the deferred compensation plan, the operating results for the nine months ended September 30, 2026, and 2025, are as follows (in thousands, except percentages):