Good Old Paychex: Fool by Numbers

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On Sept. 26, payroll and human resources processor Paychex (Nasdaq: PAYX) released Q1 2007 earnings for the period ended Aug. 31, 2006.

• Margins are improving at a modest pace, and sales growth looks healthy. You really should expect efficient operations from a company that makes a living helping others achieve those efficiencies.
• Share dilution isn't rampant, but it's still noticeable. In 16 years as a publicly traded company, Paychex has spent a total of $6,000 on stock repurchases, way back in 1992. Buybacks just aren't its thing, I guess.
• While I'm digging into the corporate history, let me point out that Paychex has increased net earnings every year since 1990 and reported positive free cash flow since 1992.

(Figures in millions, except per-share data)

Income Statement Highlights

	Avg. Est.	Q1 2007	Q1 2006	Change
Sales	$462.0	$459.4	$403.7	13.8%
Net Profit	--	$135.1	$115.0	17.4%
EPS	$0.34	$0.35	$0.30	16.7%
Diluted Shares		381.9	380.2	0.4%

Get back to basics with a look at the income statement.

Margin Checkup

	Q1 2007	Q1 2006	Change*
Gross Margin	67.76%	66.95%	0.81
Operating Margin	40.57%	40.33%	0.24
Net Margin	29.41%	28.49%	0.92

*Expressed in percentage points.

Margins are the earnings engine. See how they work.

Balance Sheet Highlights

Assets	Q1 2007	Q1 2006	Change
Cash + ST Invest.	$653.2	$797.2	(18.1%)
Accounts Rec.	$194.9	$189.3	2.9%

Liabilities	Q1 2007	Q1 2006	Change
Accounts Payable	$47.1	$29.0	62.4%
Long-Term Debt	$0.0	$0.0	N/A

Learn the ways of the balance sheet.

Cash Flow Highlights

Cash flow statement? What cash flow statement? Oh, well ...

Find out why Fools always follow the money.

Related Companies:

• Automatic Data Processing (NYSE: ADP)
• Administaff (NYSE: ASF)
• Hewitt Associates (NYSE: HEW)
• Intuit (Nasdaq: INTU)
• Ceridian (NYSE: CEN)
• Gevity HR (Nasdaq: GVHR)

Related Foolishness:

• Paychex Continues to Cash In
• Foolish Fundamentals: Margins
• Foolish Fundamentals: The Income Statement

Intuit is a Motley Fool Inside Value recommendation. Find out what Philip Durell and his motley gang like about the company with a free 30-day trial .

Fool by Numbers is designed to give you the raw earnings information in a timely fashion, putting all the numbers you need in one easy-to-read place. But at The Motley Fool, we believe numbers tell only part of the story, so check Fool.com for more of our in-depth discussion of what the numbers mean.

At the time of publication, Anders Bylund had no position in any company mentioned, although his paychecks come with Paychex security imprints on them. Fool rules are here.