Paychex Inc (PAYX)

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Paychex reported total revenue (including Interest on funds held for clients) of $636.5 million for the quarter which not only increased 7.3% from the year-ago period but also came ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $627.0 million.
Excluding Interest on funds held for clients, which was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis, total services revenues (Payroll service and Human Resource Services) increased 7.5% from the year-ago quarter to $626.0 million. Interest on funds held for clients was down due to lower average interest rates earned and lower net realized gains, which more than offset the increase in average investment balances.
Payroll Service segment revenues increased 5.1% from the year-ago period to $413.9 million primarily driven by higher checks per payroll and revenue per check. Checks per payroll increased 1.0% from the year-ago quarter. The company witnessed modest growth in revenue per check on the back of price increases and higher adoption of Paychex’s products.
Buoyed by growth in client base in the retirement services, HR Solutions and eServices products, Paychex’s Human Resource Services segment generated revenues of $212.1 million, which increased 12.4% from the year-ago quarter.
Paychex’s total expenses increased 4.8% from the year-ago quarter to $385.8 million, primarily due to compensation-related expenses. Moreover, higher expenses related to investment in product development and supporting technology and higher sales-related costs were responsible for the rise in expenses. Nonetheless, total expenses as a percentage of total revenue decreased 147 basis points (bps) on a year-over-year basis due to higher revenue base.
Paychex reported operating income of $250.7 million, up 11.4% from the year-ago period, attributable to modest revenue growth supported by better cost management and capacity utilization. Operating margin was 39.4% versus 37.9% in the year-ago quarter.

Excluding Interest on funds held for clients, Paychex’s operating income came in at $240.2 million or 38.4% of total services revenue which increased from $214.1 million or 36.8% of total services revenue.
Net income for Paychex increased 10.8% from the year-ago quarter to $160.1 million or 44 cents per share while net margins expanded 77 bps on a year-over-year basis.
http://www.zacks.com/stock/news/127825/paychexs-q3-earnings-beat-estimates