A month has gone by since the last earnings report for H&R Block (HRB). Shares have lost about 4% in that time frame, underperforming the S&P 500.

Will the recent negative trend continue leading up to its next earnings release, or is H&R Block due for a breakout? Before we dive into how investors and analysts have reacted as of late, let's take a quick look at the most recent earnings report in order to get a better handle on the important catalysts.

H&R Block Reports Wider Loss in Q2

H&R Block reported a wider-than-expected loss in the second quarter of fiscal 2025 results.

HRB reported an adjusted loss (adjusting 7 cents from non-recurring items) of $1.73 per share, wider than the Zacks Consensus Estimate for a loss of $1.53 per share and a year-ago reported loss of $1.27 per share. Revenues of $179.1 million missed the consensus estimate by 2% and decreased marginally on a year-over-year basis.

HRB’s Quarterly Numbers

Revenues from U.S. tax preparation and related services were $98.2 million, down 1.2% year over year. Revenues from Financial services were $22.5 million, marking a year-over-year decline of 16.6%. International revenues of $31.8 million increased 7.6%. Wave revenues registered an increase of 14.8% to $26.6 million.

H&R Block exited the quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $320.1 compared with $415.9 million at the end of the preceding quarter. Long-term debt was $1.9 billion compared with $1.5 billion in the previous quarter. The company used $567.1 billion of cash in operating activities while capex was $30.4 million.

HRB’s FY25 Outlook

For fiscal 2025, H&R Block expects revenues of $3.69-$3.75 billion. The company expects adjusted earnings per share of $5.15-$5.35. HRB expects EBITDA between $975 million and $1.02 billion. The effective tax rate is expected to be 13%.

How Have Estimates Been Moving Since Then?

It turns out, estimates review have trended downward during the past month.

VGM Scores

At this time, H&R Block has a poor Growth Score of F, however its Momentum Score is doing a bit better with a D. Charting a somewhat similar path, the stock was allocated a grade of C on the value side, putting it in the middle 20% for this investment strategy.

Overall, the stock has an aggregate VGM Score of F. If you aren't focused on one strategy, this score is the one you should be interested in.

Outlook

Estimates have been broadly trending downward for the stock, and the magnitude of these revisions indicates a downward shift. It's no surprise H&R Block has a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). We expect a below average return from the stock in the next few months.

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H&R Block, Inc. (HRB) : Free Stock Analysis Report

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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