ASGN (NYSE:ASGN) reported fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 results that management said reflected continued progress in shifting the business toward higher-value technology and digital engineering work, while also navigating mixed demand in more cyclical staffing-oriented offerings. Executives also outlined plans to adopt a new unified customer and investor-facing brand, “Everforth,” in the first half of 2026 and discussed the pending acquisition of digital solutions provider Quinnox.
Fourth-quarter results and mix shift toward consulting
For the fourth quarter, ASGN posted revenue of $980.1 million, which CFO Marie Perry said was at the top end of the company’s guidance range and “relatively consistent” with the prior-year period. CEO Ted Hanson highlighted that IT consulting revenue represented 63% of total revenue, up from 59% a year earlier.
In the commercial segment, revenue was $698.6 million, up 0.9% year over year and up 2.2% sequentially on a billable-day-adjusted basis. Perry said assignment revenue (staffing) declined 12% year over year to $359.2 million, reflecting softness in parts of the commercial segment that are more sensitive to macroeconomic conditions. Commercial consulting revenue totaled $339.4 million, up 19.2% year over year; excluding TopBloc (acquired in March 2025), Perry said consulting revenue improved at a mid-single-digit rate.
Federal government segment revenue was $281.5 million, down 3.7% year over year.
Bookings, backlog, and commentary on federal demand
Hanson said commercial consulting bookings reached a record $444.4 million, translating to a book-to-bill of 1.3x for the quarter and 1.2x on a trailing 12-month basis. He tied the booking strength to customer work around data preparation, infrastructure, and enterprise platform deployments that support AI at scale.
In the federal segment, Hanson said new contract awards were $144.2 million, with a trailing 12-month book-to-bill of 0.9x. Federal backlog was approximately $3 billion at quarter end, which management described as a 2.5x coverage ratio relative to the segment’s trailing 12-month revenue.
Management repeatedly referenced the impact of a government shutdown on the timing of awards. Hanson said the shutdown delayed new award activity in the fourth quarter but added that the company was seeing “solid pent-up demand” entering the first quarter, particularly in defense, intelligence, and national security areas. During Q&A, Hanson said the shutdown’s impact in the quarter was “small” and “wasn’t material to the outcome for the entire quarter.” He also said award activity improved in the back half of the quarter and that the company remained positioned in areas seeing budget support.
AI demand, solution examples, and platform partnerships
Executives framed AI as a major driver of customer demand, emphasizing that enterprises are moving from experimentation toward readiness, modernization, and governance for broader deployment. President Shiv Iyer said ASGN is seeing demand “across the spectrum,” ranging from AI use cases to application stack and data readiness, and then to scaling challenges such as interoperability, governance, and traceability.
Iyer provided several examples of fourth-quarter and early 2026 work tied to modernization and AI enablement, including:
- Work at a top-five U.S. bank to improve testing, automation, and governance, including a modernization program spanning online banking, mobile platforms, and partner integrations.
- A DevOps engagement supporting a major online banking and credit card company during a merger, including infrastructure coordination, monitoring, and software build/test/deploy support.
- A telecom data centralization project with Snowflake, where ASGN helped consolidate marketing data and, in early 2026, is laying a governed foundation for Snowflake Cortex.
- Collaboration with a “major hyperscaler” to operationalize multiple data centers on what Iyer called one of the world’s largest AI data center campuses, including logistics and critical environment management.
Iyer also described the launch of the company’s AI Factory in November, a framework created by commercial and government AI teams to help organizations integrate AI into core strategies. He noted “Watchtower,” a monitoring tool with built-in “TrustOps,” which federal cybersecurity teams have been demoing to federal and commercial clients with an emphasis on safe and secure deployments.
On partnerships, Iyer highlighted federal work involving Elastic, including additional Department of Homeland Security funding to deploy Elastic’s AI capabilities at scale, and said the company was named Elastic’s Top Services Partner of the Year. He also cited continued federal ServiceNow activity and a new partnership with cloud security provider Wiz, including an initial Wiz engagement with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. On the commercial side, he described progress with Workday, including being selected as an early partner to deploy Workday’s candidate experience agent “Paradox,” and noted Salesforce work integrating Agentforce into Slack.
Quinnox acquisition, capital allocation, and Everforth branding
ASGN said it signed a definitive agreement in January to acquire Quinnox for $290 million in cash, subject to HSR approval, with an anticipated close in March. Perry said ASGN expects net leverage to be about 2.9x after funding the deal with cash and revolver borrowings, with a goal of reducing leverage toward a 2.5x target over time.
Management described Quinnox as enhancing digital engineering capabilities and expanding global delivery, particularly through global capability centers in India. Iyer said Quinnox’s alliance partnerships include AWS, Databricks, Salesforce, SAP, and Calypso. In Q&A, Iyer characterized the India delivery capabilities as “truly incremental net new” for ASGN, beyond a relatively small existing India presence from prior platform-focused acquisitions.
Perry said Quinnox generated approximately $100 million of revenue in 2025 and is expected to deliver low- to mid-teens revenue growth in 2026. She also said Quinnox anticipates adjusted EBITDA margins in the low 20% range for 2026, and that ASGN expects to consolidate nine months of Quinnox revenue into full-year 2026 results following the anticipated March close.
Separately, Hanson said ASGN plans to adopt the “Everforth” brand in the first half of 2026, unifying its commercial and federal brands. He said the rebrand is intended to help unlock scale, improve cross-selling, and support continued revenue growth and margin expansion.
On capital returns, Perry reported fourth-quarter free cash flow of $93.7 million, equal to about 87% of adjusted EBITDA. The company repurchased $64.2 million of shares in the quarter (1.4 million shares at an average price of $46.05). Full-year 2025 free cash flow was $288.1 million, or 68.2% of adjusted EBITDA, and ASGN repurchased $170.1 million of shares in 2025 (3.1 million shares at an average price of $55). Perry said the company has approximately $972 million remaining under a $1 billion repurchase authorization.
Guidance and cost savings commentary
For the first quarter of 2026, ASGN guided to revenue of $960 million to $980 million, net income of $25.8 million to $29.4 million, adjusted EBITDA of $93.5 million to $98.5 million, and adjusted EBITDA margin of 9.7% to 10.1%. Perry said the guidance assumes 62 billable days and excludes acquisition, integration, and strategic planning expenses, and also excludes any contribution from Quinnox.
Perry also noted seasonal dynamics, including a typical low single-digit sequential revenue decline from the fourth quarter to the first quarter tied to an annual “seasonal reset,” as well as an expected roughly 100-basis-point sequential headwind to adjusted EBITDA margin related to the annual payroll tax reset.
On cost savings, Perry referenced a previously discussed net $80 million cost savings plan over a three-year period, with savings expected to be “moderate” in 2026 and building in 2027 and 2028.
About ASGN (NYSE:ASGN)
ASGN Incorporated (NYSE:ASGN) is a leading provider of specialized staffing and professional services, delivering tailored solutions across information technology, digital transformation, engineering and scientific disciplines. Through its diversified portfolio of brands, ASGN connects clients—ranging from life sciences and healthcare firms to technology enterprises and government agencies—with highly skilled consultants, project teams and permanent personnel. The company’s model emphasizes both temporary staffing and long-term consulting engagements to address complex talent and project needs.
ASGN’s service offerings are organized into two main business segments.
