Professional staffing firm Kforce Inc. (NASD: KFRC) reported third-quarter revenue rose 8.8%. The company’s revenue was lower than guidance given at the end of the second quarter, but gross margin and earnings per share were above guidance.

The firm, which ranks as the 13^th-largest US staffing firm, reported a “client-specific” issue slowed its technology flexible staffing growth.

Quote

“Our key performance indicators, such as job orders, remain strong in both tech and financial accounting,” said President Joseph Liberatore. “We believe that the client-specific issues that slowed our tech flex growth in the third quarter are unique and short-term in nature and not indicative of the broader demand for highly skilled tech resources. We are seeing strong demand across many industries, such as financial services, insurance services, computer manufacturing and retail which all continue to outpace our overall tech flex growth rates. This continued strength in demand suggests we have additional opportunity to further penetrate our expansive client base and, as a result, we plan to more aggressively add to our tech flex sales associate population.”

Revenue by function and segment

Gross margin by segment

Guidance

Kforce expects fourth-quarter revenue of $333 million to $338 million.

Share price and market cap

Shares in Kforce fell 13.03% to $24.74  in early afternoon trading today; Kforce has a market cap of approximately $723.20 million, according to Yahoo!