Barclays analyst Manav Patnaik upgraded ManpowerGroup (MAN) to Overweight from Underweight with a price target of $112, up from $85. The analyst also keeps an Underweight rating on shares of Robert Half (RHI). The analyst finds the near-term risk/reward in Europe appealing. The "hyper-cyclical" staffing names continue to be viewed as a macro call, and given questions around each's key markets, taking a shorter term view is prudent, Patnaik tells investors in a research note. Even after ManpowerGroup's strong run in 2019, the analyst sees enough upside to upgrade to Overweight.

"We anticipate diluted earnings per share in the second quarter will be between $1.24 and $1.34, which includes an estimated unfavorable currency impact of 7 cents and excludes unfavorable operating losses for the run-off Proservia Germany business estimated at 8 cents. Our guidance excludes any restructuring costs and any Argentina related impact of non-cash currency translation losses."

Reports Q1 revenue $4.4B, consensus $4.42B. Jonas Prising, ManpowerGroup Chairman & CEO, said, "Employers in North America and Europe remain cautious as they wait for signs that the economic environment is on a sustainable path of improvement. In some of those markets demand for staffing and permanent recruitment stabilized at lower levels, while demand across Latin America and Asia Pacific Middle East remained solid. We continue to prioritize the execution of our strategic initiatives and are accelerating sales activities to drive profitable growth when demand trends strengthen. We anticipate diluted earnings per share in the second quarter will be between $1.24 and $1.34, which includes an estimated unfavorable currency impact of 7 cents and excludes unfavorable operating losses for the run-off Proservia Germany business estimated at 8 cents. Our guidance excludes any restructuring costs and any Argentina related impact of non-cash currency translation losses."