On August 6, AMN Healthcare Services (NYSE:AMN) reported second quarter revenue of $673.2 million, up 2% from a year earlier, alongside net income of $21.2 million and adjusted earnings per share of $0.77, more than double the $0.30 it posted in the same quarter of 2025. The headline swing from a net loss of $116 million a year ago looks dramatic, but the more useful story sits inside the segment numbers, where one business is accelerating and two others are still shrinking.
The Travel Nurse Comeback
Travel nurse and allied staffing volume and revenue grew year over year for a second straight quarter, with travel nurse staffing revenue up 10% and the allied division up 8%. That is the core of the Nurse and Allied Solutions segment, which posted $422 million in revenue, an 11% increase from a year ago. Search revenue grew even faster, climbing 27% year over year and 20% sequentially, with particular strength in executive search and physician permanent placement.
AMN also added Jaide Health and the ESSENTIAL Leadership Assessment during the quarter, acquisitions the company says extend its AI native language access tools and leadership advisory work, pushing the business toward higher-value, technology-enabled offerings. Profitability moved in the same direction. Adjusted EBITDA rose 26% year over year to $73.4 million, and SG&A expenses fell to 21.9% of revenue from 23.5% a year earlier, helped by a lower provision for expected credit losses and reduced headcount. The balance sheet backs that up: AMN ended the quarter with $362 million in cash, a leverage ratio of 1.5x, and nothing drawn on its revolving credit facility.
Two Segments Still Sliding
Not every part of the business is moving in the same direction. Physician and Leadership Solutions revenue fell 6% year over year to $165 million, with locum tenens down 8% and interim leadership down 3%. Technology and Workforce Solutions revenue dropped 15% year over year to $87 million, dragged down by a 20% decline in vendor management systems revenue. AMN’s own third-quarter guidance expects that pattern to continue, projecting Physician and Leadership Solutions down 5% to 7% and Technology and Workforce Solutions down 11% to 13% year over year.
The quarter’s headline numbers also lean on a comparison that will not repeat. Revenue fell 51% sequentially from the first quarter, when large labor disruption events generated $722 million in disruption-related revenue versus just $25 million in the second quarter. Some of the sequential margin improvement was traced to reserve releases and billing true-ups tied to those same disruption events rather than to the ongoing business. Cash flow reflected the wind-down too. Operating cash flow was negative $190 million in the quarter as AMN returned client deposits from the first quarter’s disruption events, and $117 million of those deposits still remain to be settled in the coming months.
A Cautious Crowd Circles
Hedge fund ownership of AMN slipped from 32 funds to 31 between the two most recent quarters, a small step back rather than a rush for the exits. Short interest sits at 10.47% of the float, a level that points to a real bear camp already positioned against the stock. The stock trades at a forward P/E of 26.18, as of September 14, a multiple that assumes meaningful earnings growth ahead even though this quarter still leaned on one-time items. Put together, a shrinking hedge fund base, double-digit short interest, and a growth-priced multiple suggest the market has not settled on which version of this story to believe.
The Recovery’s Next Test
AMN’s second quarter shows a staffing business finding its footing, with travel nurse and allied volumes growing and search revenue accelerating for a second straight quarter. But the same release shows a company still working through the tail of first-quarter labor disruption events, with two segments guided lower and cash still flowing out to settle old deposits. For the growth story to hold, travel nurse and allied momentum needs to keep building without disruption revenue propping up the numbers.
READ NEXT: 10 Best Future Stocks to Buy Under $10 and 12 Best Performing Semiconductor Stocks to Invest In.
