By Katherine Hamilton

Exponent shares rose after the company said it has increased its hiring plans for this year following growing fourth-quarter earnings.

The stock was up 7% to $96.01 after the bell on Thursday. Shares are up about 14% in the past year.

The engineering company said it anticipates growing demand in 2025 as more industries look for help navigating disruptions like extreme weather, energy infrastructure challenges and technological advances in transportation.

Exponent expects to grow its headcount sequentially by 1% to 2% each quarter to meet demand, it said. Net revenues are anticipated to decline slightly in the first quarter, but pick up as the year progresses and ultimately drive full-year growth in the low single digits.

Revenue increased 11% to $136.8 million in the fourth quarter. Profit rose to $23.6 million, or 46 cents a share, up from $20.9 million, or 41 cents a share, a year earlier.

Exponent also raised its quarterly dividend to 30 cents, up from 28 cents. The dividend is set to be paid on March 21 to stockholders of record as of March 7. The new payout, equal to $1.20 a year, represents an annual yield of 1.3% based on the stock's latest closing price of $89.82.

Write to Katherine Hamilton at katherine.hamilton@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 06, 2025 17:12 ET (22:12 GMT)

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