HLI

Houlihan Lokey has gotten torched over the last six months - since February 2026, its stock price has dropped 22.2% to $129.10 per share. This was partly due to its softer quarterly results and might have investors contemplating their next move. Is now the time to buy Houlihan Lokey, or should you be careful about including it in your portfolio? Check out our in-depth research report to see what our analysts have to say, it’s free. Even though the stock has become cheaper, we’re cautious about Houlihan Lokey. Here are two reasons why HLI doesn’t excite us, plus one stock we’d rather own. Analyzing the long-term change in earnings per share (EPS) shows whether a company’s incremental sales were profitable — for example, revenue could be inflated through excessive spending on advertising and promotions. Houlihan Lokey’s EPS grew at an unimpressive 5.3% compounded annual growth rate over the last five years, lower than its 8.4% annualized revenue growth. This tells us the company became less profitable on a per-share basis as it expanded. Tangible book value per share (TBVPS) serves as a key indicator of a financial institution’s strength, representing the hard assets available to shareholders after removing intangible assets that could evaporate during economic distress. Although Houlihan Lokey’s TBVPS increased by a meager 4.5% annually over the last five years, the good news is that its growth has recently accelerated as TBVPS grew at an exceptional 19.7% annual clip over the past two years (from $6.55 to $9.38 per share). Houlihan Lokey isn’t a terrible business, but it doesn’t pass our quality test. After the recent drawdown, the stock trades at 16.8× forward P/E (or $129.10 per share). Investors with a higher risk tolerance might like the company, but we think the potential downside is too great. We’re pretty confident there are superior stocks to buy right now. Let us point you toward a dominant aerospace business that has perfected its M&A strategy. ONE MORE THING: Top 5 Growth Stocks. The biggest stock winners almost always had one thing in common before they ran. Revenue growing like crazy. Meta. CrowdStrike. Broadcom. Our AI flagged all three. They returned 315%, 314%, and 455%, respectively. Find out which 5 stocks it’s flagging this month — FREE. Get Our Top 5 Growth Stocks for Free HERE. Stocks that have made our list include now familiar names such as Nvidia (+1,460% between June 2020 and June 2025) as well as under-the-radar businesses like the once-micro-cap company Tecnoglass (+1,552% between June 2020 and June 2025). Find your next big winner with StockStory today.

Image source: The Motley Fool. Wednesday, July 29, 2026 at 5:00 p.m. ET Chief Executive Officer - Scott Joseph Adelson Chief Financial Officer - J. Lindsey Alley Operator: Good day, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for standing by. Welcome to Houlihan Lokey's First Quarter Fiscal Year 2027 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Please note that this conference call is being recorded today, July 29, 2026. I would now like to turn the call over to the company. Christopher Crain: Thank you, operator, and hello, everyone. By now, everyone should have access to our first quarter fiscal year 2027 earnings release, which can be found on the Houlihan Lokey website at www.hl.com in the Investor Relations section. Before we begin our formal remarks, we need to remind everyone that the discussion today will include forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements, which are usually identified by use of words such as will, expect, anticipate, should or other similar phrases are not guarantees of future performance. These statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from what we expect, and therefore, you should exercise caution when interpreting and relying on them. We refer all of you to our recent SEC filings for a more detailed discussion of the risks that could impact our future operating results and financial condition. We encourage investors to review our regulatory filings, including the Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2026, when it is filed with the SEC. During today's call, we will discuss non-GAAP financial measures, which we believe can be useful in evaluating the company's financial performance. These non-GAAP financial measures are not intended to be considered in isolation from, as a substitute for or as more important than the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with GAAP. In addition, these non-GAAP measures have limitations in that they do not reflect all the items associated with the company's results of operations as determined in accordance with GAAP. A reconciliation of these measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures is available in our earnings release and our investor presentation on the hl.com website. Hosting the call today, we have Scott Adelson, Houlihan Lokey's Chief Executive Officer; and Lindsey Alley, Chief Financial Officer. They will provide some opening remarks, and then we will open the call to questions. With that, I'll turn the call over to Scott. Scott Joseph Adelson: Thank you, Christopher. Welcome, everyone, to our first quarter fiscal 2027 Earnings Call. We ended the quarter with revenues of $511 million and adjusted earnings per share of $1.35. We are disappointed with these quarterly results but believe the results are a temporary disruption and not a fundamental resetting of our outlook. Overall, our Financial and Valuation Advisory business performed well. Our Financial Restructuring business generally performed as expected, but our Corporate Finance business results suffered. On our fourth quarter call, we identified several macro factors that were beginning to impact corporate finance, namely the knock-on effects of the war in the Middle East and the disruption in the software sector as companies and the markets consider the potential long-term effects of AI. Headwinds that started in February and March persisted into April and May, as deal momentum slowed, specifically in consumer-facing sectors that are particularly sensitive to inflation and consumer sentiment and software as reduced valuations meant many technology deals were reassessed. As a result, a significant number of transactions that were expected to close in the quarter are delayed into subsequent quarters. These delays disproportionately affected larger fee transactions. So while our transaction volume was more or less the same year-over-year, our business mix was weighted more heavily towards lower fee advisory products. Notably, the vast majority of delayed transactions continue to move through the pipeline, but time lines remain extended. We have seen market disruptions like this in the past, and like others, we expect this one to be temporary. We are encouraged by the fact that public market valuations remain strong in both new business activity and backlog in CF are at record levels, and we see no meaningful change in the typical rates of dead or on hold deals. It is these metrics and others that provide us with the confidence of our comments. It is not, however, a call on when the broader middle market M&A environment will normalize. The macro uncertainties that persist, particularly around the situation in the Middle East create enough headwinds to make it difficult to predict when we will return to typical market conditions. Financial restructuring performed generally in line with our expectations and is expected to have a solid year, consistent with our views at the beginning of the year. We continue to see strong activity levels in our restructuring business amid continued volatility in the energy market and dislocation in both private credit and the software sector. Financial and Valuation Advisory produced a strong quarter with growth across all 3 service lines, underscoring the general health of the economy and FVA's balanced business model across industry and transaction size. We're optimistic this business will continue to grow as we invest in more sophisticated data tools and offerings for our clients. Further differentiating us from our smaller competitors. Our collaboration with Morningstar, which was announced last quarter to establish a jointly branded industry benchmark for the fast-growing CLO market, is one example of this. In Q1, we announced the acquisition of Intrepid Financial Partners, a premier independent investment bank specializing in the energy sector. We're excited about the momentum this combination is already bringing to our energy business. The acquisition, which we expect to close by end of the second fiscal quarter, will add 32 colleagues to the firm. As we've said over the last several quarters, our acquisition pipeline remains as busy as ever. In addition, we hired 3 new managing directors in the quarter, and we continue to see a robust market for senior talent which we will continue to capitalize on strategically as we diversify and expand into underweighted industry sectors, geographies and product lines. Despite a challenging first quarter in Corporate Finance, we remain confident in the continued growth in our business over the coming years. We have built a diversified global business that has repeatedly shown a remarkable ability to adapt and to thrive in a range of market conditions, and we remain committed to our goal of delivering consistent long-term growth for our shareholders, clients and employees. And with that, I will turn it over to Lindsey. J. Alley: Thank you, Scott. Revenues in Corporate Finance were $303 million for the quarter, down 24% compared to the same period last year. We closed 127 transactions this quarter basically flat with the same period last year. However, our average transaction fee on closed deals decreased significantly. As Scott mentioned, deal time lines have extended and disproportionately affected our larger fee deals in the first quarter. Client mix between sponsor and nonsponsor work has been stable and we have seen relatively more softness in our European business than the U.S. since the fourth quarter of last year. Deal closings may remain uneven in the near-term as macro events could continue to affect the timing of transactions. What gives us confidence over the medium term is that our backlog, pipeline and new mandate activity have not deteriorated like what we have seen in recessionary markets. Financial Restructuring revenues were $119 million for the quarter, generally in line with our expectations. We closed 23 transactions this quarter, down 34% from the same period last year, but our average transaction fee on closed deals increased. For Financial and Valuation Advisory, revenues were $89 million for the quarter, a 13% increase from the same period last year. We had 1,042 fee events during the quarter compared to 957 in the same period last year, a 9% increase. FVA is benefiting from strong deal momentum in the large-cap space while experiencing some of the same headwinds we are seeing in mid-cap M&A. Turning to expenses. Our adjusted compensation expense ratio for the first quarter in both fiscal 2027 and 2026 remained constant at 61.5%. We expect to maintain our long-term target of 61.5% for our adjusted compensation expense ratio for fiscal 2027. Our adjusted non-compensation expenses grew 6% to $100 million for the quarter compared to $94 million for the same period last year. For the full fiscal year, we expect to see our non-compensation expense growth similar to last year's growth. Our adjusted effective tax rate for the quarter was 13% compared to negative 1% for the same quarter last year. The increase was primarily a result of lower stock-based tax benefits from our annual May vesting of compensation-related stock. We expect to see a fiscal 2027 full year adjusted effective tax rate of between 26% and 28%. In our first quarter, we issued approximately 1.3 million shares to employees as part of our fiscal 2026 year-end compensation, and we repurchased approximately 1.1 million shares, about 800,000 shares through withhold to cover and 300,000 shares as part of our share repurchase program. And with that, operator, we can open the line for questions. Operator: [Operator Instructions] And our first question today comes from Brennan Hawken from BMO Capital Markets. Brennan Hawken: Scott, you spoke to the adaptability in the business and totally appreciate that you don't want to do anything rash here just because current environments aren't great. But do you think that there's some ability you have to make an adjustment to do something about the challenging environment and these extended time lines? Or is this just something you have to wait out? Scott Joseph Adelson: That's a great question. Thanks, Brennan. The answer is we are constantly doing things to attempt to improve the business. I mean that kind of process improvement, if you will, is something that has always been part of our culture. Much of this is things that are driven by our clients, not by us and their willingness to move things forward. Some of it is where you have deals not moving through in a process fashion and more of a one-off fashion and the timing of some of that can be less predictable, I would say, and as well as the fact that you have a new set of broader alternatives that people have today that have really -- the market has adapted to. And some of that has elongated that time frame. We do think that most of it though is driven by what we have talked about. Brennan Hawken: Got it. Okay. And if these sort of challenging market conditions extend, at some point, does it begin to threaten your ability to hold the 61.5% comp ratio? Or do you feel as though that's still secure and something that you're able to sustain? Scott Joseph Adelson: We -- you heard us joke about it, that it's engraved in our floors, right? It existed long before we were public. We had a very constant comp ratio and see no reason that, that would change. And I mean we -- as we said in our comments, we do believe that this is something that is an anomaly. That doesn't necessarily mean it completely reverts next quarter or whatever the case may be, but we feel very good about the year overall and just looking forward. Operator: Our next question comes from Devin Ryan from Citizens Bank. Noah Katz: This is Noah Katz on for Devin. So to start, I think we should dive a bit deeper on the middle market M&A environment broadly. Over the past several quarters, activity has generally improved from the lows, although the pace of recovery has remained uneven. As you guys look at client engagement and transaction discussions today relative to a few months ago, do you feel conditions are continuing to improve? And are there particular areas where you see more encouraging signs of activity? Scott Joseph Adelson: Yes. I think that we have talked about that in the past. We do see things continuing to improve from a new mandate perspective from the types of things that we are signing up, even more importantly, from the percentage of deals that are going into market. All of those trends are in the right direction and positive. So we would agree when you look at the closed deals in the middle market, obviously, those numbers have been -- not been great recently when talking about broader market as well as us, obviously, in this quarter. Noah Katz: Got it. And then as a quick follow-up on the international business. You've continued to invest in the platform globally and international markets have become an increasingly important component of the business. As you look across Europe, Asia and other regions today, where are you seeing the strongest transaction activity? And where does the environment remain a bit more mixed? Scott Joseph Adelson: Yes. So if you look just at this -- it depends what time frame you're asking about. If you're talking about this quarter that we're reporting on, it was stronger in the U.S. than it was in Europe or Asia. If you go back to last year, we had stronger growth in Europe and in Asia than we did in the U.S. So it varies from quarter-to-quarter. Operator: Our next question comes from James Yaro from Goldman Sachs. Unknown Analyst: This is Matthew in for James. So I just want to really dive deeper into the broader M&A cycle. You guys mentioned you guys are seeing activity starting to come back in the mid-market space. But overall, where do you guys think that we are in the M&A cycle today? And how long can they continue to grow from here? Scott Joseph Adelson: Clearly, it has been described, and I wouldn't disagree as -- and this is the M&A market overall is K-shaped, right? The large-cap deals have been happening at obviously a very strong rate and a number of our public peers have done quite well. The mid-cap market has really not returned yet to normal. I would say the party has been going on for a while in the large cap and the party is -- either hasn't started or is just about to start on the mid-cap side. J. Alley: Yes. I mean I'd say over the last few quarters, we have said pretty clearly, we're in the early innings in the mid-cap cycle. I think last quarter, think of it as a rain delay, and we're still in those early innings. I mean, as Scott said it best, the large-cap space has done extremely well. We're seeing it a little bit in our FVA business. And the macro events of really the last few months have had a small impact on our Q4 and a bigger impact on our Q1. But we -- for all the reasons Scott suggested, I look at that as a delay as opposed to anything structural at all. Unknown Analyst: Yes. That makes a lot of sense. Rain delay is a great analogy. And just to follow up on the restructuring outlook. So you guys mentioned restructuring activities has continued to be strong in the quarter as you guys expect. How much further in your view, can restructuring improve? And could the software and private credit issues catalyze this and over what time frame? Scott Joseph Adelson: Yes. So the answer is yes. We are continuing to see opportunities increase in restructuring. Obviously, there's delays. It takes time for those deals to work their way through the pipeline, but continues to increase. Software has certainly been one of the drivers of that, not -- certainly not the only driver. There have been knock-on effects as we've talked about from war in other areas that have benefited restructuring. And we do -- as we've said and really the only way we've talked about restructuring is that we expect this year to continue to be at elevated levels. And obviously, if there continues to be trouble in those various sectors or other ones, it can rise above those, I would call it, elevated levels. But at this point, we feel good about the outlook for restructuring this year. Operator: Our next question comes from Gabriel Angelini from Bank of America. Gabriel Angelini: To your point in terms of the impact of the geopolitical events in the Middle East and sort of software and impact on first quarter revenues. I think it was one of the weaker first quarters maybe going back to 2025 in terms of revenue. But I just want to get a sense for once we have a clearing event, how quickly can this sort of turn back on? I guess, sticking with the rain analogy, how quickly can the tarp come off the field here if we see a clearing event? Scott Joseph Adelson: I like the analogy, and let's stick with that for a while. So I think that the tarp does come off, but it doesn't come off instantaneously. And I think that's the way to think about it that it does take a little bit and that can be -- you can think about that usually as months or quarters, not years. And I think that one of the challenges is every time we -- it hits normal again in the geopolitical environment, we have things like we heard over the last couple of days where the war pops up again. And so do they start to take it off and then it rains again and they bring it back on. And that's, I think, the question mark. Gabriel Angelini: Great. That was very helpful. And maybe one more strategic question. You previously talked about the big market share opportunity being that sort of 98% of middle market volume that you don't participate in right now. But then I think some of the larger bulge-bracket firms are also focused on expanding particularly in middle market space. There was an announcement from the bulge-bracket that they're going to be hiring in that space. So as you think about gaining share, who are the share donors? And is it becoming more competitive in the middle market environment? Scott Joseph Adelson: I've been doing this a very long time, and I can tell you that there have been a number of entrants in and out over time in the mid-cap space. Very few are enduring in it. And the ones that are enduring in it obviously have seen the growth in the business overall. We have continued to, we believe, take share in that market over time, and we see no reason that, that will not continue. And that's really the new entrants are historically at least been visitors to the space. J. Alley: And the other, I think, important way we think about it is the vast majority of our competition in the mid-cap space are smaller boutique firms. And given sort of the success of the Houlihan and some of our larger middle market peers, it is becoming structurally more difficult for boutiques to compete with us. We just have broader geographic reach. We have more depth in terms of private equity coverage. We're able to invest in technology that the smaller boutiques can't. And so a lot of those market share gains are just the larger mid-cap firms like Houlihan Lokey taking market share away from smaller boutiques or bringing those smaller boutiques underneath the Houlihan Lokey umbrella and having them thrive. And so that's, I think, more likely where we're going to take market share versus from a bulge-bracket firm that moves into the middle market for 15 minutes and then moves back out when the markets change. Operator: Our next question comes from Alex Bond from KBW. Alexander Bond: Wondering if you could drill down on the impact of the slowdown in software-related transactions this quarter and maybe what extent that impacted the Corporate Finance results, both on the M&A side and in Capital Solutions? And maybe if you could just compare activity levels there relative to the year ago period. And then also curious to the extent you are seeing green shoots within software? And any color you can provide on expectations there, specifically through the rest of this fiscal year? J. Alley: I'll start and let Scott finish the green shoots comment. So our technology business, and it is technology in total, which we think the bulk of which is software, and I'll give it to you across the firm as opposed to just in Corporate Finance was down about 54% for the quarter or $53 million in 1 quarter just to give you a sense of how that affected our business in Q1. And then with respect to green shoots, I think, Scott. Scott Joseph Adelson: Yes. I have an awful lot of client meetings, and it went from everybody believed completely a few quarters ago, SaaS-pocalypse was real. Nobody was ever going to touch another software company again. Clearly, today, just we're just doing financings. We do -- we are closing deals in the space. I would say a number of very smart investors have started to understand there is a difference between a good software company and a bad software company and just kind of throwing it all out doesn't make complete sense. So we are starting to see a bifurcation, if you will, in the software space. Alexander Bond: Got it. Okay. Great. That's helpful color. And then maybe as a follow-up, just anything to read into the fact that the larger size deals or I guess, larger fee deals have been more susceptible to closing delays more recently. Is this just simply a result of there being more variables in the equation for these deals, so maybe they're more impacted by volatility or geopolitical uncertainty? Or just any sort of other additional color in terms of how we should be thinking about that? Scott Joseph Adelson: I think you're really covering it. I mean, to a large extent, it is people saying, let me just get that one more piece of information. Hey, by the way, what about this? And the larger deals, the more they have to ask questions around, right? There's just more complexity of the businesses. And so it is just dragging out a bit. And it is, I would say, something that we have seen before, but that the larger deals, the smaller deals also people are just more willing to just close and move on because we're going to make so many operational improvements and things like that. Operator: And our next question comes from Steven Chubak from Wolfe Research. Unknown Analyst: This is Sandy on for Stephen. I was wondering if you could just speak to your appetite to do deals amid a more challenging revenue backdrop. Are target valuations looking more attractive in the current environment? And what are some of the areas where it might make more sense to buy versus build? Scott Joseph Adelson: I missed the very beginning of what you said that. I couldn't quite hear. Could you say the very beginning of that one more time? Unknown Analyst: I was wondering if you could just speak to your appetite to do deals amid a more challenging revenue backdrop and whether... Scott Joseph Adelson: Got it. Thank you. Yes. From our own M&A perspective, we obviously disclosed the Intrepid deal. We -- as we also stated, we have as strong a pipeline as we ever have, and we are continuing to be as aggressive, if not more so than we have been. We continue to believe in our business exactly the way it is. Unknown Analyst: Great. And then just for one follow-up. Thinking through the long-term impacts from AI on your business, can you speak to how you're thinking through opportunities and threats to your 3 core businesses and specific to the valuations business, how you're handicapping the risk of greater pricing pressure in an AI world? Scott Joseph Adelson: Yes. That's a -- I could go on for a very long time. That's a very fulsome question. So thank you for that. We are very much a believer in AI being a meaningful component of our business. And we have opted, I would say, for a belief that a 10% improvement is the enemy of a 10x improvement, and we are focused on the 10x improvement that we think we can drive by AI, and we are have -- it's a very long conversation, probably not appropriate completely for today, but we are big believers in it and the improvements it can have on our business. When you talk about valuation, we have said that there are components of our valuation business that we think our -- all of our valuation business for that matter, is already a large user of technology and will continue to be. We do think it creates a differentiator between the smaller players and the larger players that are able to be more technology forward. We certainly have seen in parts of our business where that technology has driven average pricing down and increased the total addressable market, the TAM considerably, and those businesses continue to grow even at, for example, in portfolio where an average cost of a mark may decline, the number of marks and the frequency of those marks is expanding at a faster velocity. Operator: Our next question comes from Nathan Stein from Deutsche Bank. Nathan Stein: We've talked about the impact from the geopolitical conflicts in the first quarter, particularly in the Corporate Finance business. But it seems like an outsized impact to you relative to your peers. Can you just remind us why that is? And separately, how much of this dynamic continued so far in the early weeks of the second quarter relative to last quarter? Scott Joseph Adelson: Yes. I think that this has been something that really was March, April, May, we've seen the impact begin to decline in June and July. Now again, war picks up, don't know what happens, right? So to be clear about that. But from a month-by-month basis, that's what I would say. I'd say why we are impacted more. I think there's a couple of things. One is we do have a disproportionate amount of sponsor-based business. And I do think sponsors have -- are putting their toes back in the water kind of one at a time, very, very slowly. And so every time something happens, they pull a lot of water. That's one of the reasons. The other, I think we talked about we have a more global business. And as we talked about, Europe has -- was not performing at least this quarter at the same level as the U.S. J. Alley: And I'd say the third piece is we have a decent-sized technology software. It's hard to tell what our peers do in that space, but we are quite strong in software. And look, I think it has benefited our comments and our activity levels vis-a-vis restructuring. I'd say that we are as well positioned to do software restructurings over the next 2 to 3 years. As we all know that unfolds and there's a lot of highly levered software businesses. What's affecting us today in M&A is going to have a positive impact on our restructuring business over the next 2 to 3 years because of the investments we've made in technology and specifically in software. Nathan Stein: Okay. Sounds good. And then as a follow-up on the non-comp expense, it came in strong despite the lower revenue base. Just wanted to ask what the main driver of that was. Was it all tech or AI spend, investments for the future? Or was there some seasonality that we should be mindful of in the quarter? J. Alley: It was pretty close to what we expected, maybe a little lower than expectations. I think it's just timing. There wasn't anything that I'd point out in non-comp in Q1. I think any positive benefits on timing that we had in Q1 will be made up for in the subsequent quarters. But not dissimilar to what we expected for the quarter, and I'd say mostly just around timing. Operator: [Operator Instructions] Our next question comes from Connell Schmitz from Morgan Stanley. Connell Schmitz: Following up on restructuring. Last quarter, you called out 2 large restructuring mandates that were pushed out from fiscal '26 to the first half of fiscal '27. Can you clarify if one, both or none of those mandates have been reflected in the $119 million that you printed this quarter? J. Alley: Not going to be specific on the 2 transactions, but I will tell you that those 2 transactions were one of the many reasons why we had expected decent results and elevated results in fiscal '27, and that hasn't changed. Connell Schmitz: Got it. Okay. I guess switching to FVA. Can you quantify any future revenue opportunities from the Morningstar partnership and then the DataBank initiative more broadly that we have not heard about in a couple of quarters now, both from a potential hard dollar payment perspective and any cross-segment synergies and any early signs of success to call out? J. Alley: Yes. So I'd say think of the Morningstar partnership as one baby step in sort of the more medium, longer-term objective of utilizing what we think is quite unique data set that we have to drive client success and ultimately revenues. Any revenues from Morningstar would be de minimis. It's not about the revenues. It's about that first step. It's about the branding of combining with Morningstar, and I think look at it as a series of steps over the coming years to get to ultimately where we want to go. But nothing. No modeling change. Scott Joseph Adelson: No reason to change our modeling. I mean it is. There will be more things like this over time. Operator: And with that, we'll be concluding today's question-and-answer session. I'd like to turn the floor back over to Scott for any closing remarks. Scott Joseph Adelson: I want to thank you all for participating in our first quarter fiscal 2027 earnings call. We look forward to updating everyone on our progress when we discuss our second quarter results for fiscal 2027 this fall. Thank you all. Operator: The conference has now concluded. We thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect your lines. Before you buy stock in Houlihan Lokey, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Houlihan Lokey wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $397,405!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,344,091!* Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 953% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 214% for the S&P 500. Don't miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of August 7, 2026. This article is a transcript of this conference call produced for The Motley Fool. While we strive for our Foolish Best, there may be errors, omissions, or inaccuracies in this transcript. As with all our articles, The Motley Fool does not assume any responsibility for your use of this content, and we strongly encourage you to do your own research, including listening to the call yourself and reading the company's SEC filings. Please see our Terms and Conditions for additional details, including our Obligatory Capitalized Disclaimers of Liability. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Houlihan Lokey. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Houlihan Lokey (HLI) Q1 2027 Earnings Call Transcript was originally published by The Motley Fool

Houlihan Lokey (HLI) came out with quarterly earnings of $1.35 per share, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.64 per share. This compares to earnings of $2.14 per share a year ago. These figures are adjusted for non-recurring items. This quarterly report represents an earnings surprise of -17.68%. A quarter ago, it was expected that this investment banking company would post earnings of $1.84 per share when it actually produced earnings of $1.63, delivering a surprise of -11.41%. Over the last four quarters, the company has surpassed consensus EPS estimates two times. Houlihan Lokey, which belongs to the Zacks Financial - Miscellaneous Services industry, posted revenues of $511 million for the quarter ended June 2026, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 15.19%. This compares to year-ago revenues of $605.35 million. The company has topped consensus revenue estimates two times over the last four quarters. The sustainability of the stock's immediate price movement based on the recently-released numbers and future earnings expectations will mostly depend on management's commentary on the earnings call. Houlihan Lokey shares have lost about 16.5% since the beginning of the year versus the S&P 500's gain of 8.5%. While Houlihan Lokey has underperformed the market so far this year, the question that comes to investors' minds is: what's next for the stock? There are no easy answers to this key question, but one reliable measure that can help investors address this is the company's earnings outlook. Not only does this include current consensus earnings expectations for the coming quarter(s), but also how these expectations have changed lately. Empirical research shows a strong correlation between near-term stock movements and trends in earnings estimate revisions. Investors can track such revisions by themselves or rely on a tried-and-tested rating tool like the Zacks Rank, which has an impressive track record of harnessing the power of earnings estimate revisions. Ahead of this earnings release, the estimate revisions trend for Houlihan Lokey was unfavorable. While the magnitude and direction of estimate revisions could change following the company's just-released earnings report, the current status translates into a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell) for the stock. So, the shares are expected to underperform the market in the near future. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. It will be interesting to see how estimates for the coming quarters and the current fiscal year change in the days ahead. The current consensus EPS estimate is $1.85 on $683.71 million in revenues for the coming quarter and $7.91 on $2.89 billion in revenues for the current fiscal year. Investors should be mindful of the fact that the outlook for the industry can have a material impact on the performance of the stock as well. In terms of the Zacks Industry Rank, Financial - Miscellaneous Services is currently in the bottom 27% of the 250 plus Zacks industries. Our research shows that the top 50% of the Zacks-ranked industries outperform the bottom 50% by a factor of more than 2 to 1. One other stock from the same industry, HA Sustainable Infrastructure Capital (HASI), is yet to report results for the quarter ended June 2026. The results are expected to be released on August 6. This provider of financing for sustainable infrastructure projects is expected to post quarterly earnings of $0.73 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +21.7%. The consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has remained unchanged over the last 30 days. HA Sustainable Infrastructure Capital's revenues are expected to be $18.1 million, up 269.4% from the year-ago quarter. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (HLI) : Free Stock Analysis Report HA Sustainable Infrastructure Capital, Inc. (HASI) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

Interested in Houlihan Lokey, Inc.? Here are five stocks we like better. Fiscal Q1 2027 revenue was $511 million and adjusted EPS was $1.35. Management characterized the weaker quarter as a temporary disruption, with Corporate Finance hurt by delayed, larger-fee transactions despite stable deal volume. Corporate Finance revenue fell 24% to $303 million, while management said record pipeline, backlog and new-business activity suggest most delayed transactions are moving forward. Middle-market M&A remains soft, particularly in Europe, while large-cap activity is stronger. Restructuring and Financial and Valuation Advisory provided support: restructuring activity is expected to remain elevated through fiscal 2027, and FVA revenue rose 13% to $89 million. Houlihan Lokey also announced its planned acquisition of energy-focused Intrepid Financial Partners, expected to close by the end of fiscal Q2. Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) reported first-quarter fiscal 2027 revenue of $511 million and adjusted earnings per share of $1.35, with management characterizing the quarter as a temporary disruption rather than a fundamental change in its outlook. Chief Executive Officer Scott Adelson said Corporate Finance results were pressured by extended transaction timelines, particularly for larger-fee assignments, amid geopolitical uncertainty in the Middle East and disruption in the software sector as investors evaluate the longer-term effects of artificial intelligence. Financial Restructuring performed generally in line with expectations, while Financial and Valuation Advisory posted growth across its service lines. → Refiner Stocks Are Near Record Highs—Can Iran-Driven Margins Keep Them There? Corporate Finance revenue totaled $303 million, down 24% from the prior-year quarter. The firm closed 127 transactions, essentially unchanged from a year earlier, but average fees on completed deals declined significantly. Adelson said the delays were concentrated in consumer-facing businesses sensitive to inflation and consumer sentiment, as well as software companies where lower valuations prompted transactions to be reassessed. He said many transactions expected to close during the quarter were delayed into later periods and that larger-fee assignments were disproportionately affected. → Why SK hynix Could Be the Best AI Chip Stock to Buy Now “The vast majority of delayed transactions continue to move through the pipeline, but timelines remain extended,” Adelson said. He added that Corporate Finance new-business activity and backlog were at record levels and that the company had not seen a meaningful change in typical rates of transactions being terminated or placed on hold. Chief Financial Officer Lindsey Alley said the company has experienced relatively greater softness in Europe than in the United States since the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026. She said deal closings could remain uneven in the near term if macroeconomic events continue to affect transaction timing, but noted that pipeline, backlog and new-mandate activity had not deteriorated in the way they typically would in recessionary markets. → Oil Prices Are Surging and These 4 Stocks Are Cashing In Management described the broader M&A market as “K-shaped,” with large-cap activity remaining strong while the middle market has not returned to normal conditions. Adelson said the firm continues to see improvement in new mandates, the types of assignments being signed, and the percentage of deals entering the market. “The party’s been going on for a while in the large cap,” Adelson said. “The party either hasn’t started or is just about to start on the midcap side.” Financial Restructuring revenue was $119 million, generally meeting the company’s expectations. The group closed 23 transactions during the quarter, down 34% from a year earlier, though average fees on completed transactions increased. Adelson said restructuring activity remains strong amid volatility in energy markets and dislocation in private credit and software. He said the firm expects restructuring activity to remain elevated through fiscal 2027 and that opportunities continue to increase, although it can take time for assignments to progress through the pipeline. Software has been one driver of restructuring demand, according to management. Alley said the company’s investments in technology and software advisory could position it to benefit from potential software restructurings over the next two to three years, given the number of highly leveraged businesses in that sector. Financial and Valuation Advisory revenue increased 13% year over year to $89 million. The business recorded 1,042 fee events, up 9% from 957 in the prior-year period. Alley said FVA has benefited from strong momentum in large-cap transactions, though it is also seeing some of the same mid-market M&A headwinds affecting Corporate Finance. Adelson said the segment’s balanced model across industries and transaction sizes supported its performance. The company also highlighted its partnership with Morningstar to establish a jointly branded benchmark for the collateralized loan obligation market. Management said any near-term revenue contribution from the partnership would be minimal, describing it instead as an initial step toward using the company’s data resources to support clients and potentially generate revenue over the longer term. Adelson said the firm sees AI as a meaningful opportunity across its businesses. In valuation services, he said technology could widen the competitive gap between larger firms able to invest in technology and smaller competitors. Management noted that technology can reduce average pricing in some valuation services while expanding the volume and frequency of client work. Houlihan Lokey’s adjusted compensation expense ratio was 61.5%, unchanged from the prior-year quarter. Alley said the firm expects to maintain its long-term 61.5% target for the full fiscal year, while Adelson said management sees no reason to alter that approach despite the softer Corporate Finance quarter. Adjusted non-compensation expenses rose 6% to $100 million. Alley said the quarterly figure was largely consistent with expectations and reflected timing rather than a specific unusual expense item. The company expects full-year non-compensation expense growth to be similar to the prior year. The adjusted effective tax rate was 13%, compared with negative 1% a year earlier, primarily due to lower stock-based tax benefits associated with the company’s annual May vesting of compensation-related stock. Management expects a full-year adjusted tax rate of 26% to 28%. During the quarter, the company issued about 1.3 million shares to employees as part of fiscal 2026 year-end compensation and repurchased approximately 1.1 million shares, including roughly 800,000 shares withheld to cover obligations and 300,000 shares through its share repurchase program. Houlihan Lokey announced the acquisition of Intrepid Financial Partners, an energy-focused independent investment bank, during the quarter. The transaction is expected to close by the end of the second fiscal quarter and add 32 employees. The company also hired three managing directors and said its acquisition pipeline remained active. Adelson said management remains confident in the company’s longer-term growth prospects despite uncertainty around the timing of a normalization in middle-market M&A conditions. Houlihan Lokey, Inc is a global investment bank and financial services firm founded in 1972 and headquartered in Los Angeles, California. The company specializes in advisory services across a broad range of transaction types and financial matters. Since its founding, Houlihan Lokey has grown to serve corporations, financial sponsors, and government entities worldwide, providing expertise in complex and high-stakes engagements. The firm's core service offerings include mergers and acquisitions advisory, capital markets advisory, financial restructuring and distressed M&A, and valuation and fairness opinions. This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected]. The article "Houlihan Lokey Q1 Earnings Call Highlights" was originally published by MarketBeat. View MarketBeat's top stocks for July 2026.

– First Quarter Fiscal 2027 Revenues of $511 million –– First Quarter Fiscal 2027 Diluted EPS of $1.15 –– Adjusted First Quarter Fiscal 2027 Diluted EPS of $1.35 –– Announces Dividend of $0.70 per Share for Second Quarter Fiscal 2027 – LOS ANGELES, July 29, 2026--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI) ("Houlihan Lokey" or the "Company") today reported financial results for its first quarter ended June 30, 2026. For the first quarter ended June 30, 2026, revenues were $511 million, compared with $605 million for the first quarter ended June 30, 2025. Net income attributable to Houlihan Lokey, Inc. was $78 million, or $1.15 per diluted share, for the first quarter ended June 30, 2026, compared with $98 million, or $1.42 per diluted share, for the first quarter ended June 30, 2025. Adjusted net income attributable to Houlihan Lokey, Inc. was $91 million, or $1.35 per diluted share, for the first quarter ended June 30, 2026, compared with $148 million, or $2.14 per diluted share, for the first quarter ended June 30, 2025. "Our first quarter results reflected ongoing headwinds in our Corporate Finance business which started last quarter, including instability in the Middle East and disruptions in the technology sector, specifically in software. Given the general health of the economy and strong public market valuations, we believe these headwinds are temporary in nature and do not represent a cyclical downturn. We continue to see strong support for improved performance for the balance of the year, but it is difficult to tell when the current headwinds will subside," stated Scott Adelson, Chief Executive Officer of Houlihan Lokey. Selected Financial Data Revenues For the first quarter ended June 30, 2026, revenues were $511 million, compared with $605 million for the first quarter ended June 30, 2025. For the first quarter ended June 30, 2026, CF revenues decreased (24)%, FR revenues decreased (8)%, and FVA revenues increased 13% when compared with the first quarter ended June 30, 2025. Expenses The Company’s compensation expenses, non-compensation expenses, and provision for income taxes during the periods presented and described below are on a GAAP and an adjusted basis. Compensation expenses were $328 million for the first quarter ended June 30, 2026, compared with $393 million for the first quarter ended June 30, 2025. This resulted in a compensation ratio of 64.3% for the first quarter ended June 30, 2026, compared with 64.9% for the first quarter ended June 30, 2025. Adjusted compensation expenses were $314 million for the first quarter ended June 30, 2026, compared with $372 million for the first quarter ended June 30, 2025. This resulted in an adjusted compensation ratio of 61.5% for both the first quarter ended June 30, 2026 and June 30, 2025. The decrease in GAAP and adjusted compensation expenses was a result of a decrease in revenues when compared with the same quarter last year. Non-compensation expenses were $105 million for the first quarter ended June 30, 2026, compared with $122 million for the first quarter ended June 30, 2025. The decrease in non-compensation expenses was primarily a result of decreases in the revaluation of acquisition contingent consideration and in depreciation and amortization, partially offset by an increase in professional fees compared with the same quarter last year. Adjusted non-compensation expenses were $100 million for the first quarter ended June 30, 2026, compared with $94 million for the first quarter ended June 30, 2025. The increase in adjusted non-compensation expenses was primarily a result of an increase in professional fees compared with the same quarter last year. The effective tax rate was 9.8% for the first quarter ended June 30, 2026, compared with 0.5% for the first quarter ended June 30, 2025. The adjusted effective tax rate was 12.6% for the first quarter ended June 30, 2026, compared with (0.8)% for the first quarter ended June 30, 2025. The increase in the Company's GAAP and adjusted effective tax rate during the first quarter ended June 30, 2026, relative to the same period in 2025, was primarily a result of decreased stock-based compensation deductions. Segment Reporting for the First Fiscal Quarter Corporate Finance CF revenues were $303 million for the first quarter ended June 30, 2026, compared with $398 million for the first quarter ended June 30, 2025. Revenues decreased due to a decrease in the average transaction fee on closed transactions, which was driven by transaction mix and we believe does not represent a short-term trend in the average fee on closed transactions. Financial Restructuring FR revenues were $119 million for the first quarter ended June 30, 2026, compared with $128 million for the first quarter ended June 30, 2025. Revenues decreased primarily due to a decrease in the number of closed transactions. This was partially offset by an increase in the average transaction fee on closed transactions. The reduction in transaction volume was driven by timing of transaction closings, while the higher average transaction fee on closed transactions resulted from transaction mix and we believe does not represent a trend. Financial and Valuation Advisory FVA revenues were $89 million for the first quarter ended June 30, 2026, compared with $79 million for the first quarter ended June 30, 2025. Revenues increased due to an increase in the number of Fee Events, driven by strong market demand across our service lines. Other Announcements The Board of Directors of the Company declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.70 per share of Class A and Class B common stock. The dividend will be payable on September 15, 2026 to stockholders of record as of the close of business on September 1, 2026. Also, during the first quarter ended June 30, 2026, the Company repurchased 348 thousand shares as part of its share repurchase program. As of June 30, 2026, the Company had $797 million of cash and cash equivalents and investment securities. Investor Conference Call and Webcast The Company will host a conference call and live webcast at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday, July 29, 2026, to discuss its first quarter fiscal 2027 results. The number to call is 1-844-501-1995 (domestic) or 1-412-345-3006 (international). A live webcast will be available in the Investor Relations section of the Company’s website. A replay of the conference call will be available from July 29, 2026 through August 5, 2026, by dialing 1-844-512-2921 (domestic) or 1-412-317-6671 (international) and entering the passcode 10210272. A replay of the webcast will be archived and available on the Company’s website. Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. You can identify these statements by our use of the words "assumes," "believes," "estimates," "expects," "guidance," "intends," "plans," "projects," and similar expressions that do not relate to historical matters. You should exercise caution in interpreting and relying on forward-looking statements because they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which are, in some cases, beyond the Company’s control and could materially affect actual results, performance, or achievements. For a further description of such factors, you should read the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Because forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, some of which cannot be predicted or quantified, you should not rely on these forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. The events and circumstances reflected in our forward-looking statements may not be achieved or occur and actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Non-GAAP Financial Measures As a supplement to our financial measures presented in accordance with U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles ("GAAP"), the Company presents certain adjusted (non-GAAP) measures of financial performance. These non-GAAP financial measures are not intended to be considered in isolation from, as a substitute for, or as more important than, the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with GAAP. In addition, these non-GAAP measures have limitations in that they do not reflect all of the items associated with the Company’s results of operations as determined in accordance with GAAP. Adjusted net income, total and on a per share basis, and certain adjusted items used to determine adjusted net income, are presented and discussed in this earnings press release and are non-GAAP measures that management believes, when presented together with comparable GAAP measures, are useful to investors in understanding the Company’s financial and operating performance. The non-GAAP financial measures exclude the following items, as applicable in any given reporting period: certain acquisition related costs, including (1) acquisition related deferred retention payments, which may be settled in cash or common stock of the Company; (2) amortization of intangible assets recognized in purchase accounting; (3) fair value remeasurements of acquisition-related contingent consideration; and (4) other integration and acquisition related costs, including asset write offs or impairments; legal and other professional fees associated with the simplification of our legal entity structure that has resulted from acquisitions; the income tax adjustments associated with the non-tax adjustments above, determined by applying the tax rates in effect in the jurisdictions for which the non-tax adjustment relates; and significant discrete tax related items, including (1) acquisition-related costs which are non-deductible for income tax purposes and (2) other unusual or unique tax-related items and activities. In the future, the Company may also consider whether other items should also be excluded in calculating the non-GAAP financial measures used by the Company. These non-GAAP measures facilitate comparison of operating performance between periods and help investors to understand our underlying operating results by excluding certain items that may not be indicative of the Company’s core business, operating results, or future outlook. We consider quantitative and qualitative factors in assessing whether to adjust for the impact of items that could affect an understanding of our ongoing financial and business performance or trends. Internally, management uses these non-GAAP financial measures, along with GAAP financial measures, in assessing the Company’s operating results. The adjusted items included in this earnings press release as calculated by the Company are not necessarily comparable to similarly titled measures reported by other companies. Additionally, these adjusted amounts are not a measurement of financial performance or liquidity under GAAP and should not be considered as an alternative to the Company’s financial information determined under GAAP. For additional descriptions of the Company’s use of these adjusted items and a reconciliation with comparable GAAP items, see the section of this press release titled "Reconciliation of GAAP to Adjusted Financial Information." We encourage investors to review our GAAP financial statements and other regulatory filings for a comprehensive understanding of our financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows. About Houlihan Lokey Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI) is a leading global investment bank recognized for delivering independent strategic and financial advice to corporations, financial sponsors, and governments. With uniquely deep industry expertise, broad international reach, and a partnership approach rooted in trust, the firm provides innovative, integrated solutions across mergers and acquisitions, capital solutions, financial restructuring, and financial and valuation advisory. Our unmatched transaction volumes provide differentiated, data-driven perspectives that help our clients achieve their most critical goals. To learn more about Houlihan Lokey, please visit HL.com. Notes to Reconciliation of GAAP to Adjusted Financial Information View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260729817913/en/ Contacts Investor Relations+1 [email protected] Media Relations+1 [email protected]

Investment banking firm Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) missed Wall Street’s revenue expectations in Q2 CY2026, with sales falling 15.6% year on year to $511 million. Its non-GAAP profit of $1.35 per share was 17.7% below analysts’ consensus estimates. Is now the time to buy Houlihan Lokey? Find out in our full research report. Revenue: $511 million vs analyst estimates of $610.3 million (15.6% year-on-year decline, 16.3% miss) Pre-tax Profit: $86 million (16.8% margin) Adjusted EPS: $1.35 vs analyst expectations of $1.64 (17.7% miss) Market Capitalization: $10.05 billion “Our first quarter results reflected ongoing headwinds in our Corporate Finance business which started last quarter, including instability in the Middle East and disruptions in the technology sector, specifically in software. Given the general health of the economy and strong public market valuations, we believe these headwinds are temporary in nature and do not represent a cyclical downturn. We continue to see strong support for improved performance for the balance of the year, but it is difficult to tell when the current headwinds will subside,” stated Scott Adelson, Chief Executive Officer of Houlihan Lokey. Founded in 1972 and known for its expertise in complex financial situations, Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) is a global investment bank specializing in mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, financial restructurings, and valuation advisory services. A company’s long-term sales performance is one signal of its overall quality. Even a bad business can shine for one or two quarters, but a top-tier one grows for years. Over the last five years, Houlihan Lokey grew its revenue at a decent 8.4% compounded annual growth rate. Its growth was slightly above the average financials company and shows its offerings resonate with customers. We at StockStory place the most emphasis on long-term growth, but within financials, a half-decade historical view may miss recent interest rate changes, market returns, and industry trends. Houlihan Lokey’s annualized revenue growth of 12% over the last two years is above its five-year trend, suggesting its demand recently accelerated. Note: Quarters not shown were determined to be outliers because they were impacted by outsized investment gains/losses that are not indicative of the recurring fundamentals of the business. This quarter, Houlihan Lokey missed Wall Street’s estimates and reported a rather uninspiring 15.6% year-on-year revenue decline, generating $511 million of revenue. WHILE YOU’RE HERE: The Next Palantir? One satellite company captures images of every point on Earth. Every single day. The Pentagon wants it. Hedge funds are using it to beat earnings. You’ve probably never heard of it. This is what the early days of Palantir looked like before it became a giant. Same playbook. Different technology. If you missed Palantir, you need to see this. Claim The Stock Ticker for Free HERE. We struggled to find many positives in these results. Its EBITDA missed and its revenue fell short of Wall Street’s estimates. Overall, this was a softer quarter. The stock traded down 7.3% to $128.95 immediately after reporting. Houlihan Lokey’s earnings report left more to be desired. Let’s look forward to see if this quarter has created an opportunity to buy the stock. What happened in the latest quarter matters, but not as much as longer-term business quality and valuation, when deciding whether to invest in this stock. We cover that in our actionable full research report which you can read here, it’s free.

Ponce Financial (PDLB) came out with quarterly earnings of $0.35 per share, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.37 per share. This compares to earnings of $0.25 per share a year ago. These figures are adjusted for non-recurring items. This quarterly report represents an earnings surprise of -5.41%. A quarter ago, it was expected that this holding company of Ponce Bank would post earnings of $0.27 per share when it actually produced earnings of $0.36, delivering a surprise of +33.33%. Over the last four quarters, the company has surpassed consensus EPS estimates two times. Ponce Financial, which belongs to the Zacks Financial - Miscellaneous Services industry, posted revenues of $31.59 million for the quarter ended June 2026, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 2.23%. This compares to year-ago revenues of $26.49 million. The company has topped consensus revenue estimates three times over the last four quarters. The sustainability of the stock's immediate price movement based on the recently-released numbers and future earnings expectations will mostly depend on management's commentary on the earnings call. Ponce Financial shares have added about 23.6% since the beginning of the year versus the S&P 500's gain of 8.3%. While Ponce Financial has outperformed the market so far this year, the question that comes to investors' minds is: what's next for the stock? There are no easy answers to this key question, but one reliable measure that can help investors address this is the company's earnings outlook. Not only does this include current consensus earnings expectations for the coming quarter(s), but also how these expectations have changed lately. Empirical research shows a strong correlation between near-term stock movements and trends in earnings estimate revisions. Investors can track such revisions by themselves or rely on a tried-and-tested rating tool like the Zacks Rank, which has an impressive track record of harnessing the power of earnings estimate revisions. Ahead of this earnings release, the estimate revisions trend for Ponce Financial was mixed. While the magnitude and direction of estimate revisions could change following the company's just-released earnings report, the current status translates into a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) for the stock. So, the shares are expected to perform in line with the market in the near future. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. It will be interesting to see how estimates for the coming quarters and the current fiscal year change in the days ahead. The current consensus EPS estimate is $9.40 on $31.8 million in revenues for the coming quarter and $10.53 on $125 million in revenues for the current fiscal year. Investors should be mindful of the fact that the outlook for the industry can have a material impact on the performance of the stock as well. In terms of the Zacks Industry Rank, Financial - Miscellaneous Services is currently in the bottom 26% of the 250 plus Zacks industries. Our research shows that the top 50% of the Zacks-ranked industries outperform the bottom 50% by a factor of more than 2 to 1. Houlihan Lokey (HLI), another stock in the same industry, has yet to report results for the quarter ended June 2026. The results are expected to be released on July 29. This investment banking company is expected to post quarterly earnings of $1.64 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of -23.4%. The consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has been revised 9.6% lower over the last 30 days to the current level. Houlihan Lokey's revenues are expected to be $614.11 million, up 1.5% from the year-ago quarter. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Ponce Financial Group, Inc. (PDLB) : Free Stock Analysis Report Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (HLI) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research