Investment banking firm Houlihan Lokey (NYSE: HLI) will be reporting results this Wednesday after market close. Here’s what to look for.
Houlihan Lokey beat analysts’ revenue expectations by 1% last quarter, reporting revenues of $659.5 million, up 14.7% year on year. It was a strong quarter for the company, with and .
Is Houlihan Lokey a buy or sell going into earnings? Read our full analysis here, it’s free for active Edge members.
This quarter, analysts are expecting Houlihan Lokey’s revenue to grow 10.1% year on year to $698.3 million, slowing from the 24.1% increase it recorded in the same quarter last year. Adjusted earnings are expected to come in at $1.87 per share.
Analysts covering the company have generally reconfirmed their estimates over the last 30 days, suggesting they anticipate the business to stay the course heading into earnings. Houlihan Lokey has a history of exceeding Wall Street’s expectations, beating revenue estimates every single time over the past two years by 3% on average.
Looking at Houlihan Lokey’s peers in the investment banking & brokerage segment, some have already reported their Q4 results, giving us a hint as to what we can expect. Jefferies delivered year-on-year revenue growth of 5.7%, beating analysts’ expectations by 3%, and Goldman Sachs reported a revenue decline of 3%, topping estimates by 0.5%. Jefferies traded down 5.6% following the results while Goldman Sachs was up 3.1%.
Read our full analysis of Jefferies’s results here and Goldman Sachs’s results here.
Investors in the investment banking & brokerage segment have had steady hands going into earnings, with share prices flat over the last month. Houlihan Lokey is up 2.9% during the same time and is heading into earnings with an average analyst price target of $208.25 (compared to the current share price of $182.65).
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