Cushman & Wakefield NYSE: CWK reported stronger first-quarter results, with management pointing to broad-based growth across leasing, capital markets and services, while reaffirming its full-year 2026 outlook.
On the company’s earnings call, Chief Executive Officer Michelle MacKay said Cushman & Wakefield delivered 9% revenue growth in the quarter, exceeding its long-term guidance range, along with mid-teens adjusted EBITDA growth and a 67% increase in adjusted earnings per share. She said the results reflected “consistent execution” of the company’s strategy and progress toward longer-term financial targets.
“These outcomes are deliberate,” MacKay said. “The product of a strategy designed for durability and growth.”
Chief Financial Officer Neil Johnston said first-quarter revenue was $2.5 billion, up 9% in local currency from the prior year. Adjusted EBITDA increased 15% to $111 million, while adjusted EPS rose to $0.15, up 67% year over year.
Leasing and Capital Markets Lead Growth
Leasing revenue rose 17% in the quarter, which MacKay said marked the highest first-quarter leasing revenue in the company’s history. Johnston said leasing in the Americas increased 19%, with double-digit growth across core, mid-sized and large leasing deal sizes. He also cited solid office demand and particular strength in industrial, including data centers.
MacKay said leasing performance was broad-based across industries, geographies and transaction sizes, with growth in 15 of the company’s top 20 cities in the Americas.
In response to an analyst question from Goldman Sachs’ Julien Blouin, MacKay said recruiting has remained strong, particularly in capital markets and leasing. She highlighted industrial leasing as a “consistent bright spot” and said the company recently added teams in Boston. She also cited market dynamics including minimal supply, rising demand for modern logistics facilities and construction levels that are down 60% from their 2022 peak.
Capital markets revenue increased 14% globally, marking what MacKay described as the company’s sixth consecutive quarter of double-digit growth in that business. In the Americas, capital markets revenue grew 22%, with institutional client revenue up 32%.
Johnston said global office capital markets revenue rose 11%, with strength in the Americas across deal sizes and gains in markets including New York City, Northern California and Phoenix. Industrial capital markets revenue increased 25%, with double-digit growth in each region.
Services Business Expands, With Project Management Strength
The company’s services business grew 7% globally. MacKay said clients are increasingly consolidating toward providers that can offer integrated, multi-service capabilities at scale. Project management revenue rose 15%, driven by international performance.
Johnston said the company is focused on “steady, profitable growth” in services and moving up the value chain with clients. In the Q&A portion of the call, he said project management was particularly strong in both Asia-Pacific and Europe, the Middle East and Africa, while facilities management in the Americas benefited from new business wins and expanded client mandates.
Johnston also said EMEA delivered its first quarter of margin expansion, helped in part by structural work the company has undertaken around its services businesses. In the Americas, he noted slightly slower growth over the past couple of quarters in facility services, specifically the janitorial business, due to contract transitions, but said management likes the pipeline and platform improvements underway.
AI and Data Centers Remain Strategic Focus
Management repeatedly pointed to artificial intelligence and data centers as long-term growth opportunities. MacKay said AI is a structural tailwind for the business, supporting leasing activity and fueling growth in data center-related services.
She said Cushman & Wakefield currently has 50 technical advisory data center projects underway in APAC, involving project planning, development, construction and delivery, cost consulting and technical due diligence. She also said the company recently won a five-year project management mandate with a blue-chip technology company in the Americas and five pre-construction advisory mandates in the Nordics.
MacKay said the company views AI through two lenses: as an efficiency enabler and as a growth tool. She said Cushman & Wakefield has entered into a strategic relationship with “one of the leading AI companies” to support external thought leadership and domain expertise.
The company also launched the second part of its AI research series. MacKay said the first part, which included an AI dashboard, engaged more than 15,000 clients and stakeholders. The new installment examines how AI could reshape economic growth, employment patterns and space demand by sector, role and geography.
MacKay said the company’s research expects AI to drive a net increase of 330 million square feet of additional space demand over the next decade. She cited early signs in office and industrial markets, including a Bay Area AI footprint of 7 million square feet, up from 4.5 million square feet in 2025, and a 52% year-over-year increase in U.S. industrial demand in the first quarter.
Balance Sheet Progress and Guidance Reaffirmed
Johnston said Cushman & Wakefield closed the quarter with approximately $600 million in cash and cash equivalents and $1.6 billion in total liquidity. The company’s net leverage ratio was 3.1 times at quarter-end, representing an improvement of nearly one full turn from the same period last year.
Earlier in the week, the company announced plans to redeem $100 million of the $650 million outstanding on its 2028 notes. Johnston said that, once completed, the redemption would bring total debt repayments since the start of 2024 to approximately $600 million and move the company closer to its target of reaching 2 times net leverage in 2028.
The company reaffirmed its 2026 outlook, which calls for revenue growth of 6% to 8% and adjusted EPS growth of 15% to 20%. Johnston said the company continues to see strong momentum in April and that pipelines “look good.”
Cushman & Wakefield also updated investors on reporting changes that took effect Jan. 1. Megan McGrath, head of investor relations, said the company will no longer report service line fee revenue or certain non-GAAP measures, including adjusted EBITDA margin, segment operating expenses and fee-based operating expenses. Johnston said the company’s prior three-year fee revenue growth target of 6% to 8% has been transitioned to a GAAP revenue growth target and remains unchanged at 6% to 8%.
While the company will no longer provide specific EBITDA margin targets, Johnston said Cushman & Wakefield still expects roughly 150 basis points of margin expansion over the three-year period. The company also maintained its targets for annual adjusted EPS growth of 15% to 20%, free cash flow conversion of 60% to 80% and net debt leverage of 2 times by 2028.
About Cushman & Wakefield NYSE: CWK
Cushman & Wakefield is a leading global commercial real estate services firm headquartered in Chicago. The company provides a wide range of services to occupiers and investors, specializing in transaction management, property management, facilities management and project management. Its clientele spans corporate occupiers, landlords, investors and government entities seeking solutions to optimize their real estate portfolios and operations.
The firm's core offerings include leasing advisory for office, industrial, retail and multifamily properties, as well as capital markets advice on acquisitions, dispositions and debt and equity placements.
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