Perella Weinberg Partners Q2 Earnings Call Highlights

Key Points

• Revenue momentum improved: Second-quarter revenue rose 1% year over year to $157 million, while announced and pending backlog was nearly 2.5 times higher than a year earlier. Management expects results to be weighted toward the second half of 2026, although transaction timing could delay some fees.
• Advisory activity accelerated: M&A announcements increased across healthcare, industrials, energy, and technology, media and telecommunications. Restructuring, liability management, and private funds advisory pipelines also expanded, though private-equity deal activity remains constrained by valuation gaps.
• Cost control and capital returns continued: First-half non-compensation expenses fell 20% year over year, and the firm returned $73 million to equity holders year to date. Perella Weinberg also maintained its $0.07 quarterly dividend and ended the quarter with $116 million in cash and no debt.

Perella Weinberg Partners NASDAQ: PWP reported second-quarter revenue of $157 million, up 1% from a year earlier, as the independent advisory firm said transaction announcements and its revenue backlog accelerated heading into the second half of 2026.

First-half revenue totaled $305 million, down 17% from the prior-year period. However, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman Andrew Bednar said booked revenue had not yet reflected improving momentum across the firm’s advisory businesses.

“Announced transactions have picked up significantly,” Bednar said. “We’re running ahead of where we were at this point in 2025.”

Nearly 40% of the firm’s year-to-date transaction announcements occurred after the start of June, according to Bednar. Activity has been weighted toward mergers and acquisitions, with elevated activity in healthcare, industrials, energy and technology, media and telecommunications.

Backlog Expands as Activity Picks Up

Perella Weinberg said its announced and pending, or A&P, backlog was nearly 2.5 times higher than a year earlier. When combined with booked revenue, total booked revenue plus announced and pending backlog was more than 30% higher year over year as of the earnings call.

Bednar cautioned that some large fees included in the backlog may not be recorded during 2026 because of transaction timing and approval processes. He said the firm does not see completion risk in its current pipeline, though it does face uncertainty around when complex transactions will close and become booked revenue.

The company continues to expect the year to be weighted toward the second half, consistent with comments it made following the first quarter.

Bednar said the increase in activity reflected the firm’s investments in client coverage and personnel rather than a broad change in market conditions. He pointed to investments in industrials, consumer, healthcare, infrastructure and technology advisory franchises.

“We’re market share takers and growing our market share,” Bednar said, adding that the firm’s investments require time to develop relationships and generate transactions.

Perella Weinberg has advised on transactions exceeding $20 billion as well as deals valued between roughly $700 million and $2 billion, Bednar said. The firm’s geographic activity mix remained broadly consistent, with about 80% of activity in North America and 20% in Europe.

Bednar said corporate boardrooms appeared increasingly willing to pursue transactions after prior concerns around tariffs, inflation and geopolitical issues had become less of an obstacle.

Restructuring and Private Funds Advisory Build-Out

The company’s restructuring and liability-management pipeline continued to grow, with new mandates and 10 transactions announced during the quarter. Bednar said companies face a large amount of debt maturing in 2028 and 2029, alongside increased pressure from ratings agencies, supporting demand for financing and capital-solutions advice.

Perella Weinberg also closed transactions in its private funds advisory business during the quarter. The firm acquired the capability last year, with the transaction closing in October, and Bednar described the business as still in its early stages.

He said client adoption has been encouraging and that the offering has expanded the firm’s dialogue with alternative asset-manager clients. The business provides advisory capabilities related to the secondary market for private funds.

On sponsor-related M&A, Bednar said Perella Weinberg generates a little more than one-third of its business from private-equity-related activity. While credit remains widely available, he said a valuation gap between buyers and sellers has limited a broader surge in conventional private-equity acquisitions and sales.

“The main driver of the lack of a floodgate opening for private equity has really been valuation,” Bednar said. He added that private-equity firms remain active through alternatives including initial public offerings, continuation vehicles and recapitalizations.

Expenses, Compensation and Capital Returns

Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer Alex Gottschalk said the firm’s adjusted compensation ratio was 71% for the first half. Perella Weinberg continues to target a 67% adjusted compensation ratio for the full year, anticipating that additional revenue recognized in the second half will lower the ratio.

Adjusted non-compensation expense was $31 million in the second quarter, down $5 million from the prior-year quarter and down $6 million sequentially. Gottschalk attributed part of the decline to an insurance recovery and lower bad-debt expense.

For the first half, adjusted non-compensation expenses were $69 million, down 20% year over year. While spending is expected to rise in the second half, the company said it remains on track for a single-digit percentage decline in full-year adjusted non-compensation expense compared with 2025.

• Year-to-date capital returned to equity holders: $73 million through dividends, distributions and restricted stock unit settlements.
• Aggregate capital returned during five years as a public company: More than $765 million.
• Shares or share equivalents retired: 40 million.
• Quarter-end cash: $116 million.
• Debt: None.
• Quarterly dividend declared: $0.07 per share.

Talent Investments Continue

Perella Weinberg said six partners are expected to join in coming months through the Gleacher Shacklock acquisition and lateral hiring. The company also promoted eight professionals to partner.

Internally promoted partners represent about 45% of the overall partnership, Bednar said. More than one-third of the partnership has been in the role for fewer than three years, providing what management described as runway for productivity growth as those professionals develop on the platform.

The firm continues to target mature partner productivity of $15 million, though Bednar said internally promoted partners generally take longer to ramp than experienced outside hires. Management is planning around a ramp period of more than three years for promotions.

About Perella Weinberg Partners (NASDAQ:PWP)

Perella Weinberg Partners L.P. is a global, partner-led advisory firm specializing in strategic and financial counsel. Founded in 2006 by Joseph R. Perella and Peter Weinberg—both veterans of leading Wall Street institutions—the firm delivers independent advice on mergers and acquisitions, financing, restructuring and capital markets. As an independent entity, it emphasizes senior banker involvement throughout every transaction, ensuring clients benefit from depth of experience and continuity of service.

The firm's core offerings encompass M&A advisory, debt and equity financing, corporate restructuring and capital markets solutions.

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