Perella Weinberg Partners Q3 Earnings Call Highlights

Key Points

• Third-quarter revenue rose 53% year over year to $251 million, driven primarily by a near-doubling in M&A revenue as advisory pipeline activity converted into announced transactions and closings.
• Perella Weinberg reported a significantly stronger advisory pipeline, with announced and pending backlog nearly three times higher than a year ago and gross backlog under engagement letters up 40%; management expects some assignments to generate revenue in 2027.
• The firm completed its Gleacher Shacklock acquisition, expanded its team, and maintained a solid balance sheet with $150 million in cash and no debt. It returned $88 million to equity holders year to date and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.07 per share.

Perella Weinberg Partners NASDAQ: PWP reported third-quarter revenue of $251 million, up 53% from a year earlier and 61% from the second quarter, as momentum in its advisory pipeline converted into announced transactions and revenue.

Year-to-date revenue totaled $557 million, a 5% increase from the prior-year period. Chief Executive Officer and Chairman Andrew Bednar said the firm had expected its revenue to be weighted toward the second half of the year, and that its third-quarter performance reflected that outlook.

“The momentum in our business has moved from pipeline into announcements and is steadily converting into revenue,” Bednar said.

M&A Activity Drives Quarterly Growth

The firm said its mergers-and-acquisitions business led the quarterly increase, with revenue nearly doubling from the third quarter of 2025 and rising more than 40% year to date. Bednar cited particular strength across consumer, industrials, energy and financial institutions advisory businesses.

Revenue in restructuring and liability management declined from a record 2025 level, though Bednar said Perella Weinberg remains engaged on large and complex situations and continues to build its pipeline in that area.

The company reported a significant increase in its advisory backlog. Announced and pending backlog at the end of the quarter was nearly three times the prior-year level, while total booked, announced and pending backlog was up about 30% year over year as of the earnings call. Gross backlog under engagement letters was 40% higher than at the same time last year.

Bednar said some announced and pending assignments are expected to convert into revenue during 2027. While he said there was little closing risk in that backlog, transaction timing could vary by deal, with some closings occurring one to two quarters from now.

The firm also cited broader client activity. Its fee-paying client count increased 50% from a year ago during the third quarter, while the number of fee events above $5 million rose nearly 80%.

U.K. Acquisition and Talent Expansion

Perella Weinberg closed its acquisition of Gleacher Shacklock on Sept. 1. Bednar said the combined U.K. business had announced six transactions since September and was seeing increased client dialogue, which he described as early support for the strategic rationale of the combination.

The company added 14 partners and 13 managing directors during the year, including the Gleacher Shacklock team. Bednar said talent development, hiring and selective acquisitions remain central to the firm’s growth strategy.

He said more than 30% of the partnership has been at the firm for less than three years, and that new hires require time to develop client relationships and establish transaction activity. Perella Weinberg intends to focus primarily on expanding client coverage and selectively adding product capabilities, while taking a more cautious approach to geographic expansion.

Bednar also addressed market speculation about the firm’s strategic options, saying Perella Weinberg regularly evaluates ways to strengthen its position but has “never made a decision to sell the firm” or initiated a sale process. He described the company as being in a period of scaling its business model through recruiting, internal promotions and occasional acquisitions.

Expenses, Capital Returns and Outlook

Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer Alex Gottschalk said third-quarter revenue included $55 million tied to closings that occurred in the first few days of the fourth quarter but were recognized in the third quarter under applicable accounting principles.

The firm’s adjusted compensation margin was 67% for the first nine months of 2026, matching the prior-year period and its full-year target. The third-quarter adjusted compensation margin was 62.5%, reflecting the company’s effort to bring its year-to-date accrual in line with the 67% target.

• Third-quarter adjusted non-compensation expense was $37 million, roughly flat year over year.
• Nine-month adjusted non-compensation expense was $106 million, down 14% from the prior-year period, primarily due to lower professional fees.
• The company expects full-year adjusted non-compensation expense to decline by a single-digit percentage from 2025.
• The third-quarter adjusted tax rate was 29.5% on an if-converted basis.

Gottschalk said the company expects its underlying adjusted tax rate, excluding the benefit from restricted stock unit vesting, to be in the low-to-mid-30% range for the remainder of 2026.

Year to date, Perella Weinberg returned $88 million to equity holders through net settlement of restricted stock units, dividends and distributions, and open-market share repurchases. Repurchases were temporarily limited as the company prioritized strategic investments, including the Gleacher Shacklock acquisition.

The company ended the third quarter with $150 million in cash and no debt. It had 79.5 million Class A common shares and 18 million partnership units outstanding. Perella Weinberg also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.07 per share.

Management Sees Opportunity in Mid-Market Deals

In discussing the advisory environment, Bednar said the company sees particular opportunity in transactions valued between $1 billion and $5 billion. While transactions above $10 billion receive substantial attention, he said that segment represents a relatively limited number of deals compared with the mid-market segment, where he expects close to 1,000 transactions this year.

He said fee levels on sell-side mandates in that range remain healthy, including opportunities for outcome-based fees. Bednar added that the company has not seen clients materially accelerate or delay transactions because of the upcoming U.S. midterm elections.

On interest rates, Bednar said a gradual rise would likely be manageable for markets, while a sharp move higher could affect valuations and more highly leveraged transactions. He said strategic corporate clients generally have healthy balance sheets and are less sensitive to rates than financial sponsors, while Perella Weinberg continues to see activity across private-equity buy-side, sell-side and liquidity-structuring assignments.

About Perella Weinberg Partners (NASDAQ:PWP)

Perella Weinberg Partners NASDAQ: PWP is an independent investment banking and financial services firm that provides strategic and financial advice to corporations, financial institutions, governments, and other organizations. The firm focuses on complex, high-value transactions and situations that require specialized advice and senior-level expertise.

Its services include mergers and acquisitions, strategic transactions, financial restructurings, capital markets advisory, and private capital advisory.

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