Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE:PIPR) opened fiscal 2026 with what management called a “strong start to the year,” driven by record first-quarter results in corporate investment banking and advisory, alongside record equity brokerage revenues.
Chairman and CEO Chad Abraham said the firm generated first-quarter adjusted net revenues of $470 million, marking its “10th consecutive quarter of year-over-year growth,” with a 20% operating margin and adjusted diluted EPS of $1. CFO Kate Clune reported adjusted net income of $72 million and operating income of $94 million.
Investment banking led by healthcare, financial services
Healthcare was a key driver. Abraham said the firm’s healthcare franchise produced an “exceptionally strong quarter,” reaching a “new high watermark in terms of revenues,” led by MedTech and biopharma, with additional contributions from healthcare IT and services. He noted that Piper Sandler ranked as the top advisor in U.S. MedTech M&A based on the number of announced deals during the quarter.
Financial services also contributed meaningfully. Abraham said the group closed “several significant bank M&A transactions,” and the firm ranked as the number one advisor in U.S. bank M&A based on announced deal value for the quarter. He added that insurance and asset management subsectors also supported performance.
Advisory revenue record; Q2 expected similar to Q1
Advisory revenues were a first-quarter record of $251 million, up 16% year-over-year. Abraham attributed the growth to strength in healthcare and financial services, as well as contributions from services and industrials and energy teams. He also highlighted continued activity in non-M&A advisory, calling it “a growing component of our performance.”
Looking ahead, Abraham said pipelines remain strong but that “timing of these transactions may be influenced by market conditions.” He said the company expects second-quarter advisory revenues to be similar to the first quarter.
During the Q&A, Abraham said the pace of announced bank M&A has been “a little slower than we anticipated,” with “decent volume on some of the smaller transactions” but less momentum in larger deals. He also said the firm’s “spectacular” first-quarter performance in parts of healthcare and MedTech would be “hard to repeat.”
On sponsor-driven activity, Abraham said pitch activity has been good, but he questioned “how quickly do they launch and do they transact?” He added, “While I don’t think there’s any real panic, there’s also not tremendous urgency.”
Abraham also addressed technology and software, noting that while the firm has been investing in the sector, it remains one of Piper Sandler’s smaller industry teams historically. He said valuations are down versus prior financing levels, which makes deals harder to complete, and added that expectations are “fairly cautious for our tech and software business this year.”
Corporate financing surged; management sees Q2 decline
Corporate financing was another major contributor. Abraham said equity underwriting held up amid volatility, with the fee pool up 73% year-over-year, “driven mainly by the healthcare sector.” Corporate financing revenues were $73 million, up 122% from the prior-year period.
Piper Sandler completed 36 equity, debt, and preferred financings, raising $14 billion for corporate clients, Abraham said. Activity was led by healthcare, where the firm served as book runner on all 23 equity deals it priced in the quarter. He highlighted strength in biopharma issuance and said Piper Sandler ranked as the number two investment bank in that sector by number of book-run deals.
However, Abraham said the company expects second-quarter corporate financing revenues to decline from the first quarter, and later told analysts he does not believe the firm’s first-quarter market share performance is sustainable.
Public finance mixed; brokerage supported by volatility while fixed income challenged
President Deb Schoneman reported municipal financing revenues of $24 million, down 9% year-over-year, split between governmental and specialty businesses. Piper Sandler underwrote 98 municipal negotiated transactions totaling $3 billion in par value. She said pipelines are strong and the firm expects second-quarter revenues to “improve modestly” in line with typical seasonality.
Equity brokerage posted record first-quarter revenues of $60 million, up 11% year-over-year. Schoneman attributed the results to higher volatility and increased trading volumes tied to geopolitical events, with broad-based strength across trading desks, including derivatives as clients increased hedging activity. She said second-quarter equity brokerage revenues are expected to decline from record first-quarter levels.
Fixed income results were more mixed. Schoneman said volatility in March “significantly reduced our regular-way client activity,” though the firm mitigated the impact through balance sheet restructuring trades tied to bank M&A closings. Fixed income revenues were $50 million, up 6% year-over-year, but she described the near-term outlook as challenging and said the second quarter has started slowly as geopolitical developments keep clients on the sidelines.
Asked what would bring fixed income clients back, Schoneman said, “The biggest thing that needs to change is just volatility needs to come down,” citing both rates and the geopolitical environment.
Expenses, litigation charge, and shareholder returns
Clune said first-quarter net revenues rose 22% year-over-year, driven primarily by the 30% increase in corporate investment banking, along with strong equity brokerage. She emphasized that operating income growth of 37% outpaced the revenue increase, aligning with management’s focus on margin expansion.
The firm’s compensation ratio was 61.6%, improving by 90 basis points from the prior year, which Clune attributed to higher net revenues and continued operating discipline. Non-compensation expenses were $86 million, up 15% year-over-year, including an $8.5 million litigation-related expense tied to a pending settlement of a California lawsuit originally filed in 2014 related to variable rate demand notes in the municipal finance business. Excluding that litigation cost, non-compensation expenses rose 4% year-over-year.
Clune also said the effective tax rate was 23.4% due to $7 million of tax benefits related to the vesting of restricted stock awards; excluding those benefits, the effective tax rate was 30.8%.
On capital return, Clune said Piper Sandler returned $171 million to shareholders during the quarter, including $101 million in dividends—$1.425 per share through quarterly and special dividends—and $70 million in share repurchases (about 884,000 shares). She also announced the board approved a quarterly cash dividend of $0.20 per share, a 14% increase, payable June 12 to shareholders of record as of May 29.
Separately, Clune noted the company implemented a four-for-one forward stock split effective March 23, with trading on a split-adjusted basis beginning March 24; all per-share and share figures discussed were retrospectively adjusted for the split.
Abraham closed by noting continued macro uncertainty while reiterating that the company’s “core strategy is unchanged,” focusing on deep advisory expertise and a comprehensive suite of capital markets solutions.
About Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE:PIPR)
Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE: PIPR) is an investment bank and institutional securities firm that provides a range of capital markets and advisory services to corporations, institutions, municipalities and high-net-worth individuals. The firm’s core activities include investment banking and M&A advisory, underwriting and distribution of equity and debt securities, public finance, and sector-focused advisory across industries such as healthcare, energy, financial services and technology.
In addition to traditional investment banking, Piper Sandler offers equity and fixed income research, institutional sales and trading, and market-making services.
