Earlier today, we issued a press release announcing Evercore's fourth quarter and full-year 2025 financial results. We saw broad-based momentum across all of our businesses and ended the year with the strongest revenue performance in our history. Firm-wide, adjusted net revenue reached approximately $3.9 billion, up 29% versus the prior year and nearly 17% above our previous record in 2021. In fact, our fourth quarter represented the strongest revenue quarter in our history, with nearly $1.3 billion in adjusted net revenue.
For the year, we generated approximately $14.56 in adjusted earnings per share, continued to return a meaningful amount of capital to shareholders, and improved our margin profile. Our quarterly and full-year record results reflect the improving market environment, the benefits of our diversified business model, and the execution of our long-term growth strategy. Announced transactions totaled approximately $4.5 trillion, up 49% from the prior year and just 19% below record levels of 2021. That improvement was particularly evident in the large-cap segment of the market.
Nearly all of our businesses posted record results, including our North America and EMEA advisory businesses, Private Capital Advisory, Private Funds Group, our Equities business, and Wealth Management. For the fourth quarter and full year, approximately 45% of revenues were generated from non-M&A businesses. We completed the acquisition of Robey Warshaw, a leading U.K.-based advisory firm. The acquisition represents a significant next step in our EMEA expansion strategy, and the integration is progressing well.
| Metric | Period | Current guidance |
|---|---|---|
| Non-comp expense growth | FY2026 | Would not be surprised to see something somewhat similar to recent years (Steady) |
| Adjusted compensation ratio | FY2026 | Striving for continued gradual improvement, though matching the recent pace may be challenging (Targeting further decline) |
| Share repurchases | FY2026 | Expects to again repurchase shares in excess of RSU bonus grants (Continued) |
| Metric | YoY | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Adjusted advisory fees | +34% full year ($3.3B); +33% in Q4 ($1.1B+) | Strong client activity levels and momentum that built throughout the year; 19% above the prior record in 2021. |
| Adjusted underwriting fees | +14% full year ($180M); +87% in Q4 ($49M) | Improved market conditions and an improving backdrop for IPOs. |
| Commissions and related revenue | +13% full year ($243M); +15% in Q4 ($66M) | Record results in the Equities business, which had nine consecutive quarters of year-over-year revenue growth. |
| Asset management and administration fees | +8% full year ($91M); +10% in Q4 ($24M) | Wealth Management had a record year and reached its highest quarter-end AUM of approximately $15.5 billion. |
| Adjusted operating income | +50% full year ($839M); +55% in Q4 ($337M) | Revenue growth and operating leverage, with comp and non-comp ratios both improving. |
| Full-year adjusted tax rate | 19.8% vs 21.8% in 2024 | Benefit from appreciation of the firm's share price above original grant price upon vesting of RSU grants, larger than the prior year's benefit. |
| Topic | Previous mention | Current period | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|
| Large-cap and mega-deal M&A recovery | — | Global M&A rebounded ~49% to approximately $4.5 trillion; deals over $5 billion hit record levels; backlogs at record levels spanning all deal sizes | Rising |
| Diversification into non-M&A businesses | — | Approximately 45% of revenues from non-M&A businesses, expected to persist | Steady |
| Talent investment and SMD recruiting | — | Entered 2026 with 171 SMDs after the largest-ever class of 19 lateral hires; over 40 SMDs in ramp mode; recruiting more intense and expensive | Rising |
| Compensation ratio improvement | 65.7% (FY2024); 67.6% two years prior | 64.2% for FY2025, down 340 basis points over two years, with continued gradual improvement targeted | Declining |
| Private Capital Advisory and secondaries leadership | — | Record year; advised on nearly half of industry-wide secondary volumes (over 45% market share); rising competition expected from peers and banks | Rising |
| Restructuring and liability management | — | Second-best year for revenues with a balanced mix of liability management and traditional restructuring; record backlogs | Rising |
| AI disruption risk to advisory | — | Management sees no near- or medium-term disruption to backlogs despite a software selloff, citing diversification across products, geographies, and sectors | Rising |