Piper Sandler Records Quarterly Advisory Revenue High
Net revenues rose 25% year-over-year to $496 million as M&A activity drove record advisory fees.
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Advisory services revenues reached a record second-quarter level of $274.2 million, rising 9% from the previous quarter and 34% year-over-year. The growth was driven by a combination of increased M&A activity and higher average fees.
Piper Sandler Companies (PIPR), the investment banking and financial services firm, saw total net revenues increase 4% sequentially to $496 million, a 25% increase compared to the same period last year.
Municipal financing provided a significant boost to the top line, with revenues growing 107% from the first quarter to $49.5 million. This result marked the strongest quarter for the segment since 2021. Equity brokerage revenues also rose 4% sequentially to $62.9 million, an 8% increase year-over-year, marking one of the company's best quarters on record.
Other financing segments showed mixed results. Corporate financing revenues fell 48% sequentially to $37.8 million, though they remained 10% higher than the prior year. The sequential decline reflected a lower volume of completed financings following a strong first quarter. Fixed income services revenues decreased 3% sequentially to $48.6 million and fell 14% year-over-year, as the segment was impacted by interest rate volatility.
Operating leverage improved as the pre-tax margin rose to 20.3%, up from 18.5% in the first quarter and 12.3% in the second quarter of 2025. The compensation ratio improved to 62.3% from 65.1% a year earlier. Non-compensation expenses fell 4% both sequentially and year-over-year to $86.4 million, following $8.5 million in litigation-related expenses recorded in the first quarter.
Interest income decreased 22% sequentially to $9.1 million, though it rose 15% compared to the second quarter of 2025.
The company returned $215 million to shareholders during the first half of 2026. This included the repurchase of 1.3 million shares at an average price of $79.12 per share. Piper Sandler declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.20 per share on July 30, 2026.