Broadridge Posts Higher Earnings as Sales Momentum Accelerates
Fourth-quarter closed sales reached $158 million as demand strengthened late in the fiscal year.
Broadridge Financial Solutions (BR), the investor-communications and financial-technology provider, posted an 8% increase in fourth-quarter adjusted earnings to $3.82 a share as revenue rose 7% to $2.220 billion. Diluted earnings increased 9% to $3.44 a share despite a higher effective tax rate.
Sales momentum accelerated sharply at the end of the year. Fourth-quarter closed sales rose 39%, compared with 6% growth for the full fiscal year, giving Broadridge a stronger exit from fiscal 2026.
Recurring revenue increased 8% to $1.542 billion, while event-driven revenue fell 10% to $71 million. Distribution revenue rose 8% to $606 million, including about $32 million from postage-rate increases. Operating income grew 10% to $546 million, lifting the GAAP operating margin 0.5 percentage point to 24.6%, though the adjusted margin edged down to 26.9%.
Investor Communication Solutions drove the recurring-revenue gain, rising 10% to $1.055 billion. Regulatory revenue led with 14% growth, supported by higher equity and mutual-fund and exchange-traded-fund positions, while issuer and data-driven fund solutions grew 8% and 7%, respectively. Customer communications increased 1%.
Global Technology and Operations recurring revenue grew 5% to $488 million. Capital Markets increased 7% in constant currency, including four percentage points of organic growth and three points from CQG, while Wealth and Investment Management grew 1% as lower software term-license revenue offset the benefit from heavier trading volume. GTO pre-tax income rose 99% to $68 million, and its margin expanded 6.5 percentage points to 13.8%.
For the full year, revenue increased 9% to $7.477 billion and adjusted earnings rose 12% to $9.60 a share, with free-cash-flow conversion improving to 110%. GTO’s full-year margin expanded 4.2 percentage points to 15.5%, helping counter a 0.8-point contraction in the ICS margin. Broadridge also recorded $227 million of noncash digital-asset gains for the year, although the fourth quarter included an $11 million loss.
For fiscal 2027, Broadridge expects constant-currency recurring-revenue growth of 6% to 8% and adjusted earnings growth of 8% to 12%. The company projects an adjusted operating margin of about 21%, free-cash-flow conversion above 100% and closed sales of $290 million to $330 million.
Broadridge paired that outlook with a new $1.5 billion share-repurchase authorization and raised its annual dividend 12% to $4.36 a share, extending its run of annual dividend increases to 20 years.