Stifel Financial Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

Stifel Financial (NYSE: SF ) held its second-quarter earnings conference call on Wednesday. Below is the complete transcript from the call. APIs provide real-time access to earnings call transcripts and financial data. Visit to learn more.

Access the full call at Summary Stifel Financial Corp. 9 billion for the first half of 2026, a 15% increase from the previous record, with a significant 28% increase in earnings per share. 6 billion loan book increase during the quarter, supporting their full-year guidance for up to $4 billion in balance sheet growth. D.

Power for the fourth consecutive year, highlighting their successful advisor-first strategy. Investment banking drove second quarter revenue, with a 42% year-over-year increase, and the Institutional Group posted its second-strongest second quarter ever. Management remains optimistic about future growth, driven by robust investment banking pipelines, strong capital positions, and the strategic use of AI to enhance productivity and client service. The company is focused on organic growth, disciplined capital allocation, and strategic acquisitions, while maintaining a strong return on tangible equity at 24%.

Full Transcript Joel, Investor Relations Thank you, operator. Good morning and welcome to Stifel second quarter 2026 earnings call. , I will begin the call with the following information and disclaimers. This call is being recorded.

com. Today's presentation may include forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially. Stifel Financial Corp. does not undertake to update the forward-looking statements in this discussion.

Please refer to our notices regarding forward-looking statements and non-GAAP measures that appear in the earnings release. I will now turn the call over to our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Ron Kruszewski. Ron Kruszewski, Chairman and CEO Thanks, Joel. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us.

We enter 2026 with a clear plan. At the beginning of the year we said we would grow revenue, increase our loan book by up to 4 billion and increase treasury deposits, improve operating leverage and deploy our substantial excess capital where it would earn the best risk-adjusted returns. Six months into the year, we're doing what we said we would do. Our second quarter and first half results reflect the strength of our business and the momentum we're seeing across the firm.

42 increased 25%. Both represented the second highest second quarter results in our history following our strongest first quarter ever. 87, up 28% from our prior record. Return on tangible common equity was approximately 24% for both the quarter and the first half of the year, while tangible book value per share increased 15% over the prior year.

6 billion during the quarter, keeping us well on pace to achieve our full-year guidance of up to 4 billion of balance sheet growth. Just as importantly, our strategy of putting advisors first continues to differentiate. D. Power for the fourth consecutive year.

I'll come back to why that's so important in just a moment. Our institutional business also continued its strong momentum, led by investment banking, as the breadth of our platform continues to generate growth across ever-changing market environments. At the beginning of the year we said we'd improve the profitability of our institutional business, and we've done just that. 5% in the first half of 2026 compared to 11% a year ago through revenue growth and lower expense ratio, reflecting the benefits of the efficiency initiatives we implemented in 2025.

Our business continues to perform well and we're generating significant capital. As I've often said, we have four levers for deploying capital. During the second quarter, we pulled three of them: reinvestment into the business, share repurchases, and dividend payments, which combined for more than a half billion dollars of capital deployment in the second quarter alone. This illustrates our ability and willingness to opportunistically deploy our excess capital when we believe the risk-adjusted returns are compelling.

Looking ahead, the broader market remains constructive, although volatility is likely to remain part of the landscape. The economy is healthy, client dialogue remains high, and the capital markets continue to broaden. At the same time, we remain mindful of the secular forces shaping our industry, including artificial intelligence, expanding capital needs, private credit, changes in market structure, and geopolitical uncertainty. In an environment like this, trusted advice becomes even more valuable.

Given the breadth of our business and the depth of our client relationships, we believe Stifel is exceptionally well positioned to help clients navigate an increasingly com