FTI Consulting (FCQ) Q3 2026 Earnings Report
DE:FCQ Q3 2026 EPS Results
- Actual EPS
- EUR 3.43
- Consensus EPS
- EUR 2.45
- Beat/Miss
- Beat by +EUR 0.98
- One Year Ago EPS
- EUR 2.32
DE:FCQ Q3 2026 Revenue Results
- Actual Revenue
- EUR 904.07M
- Expected Revenue
- EUR 899.49M
- Beat/Miss
- Beat by +EUR 4.58M
- YoY Revenue Growth
- +5.90%
Earnings Announcement Details
- Quarter
- Q3 2026
- Date
- 10/29/2026
- Time
- Before Open
- Conference Call
- Thursday, October 29, 2026
FTI Consulting's next earnings date is estimated for February 25, 2027, based on past reporting schedules.
Q3 2026 Earnings Call Audio
Q3 2026 Earnings Slide Deck
Q3 2026 Earnings Call Summary
The call was strongly positive. The company reported record revenue above $1 billion, record adjusted EPS, growth across all five segments, improved margins, debt reduction, strong share repurchases, and increased adjusted EPS guidance. Management also stated that the Compass Lexecon disruption no longer represents a major year-over-year drag and that the broader growth trajectory is resuming. Offsetting issues included lower volumes in restructuring, M&A, and regulatory markets, FLC EBITDA pressure, significant special charges and litigation expenses, expected fourth-quarter seasonality, and a gradual rather than immediate econ recovery. Overall, the highlights significantly outweighed the lowlights.
For full year 2026, FTI Consulting reaffirmed revenue guidance of between $3.94 billion and $4.1 billion, now expects GAAP EPS of between $7.55 and $8.05 and adjusted EPS of between $9.50 and $10, compared with the prior range of between $9.10 and $9.70; the difference reflects the expectation of $1.55 per share related to the third and fourth quarter special charges and $0.40 per share of extraordinary litigation-related expenses. The company expects a fourth quarter estimated special charge of $7 million, including approximately $2 million in salary and benefits-related costs and approximately $5 million in real estate-related costs, with the third and fourth quarter actions expected to result in cost savings of approximately $80 million on an annualized basis; Q4 econ adjusted segment EBITDA is expected to be closer to Q2's level of performance, restructuring demand is expected to remain at a similar level in the near term, SG&A expenses for 2026 are expected to be approximately $70 million higher than 2025, and the fourth quarter and full-year effective tax rates are expected to be approximately 23% and approximately 22%, respectively, compared to 27% in 2025.
- Record Revenue and Strong Third-Quarter EarningsThird-quarter revenue exceeded $1 billion for the first time, grew 6% year over year, and all five business segments delivered top-line growth. Adjusted EPS was a record $3.84, up 48% from $2.60 in the prior-year quarter, while adjusted EBITDA increased 18% year over year to $153.7 million.
- Improved Adjusted EBITDA MarginAdjusted EBITDA margin improved 150 basis points year over year to 15.2%. Management attributed the quarter's performance primarily to record success fees, higher realized bill rates, and several smaller positive factors.
- Underlying Earnings Remained Strong After NormalizationManagement stated that, after normalizing for significantly higher-than-usual success fees, a lower tax rate, and other smaller favorable factors, adjusted EPS was still difficult to bring below $2.90, compared with average adjusted EPS in the low twos over the prior four quarters.
- Growth Across All Business SegmentsYear-to-date revenue increased 7%, with every business segment contributing to growth. Third-quarter growth was attributed to winning more than the company's share of complex cases, rather than broad market tailwinds.
- CorpFin Delivered Record ResultsCorpFin revenue grew 5% year over year, while record adjusted segment EBITDA of $102.8 million increased 7%. Record success fees were $40.7 million, including a particularly large transaction success fee related to the sale of a loan portfolio for the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. Excluding that outsized item, quarterly success fees averaged $20 million in the first two quarters of 2026, more than double the $9.5 million quarterly average in 2022.
- CorpFin Transactions and Transformation GrowthThe transactions practice grew 13% year over year, driven by higher success fees, while the transformation practice grew 7% as the company supported performance improvement, integration, data governance, and finance mandates.
- Econ Returned to Year-Over-Year AccretionEcon revenue grew 9% year over year, driven primarily by increased demand for non-M&A and M&A-related antitrust services in North America and EMEA. Adjusted segment EBITDA increased by $18.5 million year over year, and management stated that the segment was accretive to both revenue and EBITDA results.
- Compass Lexecon Disruption No Longer a Major Quarterly DragManagement stated that Compass Lexecon, which had contributed to an approximately $22 million quarterly year-over-year drag over the prior five quarters, was accretive in the third quarter. The company reported growth, strong leadership, and continued attraction, development, and retention of talent in the business.
- Technology Segment Growth and Margin ExpansionTech revenue grew 10% year over year, driven by increased demand for M&A-related second requests and antitrust services across North America, EMEA, and Asia-Pacific. Adjusted segment EBITDA increased by $2.4 million, and adjusted EBITDA margin improved 100 basis points year over year to 15.5%.
- Strategic Communications Continued Strong GrowthStrat comms revenue increased 13% year over year, primarily due to higher demand for public affairs and corporate reputation services. Year-to-date revenue increased 9%, or 13% excluding pass-through revenue, adjusted segment EBITDA increased 26%, and adjusted EBITDA margin was 20%.
- FLC Maintained Record Revenue Despite Lower VolumesFLC delivered record revenue despite lower volumes, particularly in global risk and investigations and data and analytics, due largely to continued regulatory-enforcement pullback. Record realized bill rates supported revenue growth and reflected demand for specialized expertise.
- Demand Opportunities in Complex Investigations and AIFLC continued supporting private-credit and complex-investigations matters, cybersecurity threat mitigation and incident response, and payments and anti-money-laundering work. Management also cited private-credit fraud and AI-related matters involving financial regulation, algorithmic bias, and courtroom testimony as areas where the company believes it is well positioned.
- Headcount and Senior Talent ExpansionBillable headcount increased 1.8% year over year and 2.6% sequentially, while approximately 270 campus graduates joined during the third quarter. Senior Managing Director headcount increased 6.7% year over year and Managing Director headcount increased 4.4%. The company promoted 100 SMDs and announced more than 140 new lateral SMD and affiliate hires over the last two years.
- Targeted Actions Expected to Generate SavingsManagement stated that third- and fourth-quarter staffing actions, which affected approximately 4% of total employees, are expected to generate approximately $80 million in annualized cost savings. The actions were described as targeted measures in areas where market conditions or investment cases had changed.
- Debt Reduction and Share RepurchasesThe company repurchased approximately 524,000 shares during the quarter at an average price of $151.55, for a total cost of $79.4 million. Through the first three quarters, it repurchased 3.9 million shares at an average price of $153.09, with approximately $264.7 million remaining under the repurchase program. Total debt declined to $852 million from $1 billion sequentially after $168 million of debt repayment.
- Adjusted EPS Guidance IncreasedThe company reaffirmed full-year 2026 revenue guidance of $3.94 billion to $4.1 billion. Adjusted EPS guidance was raised to $9.50 to $10 from $9.10 to $9.70, while GAAP EPS guidance is now $7.55 to $8.05.
- Long-Term Organic Growth Strategy ReaffirmedManagement reiterated its strategy of retaining, developing, and attracting high-quality professionals, winning high-value client work, and investing in areas with strong opportunities. From 2017 to 2024, management stated that the company delivered sustained mid to high single-digit organic growth, strong adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EPS growth, and corresponding stock-price performance.
DE:FCQ Earnings History
| Report Date | Fiscal Quarter | Forecast / EPS | Last Year's EPS | EPS YoY Change | Press Release |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 25, 2027 | 2026 (Q4) | 1.87- | 1.59 | ― | ― |
| Oct 29, 2026 | 2026 (Q3) | 2.453.43 | 2.32 | 47.69% (+1.11) | |
| Jul 30, 2026 | 2026 (Q2) | 1.941.93 | 1.9 | 1.41% (+0.03) | |
| Apr 30, 2026 | 2026 (Q1) | 1.841.70 | 2.04 | -17.03% (-0.35) | |
| Feb 26, 2026 | 2025 (Q4) | 1.311.59 | 1.39 | 14.10% (+0.20) | |
| Oct 23, 2025 | 2025 (Q3) | 2.142.32 | 1.65 | 40.54% (+0.67) | |
| Jul 24, 2025 | 2025 (Q2) | 1.881.90 | 2.09 | -8.97% (-0.19) | |
| Apr 24, 2025 | 2025 (Q1) | 1.602.04 | 1.99 | 2.69% (+0.05) | |
| Feb 20, 2025 | 2024 (Q4) | 1.541.39 | 2.04 | -31.58% (-0.64) | |
| Oct 24, 2024 | 2024 (Q3) | 1.771.65 | 2.09 | -20.94% (-0.44) |
The table shows recent earnings report dates and whether the forecast was beat or missed. See the change in forecast and EPS from the previous year.