🧾 What This Document Is

This is Stifel Financial's earnings report for the first quarter of 2026, released as an 8-K filing with the SEC. It’s like a corporate report card for January through March, showing how much money the company made, where it came from, and how much profit was left over. 👉 In simple terms, this is how Stifel tells the world, "Here’s how we did."

🏢 What The Company Does

Stifel Financial is a financial services firm with two main businesses. Think of it as having two major engines:

1. Global Wealth Management: This is their retail brokerage and financial advisor arm, serving individual investors. They make money from managing assets and earning interest on loans.
2. Institutional Group: This is their investment bank for corporations and institutions. They help companies raise money (stocks/bonds) and provide advice on mergers (M&A), plus they trade securities for clients.

👉 They are essentially a diversified "financial supermarket" for both everyday investors and big companies.

💰 Financial Highlights: A Record-Setting Quarter

Stifel delivered its best Q1 ever, with profit soaring compared to a weak prior year.

Net Revenue (The Top Line): $1.48 billion, up 18% from $1.26 billion in Q1 2025. This is the second-highest quarterly revenue in its history. Net Income (The Bottom Line): $242.1 million, a massive jump from just $43.7 million a year ago. This huge increase is largely because last year's profit was crushed by huge one-time costs for legal settlements. Earnings Per Share (EPS): $1.48 per share, compared to $0.26 last year. This is the profit allocated to each share of stock. Key Profit Metric (ROTCE): 24.8% return on tangible common equity. This measures how efficiently Stifel uses its shareholders' money to generate profit—a very strong number.

Why the huge jump from last year? Q1 2025 was unusually bad because of a $190+ million provision for legal matters. This quarter's results are a major rebound, showing the underlying strength of their business.

🚀 Key Moves: What Drove the Growth?

A few specific areas powered the record results:

• Investment Banking Boom: Revenues here jumped 44% year-over-year. Companies were very active issuing stock and bonds, and Stifel advised on more big deals (Advisory revenues +59%).
• Asset Management Growth: Fees from managing client money hit a record, up 12%. This is driven by rising stock markets (making assets more valuable) and clients giving Stifel more money to manage.
• Strategic Sale: They sold a business called "Stifel Independent Advisors" for a one-time gain. This also means their "client assets" number grew even after accounting for the lost assets from that sale.

📊 Segment Breakdown: Two Strong Engines

The company's two main divisions both fired on all cylinders.

Global Wealth Management (The Retail Engine):

• Revenues: $932.1 million, up 10%. Growth came from more client trading activity, higher asset management fees, and interest income from a larger loan book.
• Profit Margin: A stellar 35.5% pre-tax margin (up from 14.9% last year), helped by falling litigation costs.

Institutional Group (The Investment Bank Engine):

• Revenues: $495.3 million, up 29%. The 45% surge in investment banking was the star, despite a slight dip in equity trading due to a business restructuring.
• Profit Margin: 19.8% pre-tax margin (up from 7.1% last year), as booming revenues covered fixed costs much more efficiently.

👉 Why it matters: Both businesses are growing and becoming more profitable, which proves Stifel’s model isn’t overly reliant on one single area. Diversification is a real strength here.

📦 Financial Position & Shareholder Returns

The company's foundation looks solid, and it's returning cash to owners.

• Capital Strength: Regulatory capital ratios (like Tier 1 common at 15.8%) are strong and improved from last year, showing a healthy, safe balance sheet.
• Stock Split: A 3-for-2 stock split was declared in January, making shares more affordable and accessible.
• Buybacks: Stifel bought back $224.4 million of its own stock in the quarter at an average price of $80.32. This reduces the number of shares out there, increasing ownership stake for remaining shareholders.
• Dividends: A regular $0.34 per share quarterly dividend was paid.

🔮 What's Next: Confidence for 2026

CEO Ron Kruszewski struck a very confident tone. He said Stifel's investment banking pipelines are "among the strongest we have seen" and that client engagement is high. Assuming markets don't get wildly out of hand, he stated: "we are well positioned for a strong 2026."

🧠 The Analogy

Think of Stifel like a baseball team that just had its best opening day ever. Last year (2025), their star pitcher had a disastrous start (the huge legal costs), ruining the game. This year, the whole lineup is hitting. Their ace pitcher is back (Wealth Management delivering steady profits), and their power hitter (Investment Banking) is driving in runs like never before. The manager (CEO) is now saying they have a deep bench and feel great about their chances for the whole season (2026).

🧩 Final Takeaway

Stifel Financial delivered a phenomenal, record-setting quarter, driven by a powerful rebound in investment banking and sustained growth in wealth management. This demonstrates the strength of their diversified model. With a strong balance sheet, active share buybacks, and management expressing high confidence in their deal pipelines, the company is signaling it is prepared for a strong year ahead, provided markets remain orderly.

Media Contact: Neil Shapiro (212) 271-3447 | Investor Contact: Joel Jeffrey (212) 271-3610 | Website: www.stifel.com/investor-relations