Newmark Group, Inc. Class A Common Stock 2026 Q3 Earnings Call

Please go ahead. Thank you, operator, and good morning.

Newmark issued its third quarter 2026 financial results press release earlier today. Unless otherwise stated, the results provided on today's call compare only the 3 months ending September 30, 2026, with the year earlier period. Except as otherwise stated, we will only refer to results on a non-GAAP basis, including terms such as Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EPS, and Adjusted Free Cash Flow. Unless otherwise stated, any figures discussed today with respect to cash flow from operations refer to net cash provided by operating activities, excluding the impact of GSE, FHA, loan originations, and sales. We may also use the term cash generated by the business, which is the same operating cash flow measure before the impact of cash used for employee loans.

Please refer to today's press release, the supplemental tables, and the quarterly results presentation on our website for complete and updated definitions of any non-GAAP terms, reconciliations of these items to the corresponding GAAP results, and when, how, and why management uses them for additional information on our cash flow measures as well as relevant industry or economic statistics. The outlook discussed today excludes the potential impact of any future acquisitions and assumes no meaningful changes in Newmark's stock price compared with yesterday's close. Our expectations are subject to change based on various macroeconomic, social, political, and other factors. None of our targets or goals beyond 2026 should be considered formal guidance. Also remind you that information in this call contains forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements concerning our economic outlook and business.

Such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties which could cause our actual results to differ from expectations. Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements. For complete discussion of the risks and other factors that may impact these forward-looking statements, see our SEC filings, including but not limited to the risk factors and disclosures regarding forward-looking information in our most recent SEC filings, which are incorporated by reference. I now have to turn the call over to our host and Chief Executive Officer, Barry Gosin.

Good morning. In advance, I'll apologize. I'm a little bit under the weather, but I'm happy to be here. Good morning, and thank you for joining us. With me today are Newmark's Chief Financial Officer, Mike Rispoli, and our Chief Operating Officer, Lou Alvarado. Newmark once again generated strong top and bottom-line improvement, including record third quarter revenues. Our growth was led by management and servicing, which increased 18%, leading to the company's fifth consecutive record quarter for these resilient businesses. We increased leasing by 26%, resulting in its all-time best third quarter. This was led by higher demand across artificial intelligence, data centers, and other technology sectors, as well as manufacturing, legal services, aerospace, defense, and healthcare. Our transaction pipelines remain active and robust.

We continue to expect double-digit growth in revenues, Adjusted EBITDA, and Adjusted EPS, and anticipating achieving the best annual results for each of these metrics. However, the volatility in the macroeconomic environment creates challenges with regard to the timing and certainty of deal closings, and as a result, we are revising our 2026 outlook. We remain confident that our investments in resilient service lines, ongoing international expansion, the strength of the company's brand, and the continuing collaboration between our industry-leading professionals will together drive Newmark's long-term growth and market share gains. I want to take a moment to talk about our accomplishments over the past 15 years. Newmark had a simple plan, elevate our brand by recruiting the industry's best talent, provide them with a differentiated platform, build credibility, and earn our way into the rooms where decisions are made.

Starting in 2014, we chose to lead with Capital Markets because when you are advising a client on capitalizing the most important asset in portfolios, you are helping key decision-makers fully realize their business plans, and our strategy has worked. Newmark took its share of U.S. commercial and multifamily originations from under 2% then to around 10% now. We also moved up from number 10 in U.S. investment sales in 2014 to number two for the first nine months of 2026. Our success stemmed from our relentless focus on talent and from our professionals being innovative and entrepreneurial in everything they do. You have seen the same focus in market share gains across all of our businesses, including our recent strong growth in leasing and Valuation & Advisory.

Over the last few years, we have used the sturdy foundation laid by these service lines to build out our growing suite of recurring revenue businesses. As a result, we have successfully driven growth in the following areas: property, project and facility management, loan servicing and asset management, consulting, technology advisory, and Lease Administration. And most recently, our fast-growing managed services solution for real estate lenders and investors. That is why recurring businesses increased from 24% of our total revenue in 2017 to around 40% year to date. We remain confident that management and servicing will produce more than $2 billion of annual revenue in 2029, which implies double-digit growth. Our next chapter involves additional international growth. Over the coming 18 to 24 months, we anticipate further expansion of our global footprint across nearly all service lines.

Today, we derive approximately 13% of our top line from outside the U.S., while our large full-service peers generate more than double or triple that percentage internationally. We view that gap as an opportunity. As we expand our geographic footprint, we also make Newmark a more credible alternative to win outsourcing assignments from large global occupiers. This has led to our Occupier Solutions teams competing in more pitches and being awarded more mandates. Over time, our goal is for Newmark to be invited into every room with key decision-makers across nearly all of our service lines globally. Not only in New York and San Francisco, but in Berlin, and London, and Milan, and Paris, and Seoul, and Sydney, and Toronto, and dozens of other major markets around the world. Based on our track record, I would not bet against us.

Before I turn the call over to Mike, I want to briefly address Newmark's leadership. As previously announced, after 47 years, I am stepping down as CEO at the end of this year. I love this company. I will continue to be here to help through the transition. Both internal and external candidates are being evaluated, and we currently still expect to identify a new CEO by the end of the year. I'm confident in Newmark's senior leadership, who collectively have decades of experience. With that, I'm happy to turn the call over to Mike.

Thank you, Barry, and good morning. Total revenues were up 12.7% to an all-time third quarter best of $973.2 million, compared with $863.5 million. We increased Management Services, Servicing Fees, and Other by 18.3%. This was led by robust organic growth from Newmark's expanding suite of outsourcing businesses, as well as strong same-store improvement for Valuation & Advisory. Management services fees also reflect six acquisitions completed since the third quarter of last year. Leasing was up 26.5%. This reflected higher fees from industrial and office across several key West Coast markets and Texas. Capital Markets revenues declined by 4.4% as Newmark's 33.4% rise in investment sales volumes was offset by lower origination activity. Our investment sales growth was led by senior housing and affordable housing, as well as higher industrial and retail volumes.

Our origination business faced a difficult comparison due to the 129.1% rise in our total debt volumes in the third quarter of last year. In addition, GSE industry activity declined by approximately 30% in the third quarter. Over the trailing 12 months, Newmark gained over 70 basis points of combined Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac market share year on year. Moving on to expenses. Total expenses were up 13.5%. Without pass-through items, total expenses would have increased 10.8%, with a large majority tied to the increase in commission-based revenues and our global growth initiatives. Regarding taxes, the company's tax rate for adjusted earnings was 12.9%, compared with 12.1% last year. Turning to earnings. We increased Adjusted EPS by 14.3% to $0.48 compared with $0.42. Adjusted EBITDA was $166.4 million, up 14.6%, versus $145.2 million.

With respect to share count, our fully diluted weighted average share count was 252.7 million, up 0.4% year-on-year. We repurchased 3.9 million shares for $59.4 million towards the end of the quarter. on October 28, 2026, Newmark's board reauthorized the company's $400 million buyback program. Given our strong financial position and recent share price, we anticipate further share repurchases. Turning to the balance sheet. We ended the quarter with $240 million of cash and cash equivalents, $877.5 million of total corporate debt, and one times net leverage. On a trailing 12-month basis, the company increased Adjusted Free Cash Flow by 16% to $336.8 million. A key reason we have improved our cash flow metrics has been our increased focus on M&A. In the first nine months of this year, our employee loan issuance dropped 36.9% compared with a year earlier.