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Investment banking and capital markets generate most of Jefferies Financial Group’s revenue, with investment banking the largest contributor. Companies and their owners pay it to advise on acquisitions, sales and restructurings and to arrange stock and debt offerings. Much of its advisory income depends on deals reaching completion or other agreed milestones.
Institutional investors also use Jefferies to buy and sell stocks, bonds and other financial instruments. It earns commissions for executing trades and the difference between buying and selling prices when it trades with clients using its own capital. Financing clients’ positions and lending securities also earn interest spreads. A substantial part of revenue comes from trading for its own account, so income depends on both client activity and the value of positions it holds. Funding those positions relies heavily on borrowing secured by securities.
A smaller business, Leucadia Asset Management, offers alternative investments to institutions through Jefferies’ own and affiliated managers. It earns management and performance fees, shares in affiliated managers’ revenue or profits, and earns returns on its own invested capital. Fees depend on the assets managed and investment performance; the group also retains investments in businesses including real estate, foreign-exchange trading and telecommunications.
Jefferies is a holding company that relies on payments from subsidiaries. Regulatory capital requirements constrain certain subsidiaries’ trading, underwriting and lending and limit how much cash they can send to the parent.
The risk section is the longest, dullest part of the filing. This keeps only what can really hurt you: where it hits, how hard, when it plays out.
Every company claims an edge. Each one is checked against hard numbers like margins and returns: which hold, and which line gives way first.
Goldman Sachs competes with Jefferies for companies’ merger advice and share and debt offerings, and for institutions’ securities trading and financing business. Its Global Banking & Markets advisory, underwriting and trading revenues are the closest comparison—not its wealth-management or credit-card business.
Morgan Stanley competes with Jefferies to advise companies raising capital, place their securities with investors and handle institutions’ securities trades. Its Institutional Securities business is the relevant comparison for Jefferies, rather than wealth or investment management.
Piper Sandler competes with Jefferies for companies’ and financial sponsors’ deal advice, share and debt offerings, and institutions’ trading business. Its advisory and financing work for middle-market companies offers a more focused view of that competition.
Evercore Inc. competes with Jefferies for fees from advising companies on mergers and helping them sell securities to investors. Its advisory and underwriting activity is worth watching against Jefferies’ advisory business, which supplied 29.2% of net revenues in fiscal 2025.
Stifel Financial Corp. competes with Jefferies to advise companies, sell their securities to investors and trade stocks and debt for institutions. Watch its Institutional Group, which contains those businesses, rather than treating its private-client wealth business as a comparison.
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group’s SMBC Group is a substantial Jefferies shareholder and a banking partner that jointly serves corporate clients on M&A and loans arranged across multiple lenders. Watch their joint loan underwriting in Europe and the Middle East and the planned Japanese equity venture, which Jefferies anticipated would start in January 2027.
Houlihan Lokey, Inc. competes with Jefferies for fees from advising companies on mergers, raising capital and restructuring debt. Most of its Corporate Finance engagements concern transactions below USD 1 billion, making that business a focused comparison for smaller deal mandates.
Moelis competes with Jefferies for companies’ and financial sponsors’ fees for M&A, restructuring, financing and private-capital advice. Because Moelis focuses on advice rather than lending or securities trading, its advisory results are a cleaner comparison for that part of Jefferies.
PJT Partners Inc. competes with Jefferies for M&A and restructuring advice, and for helping private funds raise money and sponsors turn holdings into cash. Its PJT Park Hill fundraising and liquidity work is the specific business to watch against Jefferies’ private-capital advisory services.
JPMorgan Chase’s investment bank competes with Jefferies to advise and raise money for companies and handle institutions’ securities business. Its Commercial & Investment Bank is the relevant business to watch, not its consumer banking operations.
Bank of America competes with Jefferies to advise and finance companies, trade securities for institutions and help corporate clients hedge share-linked risks. Its corporate investment-banking and trading businesses are the comparison, including equity-linked hedges rather than its retail banking.
Raymond James competes with Jefferies for companies’ merger advice and securities offerings, and for institutions’ stock and debt trades. Its advisory, underwriting and institutional trading results are the relevant comparison—not its retail investment-management or banking business.
Nomura’s wholesale business competes with Jefferies for companies’ global investment-banking work and institutions’ equity and fixed-income trading business.
Virtu Financial competes with Jefferies by standing ready to buy and sell securities and electronically executing trades for institutions. Watch its Execution Services business against Jefferies’ global electronic trading, one of the businesses behind Jefferies’ stronger fiscal 2025 equities revenues.
Interactive Brokers competes with Jefferies to execute trades, complete their settlement and provide brokerage services for hedge funds and investment advisers. Its automated brokerage offering is the comparison for those clients, rather than its individual-investor business.
Oppenheimer Holdings, Inc. competes with Jefferies to provide institutions with stock research and trade execution, and to serve companies through investment banking.
Stifel Financial Corp. earningsSF
Stifel's Institutional Group covers company financing and institutional trading, so its report can show whether activity in both areas is creating opportunity for Jefferies.
Look at Stifel's Institutional Group investment-banking revenue alongside its stock and debt trading results. Strength in both would point to activity in company financing and institutional trading that can support Jefferies' corresponding businesses; weakness in trading or investment banking would signal pressure on Jefferies' related trading or fee business.
Evercore Inc. earningsEVR
Evercore's report focuses on merger advice and securities underwriting, showing whether company deal activity is supporting Jefferies' related fee businesses.
Read Evercore's advisory revenue and underwriting revenue separately. Growth in both would point to more merger activity and securities offerings, giving Jefferies more opportunity to earn fees from the same deal markets; declines in both would mean fewer advisory mandates and underwriting assignments to compete for, pressuring Jefferies' related revenue.
Fed Interest Rate Decision
Jefferies’ financing businesses pay interest on borrowing, including repurchase-agreement notes priced mainly at a spread over SOFR, while also earning interest on client financing; rate changes can alter funding costs and interest revenue.
Expected4.0%Last release4.0%
If it comes in above expectations
If the policy rate is higher than expected, borrowing and refinancing can become more costly for Jefferies, potentially squeezing the interest spread its financing businesses earn after funding costs.
If it comes in below expectations
If the policy rate is lower than expected, borrowing and refinancing may cost Jefferies less, potentially easing funding pressure on its financing businesses and supporting their interest spreads.
Virtu Financial, Inc. earningsVIRT
Virtu Financial's Execution Services electronically buys and sells securities for institutions, so its report can show how activity in that market bears on Jefferies' electronic trading.
Look at Virtu Financial's Execution Services revenue and trading activity. Stronger execution results would suggest enough client activity and opportunity in electronic markets to support Jefferies' electronic trading; weaker results could point to less activity or tougher competition, narrowing the opportunity for Jefferies.
Jefferies Financial Group Inc. earningsThis company
Jefferies' report will show whether fees from advising companies and underwriting securities, alongside stock and bond trading, are supporting profit.
Read advisory and underwriting revenue in Investment Banking alongside equities and fixed-income revenue in Capital Markets, then compare each segment's revenue with its pretax earnings. Growth across the lines with earnings keeping pace would show that company financing and institutional trading are both contributing; revenue concentrated in a few activities, or earnings lagging revenue, would point to weaker businesses elsewhere or costs absorbing the gains.
