Who are Houlihan Lokey's main competitors?

Named competitors: Evercore (EVR), PJT Partners (PJT), Lazard (LAZ), Moelis & Company (MC). The cockpit's measured peer set (industry) also includes Orient Securities (3958.HK), Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX.NS), Jefferies Financial (JEF), Evercore (EVR), ASX (ASX.AX), Freedom (FRHC).

Is Houlihan Lokey expensive compared with its peers?

On forward p/e it trades at 18.0× against a peer median of 12.9×, 9th most expensive of 21 in its peer set.

How has Houlihan Lokey stock performed?

Over six months to 6 Nov 2026 the shares returned -4.6% against -0.5% for the median peer; over one year -18.7%.

← CockpitCompetitor Analysis › HLI Houlihan Lokey, Inc. Class AOpen in the cockpit ↗

Houlihan Lokey, Inc. Class AHLICompetitor analysis, valuation and peers

United States · USD·Financials›Investment Banks/Brokers

Independent investment bank specializing in M&A advisory, restructuring and financial/valuation opinions.

Momentum strong 79

Competitor Analysis ▸ Charts Open in the cockpit

Mkt cap

$10.1B

US dollars, full cap

Free float

100%

of shares outstanding

$/day

$115M

20-day average traded

Fwd P/E

18.0×

forward earnings

ROIC−WACC

n/a

WACC 9.2%

Hurdle

n/a

no reverse DCF

Next earnings

88 days

2 Feb 2027

Close · USD$145.86

1D-0.9%

1W+5.7%

1M+16.2%

3M+18.2%

6M-4.6%

YTD-16.3%

1Y-18.7%

ATR %3.7%

Beta0.79

52w lowhigh25.2% off high

What Houlihan Lokey does

Independent investment bank specializing in M&A advisory, restructuring and financial/valuation opinions.

Fees come mostly as a success fee paid when a deal completes, plus monthly retainers, so M&A revenue swings with deal volume, while restructuring advice earns more when companies are stressed, softening the cycle. Employees own a large part of the firm, and it has expanded through acquisitions in Europe and Asia since going public in 2015.

Products and services

Corporate finance (M&A) advisory
Financial restructuring advisory
Financial/valuation opinions

Customers

Middle-market companies
Creditors/debtors in restructurings
Boards of directors

Where it sits in the supply chain

Financial services
Independent advisory investment bank
M&A, restructuring & valuation advisory

What could go right

Middle-market M&A activity
Restructuring demand in credit downturns

What could go wrong

Deal-flow dependent, lumpy revenue
Bulge-bracket banks entering middle market

Moat: narrow (brand, process know-how). Long-standing leadership in restructuring/bankruptcy advisory is a reputation-driven niche competitors can't quickly match.

Headquarters: Los Angeles, California, US · Founded: 1972 · Employees: 2,800

Named competitors

Houlihan Lokey at a glance

Size Houlihan Lokey (HLI) is a United States Financials company (Investment Banks/Brokers) with a market value of $10.1B, the 770th largest of 3,117 United States companies the cockpit tracks. Shares closed at $145.86 on 6 Nov 2026.

Performance Over six months the shares fell 4.6%, against -0.5% for the median peer and -1.1% for the United States market (cap-weighted) — 10th lowest of 21 in its peer set.

Growth Revenue fell 0.5% over the last twelve months (peer median +9.8%); the operating margin is 20.3% (peer median 38.9%).

Valuation It trades at 18.0× forward earnings against a peer median of 12.9× (9th most expensive of 21).

Short interest Short interest is 4.0% of the free float (15 Oct 2026).

Next results Next results expected around 2 Feb 2027 (exchange calendar; dates can move).

Relative performance

Six months, rebased to 100: Houlihan Lokey against the median of its 20 peers (local-currency closes).

Houlihan Lokey financials

Reported figures in USD; fiscal year ends 2026-03-31. TTM = trailing twelve months.
	TTM	FY2025	FY2024	FY2023	FY2022
Revenue	$2.56B	$2.62B	$2.39B	$1.92B	$1.81B
Revenue growth	—	+10%	+25%	+6%	—
EBITDA	$552M	$588M	$543M	$391M	$427M
Net income	$403M	$426M	$400M	$280M	$254M
Free cash flow	$402M	$682M	$809M	$262M	$85.5M
Capital expenditure	$24.9M	$22.3M	$39.7M	$66.7M	$50.7M
Total debt	$494M	$492M	$438M	$415M	$375M

Quarterly statements and history in the cockpit →

Houlihan Lokey competitor charts

The default views of Competitor Analysis ▸ Charts, drawn from the same data. Open them in the cockpit to change the axes, pin companies and read every value.

Performance: 6-month against 1-month return

Up and to the right = strong over both horizons. Houlihan Lokey is the large dot.

Fundamentals: revenue growth against valuation

Further right = faster growth; higher = more expensive. The dashed lines are the peer medians. Houlihan Lokey is the large dot.

Houlihan Lokey competitors and peer comparison

Head to head with its named competitors (HLI vs EVR vs PJT vs LAZ)
Company	Market cap	6M return	Revenue growth	Op. margin	Forward P/E	Req g
Houlihan Lokey HLI	$10.1B	-5%	0%	20%	18.0×	n/a
Evercore EVR	$10.9B	-17%	+37%	22%	14.2×	n/a
PJT Partners PJT	$3.80B	-4%	+10%	21%	18.0×	n/a
Lazard LAZ	$3.74B	-20%	+9%	11%	16.7×	n/a
Moelis & MC	$4.62B	-13%	+14%	18%	16.9×	n/a

How Houlihan Lokey compares with its peers

Peer set: Industry: the same industry and sector in any market, nearest in size. This is the same default set the interactive Competitor Analysis opens with.

Houlihan Lokey against its 20 peers (data as of 6 Nov 2026)
Measure	HLI	Peer median	Rank in peer set
1-month return	+16.2%	+2.4%	2nd highest of 21
6-month return	-4.6%	-0.5%	10th lowest of 21
Distance from 52-week high	-25.2%	-20.0%	10th lowest of 21
Revenue growth (TTM)	-0.5%	+9.8%	5th lowest of 21
Operating margin	20.3%	38.9%	2nd lowest of 21
Forward P/E	18.0×	12.9×	9th most expensive of 21

Peer table

Peer set: Industry: the same industry and sector in any market, nearest in size
Company	Market	Market cap	6M return	Revenue growth	Op. margin	Forward P/E	Req g	Delivered g
Houlihan Lokey HLI	United States	$10.1B	-5%	0%	20%	18.0×	n/a	n/a
Orient Securities 3958.HK	Hong Kong	$10.1B	-13%	+21%	40%	5.9×	n/a	n/a
Multi Commodity Exchange of India MCX.NS	India	$9.51B	+16%	+122%	79%	50.8×	n/a	n/a
Jefferies Financial JEF	United States	$10.9B	-11%	+26%	41%	11.3×	n/a	n/a
Evercore EVR	United States	$10.9B	-17%	+37%	22%	14.2×	n/a	n/a
ASX ASX.AX	Australia	$9.02B	+15%	+3%	65%	24.2×	n/a	n/a
Freedom FRHC	United States	$11.4B	+28%	+8%	29%	39.7×	n/a	n/a
Nordnet SAVE.ST	Sweden	$8.70B	+13%	+11%	58%	23.7×	n/a	n/a
Everbright Securities 601788.SS	China	$8.70B	-9%	-4%	36%	14.6×	n/a	n/a
Founder Securities 601901.SS	China	$8.52B	-4%	-21%	47%	11.7×	n/a	n/a
TMX X.TO	Canada	$12.1B	+10%	+4%	28%	22.8×	n/a	n/a
Virtu Financial VIRT	United States	$8.37B	+5%	+28%	38%	7.8×	n/a	n/a
XP Inc. Class A XP	United States	$7.83B	-21%	+17%	32%	6.7×	n/a	n/a
Japan Exchange 8697.T	Japan	$13.4B	+11%	+40%	61%	19.7×	n/a	n/a
Mirae Asset Sec 006800.KS	South Korea	$7.57B	-66%	+5%	114%	4.0×	n/a	n/a
Futu Holdings Ltd. Sponsored ADR FUTU	United States	$13.7B	-32%	+44%	69%	6.8×	n/a	n/a
Investec INVP.L	United Kingdom	$7.34B	+3%	-4%	37%	7.1×	n/a	n/a
Daiwa Securities 8601.T	Japan	$14.0B	+11%	+18%	17%	10.8×	n/a	n/a
Guolian Minsheng Securities 601456.SS	China	$6.75B	-13%	+9%	25%	20.1×	n/a	n/a
Allfunds ALLFG.AS	Netherlands	$6.69B	+18%	+1%	43%	20.5×	n/a	n/a
Shenwan Hongyuan 6806.HK	Hong Kong	$15.4B	-26%	-22%	31%	4.5×	n/a	n/a

Questions

Who are Houlihan Lokey's main competitors?: Named competitors: Evercore (EVR), PJT Partners (PJT), Lazard (LAZ), Moelis & Company (MC). The cockpit's measured peer set (industry) also includes Orient Securities (3958.HK), Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX.NS), Jefferies Financial (JEF), Evercore (EVR), ASX (ASX.AX), Freedom (FRHC).
Is Houlihan Lokey expensive compared with its peers?: On forward p/e it trades at 18.0× against a peer median of 12.9×, 9th most expensive of 21 in its peer set.
How has Houlihan Lokey stock performed?: Over six months to 6 Nov 2026 the shares returned -4.6% against -0.5% for the median peer; over one year -18.7%.