LPL Financial Announces First Quarter 2026 Results

LPL Financial Announces First Quarter 2026 Results Key Financial Results

Key Business Results

Key Capital and Liquidity Measures

Key Updates

M&A:

Core G&A:

Capital Management:

*See the Non-GAAP Financial Measures section and the endnotes to this release for further details about these non-GAAP financial measures

SAN DIEGO, April 30, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq: LPLA) (the "Company") today announced results for its first quarter ended March 31, 2026, reporting net income of $356 million, or $4.43 per share. This compares with net income of $319 million, or $4.24 per share, in the first quarter of 2025 and net income of $301 million, or $3.74 per share, in the prior quarter.

"It was a strong start to the year for LPL," said Rich Steinmeier, CEO. "We achieved record earnings per share, while continuing to make progress across our key strategic priorities. With recruiting momentum building, and preparations underway to onboard Commonwealth later this year, we remain well-positioned to execute on our vision."

"We delivered another quarter of solid business and financial results, as our value proposition continues to resonate across the marketplace," said Matt Audette, President and CFO. "In addition, we continue to improve operating leverage by enhancing efficiency across our platform and better aligning monetization with the value we deliver. Looking ahead, we are well positioned to continue delivering long‑term shareholder value."

Dividend Declaration

The Company's Board of Directors declared a $0.30 per share dividend to be paid on June 4, 2026 to all stockholders of record as of May 21, 2026.

Conference Call and Additional Information

The Company will hold a conference call to discuss its results at 5:00 p.m. ET on Thursday, April 30, 2026. The conference call will be accessible and available for replay at investor.lpl.com/events.

Contacts

Investor Relations

investor.relations@lplfinancial.com

Media Relations

media.relations@lplfinancial.com

About LPL Financial

LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq: LPLA) is among the fastest growing wealth management firms in the U.S. As a leader in the financial advisor-mediated marketplace ( 4 ), LPL supports more than 32,000 financial advisors and the wealth management practices of approximately 1,100 financial institutions, servicing and custodying approximately $2.3 trillion in brokerage and advisory assets on behalf of approximately 8 million Americans. The firm provides a wide range of advisor affiliation models, investment solutions, fintech tools and practice management services, ensuring that advisors and institutions have the flexibility to choose the business model, services, and technology resources they need to run thriving businesses. For further information about LPL, please visit www.lpl.com.

Securities and advisory services offered through LPL Financial LLC ("LPL Financial") or its affiliate LPL Enterprise, LLC ("LPL Enterprise"), both registered investment advisers and broker-dealers. Members FINRA/SIPC.

Throughout this communication, the terms "financial advisors" and "advisors" are used to refer to registered representatives and/or investment advisor representatives affiliated with LPL Financial or LPL Enterprise.

We routinely disclose information that may be important to shareholders in the "Investor Relations" or "Press Releases" section of our website.

† Value approximated based on asset and holding details provided to LPL from March 31, 2026.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains statements regarding:

These and any other statements that are not related to present facts or current conditions, or that are not purely historical, constitute forward-looking statements. They reflect the Company's expectations and objectives as of April 30, 2026 and are not guarantees that expectations or objectives expressed or implied will be achieved. The achievement of such expectations and objectives involves risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results, levels of activity or the timing of events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include:

Except as required by law, the Company specifically disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a result of developments occurring after the date of this earnings release, and you should not rely on statements contained herein as representing the Company's view as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release.

LPL Financial Holdings Inc.

Management's Statements of Operations

(In thousands, except per share data)

(Unaudited)

Certain information in this release is presented as reviewed by the Company’s management and includes information derived from the Company’s unaudited condensed consolidated statements of income, non-GAAP financial measures and operational and performance metrics. For information on non-GAAP financial measures, please see the section titled "Non-GAAP Financial Measures" in this release.

Note: Totals may not foot due to rounding.

(a) Unsecured borrowing capacity of $2.25 billion at LPL Holdings, Inc.

(b) The SOFR rate option is a one-month SOFR rate and subject to an interest rate floor of 0 bps.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

Management believes that presenting certain non-GAAP financial measures by excluding or including certain items can be helpful to investors and analysts who may wish to use this information to analyze the Company’s current performance, prospects and valuation. Management uses this non-GAAP information internally to evaluate operating performance and in formulating the budget for future periods. Management believes that the non-GAAP financial measures and metrics discussed below are appropriate for evaluating the performance of the Company.

Adjusted EPS and Adjusted net income

Adjusted EPS is defined as adjusted net income, a non-GAAP measure defined as net income plus the after-tax impact of amortization of other intangibles and acquisition costs, divided by the weighted average number of diluted shares outstanding for the applicable period. The Company presents adjusted net income and adjusted EPS because management believes that these metrics can provide investors with useful insight into the Company’s core operating performance by excluding non-cash items, and acquisition costs that management does not believe impact the Company’s ongoing operations. Adjusted net income and adjusted EPS are not measures of the Company's financial performance under GAAP and should not be considered as alternatives to net income, earnings per diluted share or any other performance measure derived in accordance with GAAP. For a reconciliation of net income and earnings per diluted share to adjusted net income and adjusted EPS, please see the endnote disclosures in this release.

Gross profit

Gross profit is calculated as total revenue less advisory and commission expense; brokerage, clearing and exchange expense; and market fluctuations on employee deferred compensation. All other expense categories, including depreciation and amortization of property and equipment and amortization of other intangibles, are considered general and administrative in nature. Because the Company’s gross profit amounts do not include any depreciation and amortization expense, the Company considers gross profit to be a non-GAAP financial measure that may not be comparable to similar measures used by others in its industry. Management believes that gross profit can provide investors with useful insight into the Company’s core operating performance before indirect costs that are general and administrative in nature. For a calculation of gross profit, please see the endnote disclosures in this release.

Core G&A

Core G&A consists of total expense less the following expenses: advisory and commission; depreciation and amortization; interest expense on borrowings; brokerage, clearing and exchange; amortization of other intangibles; market fluctuations on employee deferred compensation; transition assistance loan amortization; promotional (ongoing); acquisition costs excluding interest; employee share-based compensation; and regulatory charges. Management presents core G&A because it believes core G&A reflects the corporate expense categories over which management can generally exercise a measure of control, compared with expense items over which management either cannot exercise control, such as advisory and commission, or which management views as promotional expense necessary to support advisor growth and retention, including conferences and transition assistance. Core G&A is not a measure of the Company’s total expense as calculated in accordance with GAAP. For a reconciliation of the Company's total expense to core G&A, please see the endnote disclosures in this release. The Company does not provide an outlook for its total expense because it contains expense components, such as advisory and commission, that are market-driven and over which the Company cannot exercise control. Accordingly, a reconciliation of the Company’s outlook for total expense to an outlook for core G&A cannot be made available without unreasonable effort.

EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA

EBITDA is defined as net income plus interest expense on borrowings, provision for income taxes, depreciation and amortization, and amortization of other intangibles. Adjusted EBITDA is defined as EBITDA, a non-GAAP measure, plus acquisition costs excluding interest. The Company presents EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA because management believes that they can be useful financial metrics in understanding the Company’s earnings from operations. EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA are not measures of the Company's financial performance under GAAP and should not be considered as alternatives to net income or any other performance measure derived in accordance with GAAP. For a reconciliation of net income to EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA, please see the endnote disclosures in this release.

Adjusted pre-tax income

Adjusted pre-tax income is defined as income before provision for income taxes plus amortization of other intangibles and acquisition costs. The Company presents adjusted pre-tax income because management believes that it can provide investors with useful insight into the Company's core operating performance by excluding non-cash items, acquisition costs, and certain other charges that management does not believe impact the Company's ongoing operations. Adjusted pre-tax income is not a measure of the Company's financial performance under GAAP and should not be considered as an alternative to income before provision for income taxes or any other performance measure derived in accordance with GAAP. For a reconciliation of income before provision for income taxes to adjusted pre-tax income, please see the endnote disclosures in this release.

Credit Agreement EBITDA

Credit Agreement EBITDA is defined in, and calculated by management in accordance with, the Company's amended and restated credit agreement (“Credit Agreement”) as “Consolidated EBITDA,” which is Consolidated Net Income (as defined in the Credit Agreement) plus interest expense on borrowings, provision for income taxes, depreciation and amortization, and amortization of other intangibles, and is further adjusted to exclude certain non-cash charges and other adjustments, and to include future expected cost savings, operating expense reductions or other synergies from certain transactions. The Company presents Credit Agreement EBITDA because management believes that it can be a useful financial metric in understanding the Company’s debt capacity and covenant compliance under its Credit Agreement. Credit Agreement EBITDA is not a measure of the Company's financial performance under GAAP and should not be considered as an alternative to net income or any other performance measure derived in accordance with GAAP. For a reconciliation of net income to Credit Agreement EBITDA, please see the endnote disclosures in this release.

Endnote Disclosures

(1) Represents the estimated total client assets expected to transition to the Company's primary broker-dealer subsidiary, LPL Financial, in connection with advisors who transferred their licenses to LPL Financial during the period. The estimate is based on prior business reported by the advisors, which has not been independently and fully verified by LPL Financial. The actual transition of client assets to LPL Financial generally occurs over several quarters and the actual amount transitioned may vary from the estimate.

(2) Corporate cash, a component of cash and equivalents, is the sum of cash and equivalents from the following: (1) cash and equivalents held at LPL Holdings, Inc., (2) cash and equivalents held at regulated subsidiaries as defined by the Company's Credit Agreement, which include LPL Financial, LPL Enterprise, LLC, The Private Trust Company, N.A., and Commonwealth Equity Services, LLC ("CES"), in excess of the capital requirements of the Company's Credit Agreement and (3) cash and equivalents held at non-regulated subsidiaries.

(3) Compliance with the Leverage Ratio is only required under the Company's revolving credit facility.

(4) The Company was named a Top RIA custodian (Cerulli Associates, 2025 U.S. RIA Marketplace Report); No. 1 Independent Broker-Dealer in the U.S. (based on total revenues, Financial Planning magazine 1996-2022); and, among third-party providers of brokerage services to banks and credit unions, No. 1 in AUM Growth from Financial Institutions; No. 1 in Market Share of AUM from Financial Institutions; No. 1 in Market Share of Revenue from Financial Institutions; No. 1 on Financial Institution Market Share; No. 1 on Share of Advisors (2021-2022 Kehrer Bielan Research and Consulting Annual TPM Report). Fortune 500 as of June 2021.

(5) Gross profit is a non-GAAP financial measure. Please see a description of gross profit under the "Non-GAAP Financial Measures" section of this release for additional information. Below is a calculation of gross profit for the periods presented (in thousands):

(6) Production-based payout is a financial measure calculated as advisory and commission expense plus (less) advisor deferred compensation. The payout rate is calculated by dividing the production-based payout by total advisory and commission revenue. Below is a reconciliation of the Company’s advisory and commission expense to the production-based payout and a calculation of the payout rate for the periods presented (in thousands, except payout rate):

(7) Below is a reconciliation of client cash revenue per Management's Statements of Operations to client cash revenue, a component of asset-based revenue, on the Company's condensed consolidated statements of income for the periods presented (in thousands):

(8) Consists of revenue from the Company's sponsorship programs with financial product manufacturers, omnibus processing and networking services but does not include fees from client cash programs.

(9) Below is a reconciliation of interest income, net per Management's Statements of Operations to interest income, net on the Company's condensed consolidated statements of income for the periods presented (in thousands):

(10) Below is a reconciliation of other revenue per Management's Statements of Operations to other revenue on the Company's condensed consolidated statements of income for the periods presented (in thousands):

(11) Core G&A is a non-GAAP financial measure. Please see a description of core G&A under the “Non-GAAP Financial Measures” section of this release for additional information. Below is a reconciliation of the Company's total expense to core G&A for the periods presented (in thousands):

(12) During the fourth quarter of 2025, the Company updated its definition of Promotional (ongoing) to exclude transition assistance loan amortization. As a result, transition assistance loan amortization is now disclosed as a separate line on Management's Statements of Operations and Core G&A. Prior period disclosures have been updated to reflect these changes as applicable.

(13) Promotional (ongoing) includes $16.9 million, $19.6 million and $14.8 million for the three months ended March 31, 2026, December 31, 2025 and March 31, 2025 respectively, of support costs related to full-time employees that are classified within Compensation and benefits expense in the condensed consolidated statements of income and excludes costs that have been incurred as part of acquisitions that have been classified within acquisition costs.

(14) Acquisition costs include the costs to setup, onboard and integrate acquired entities and other costs that were incurred as a result of the acquisitions. The below table summarizes the primary components of acquisition costs for the periods presented (in thousands):

(15) EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA are non-GAAP financial measures. Please see a description of EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA under the "Non-GAAP Financial Measures" section of this release for additional information. Below is a reconciliation of net income to EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA for the periods presented (in thousands):

(16) Below is a reconciliation of interest expense on borrowings per Management's Statements of Operations to interest expense on borrowings on the Company's condensed consolidated statements of income for the periods presented (in thousands):

(17) Adjusted pre-tax income is a non-GAAP financial measure. Please see a description of adjusted pre-tax income under the "Non-GAAP Financial Measures" section of this release for additional information. Below is a reconciliation of income before provision for income taxes to adjusted pre-tax income for the periods presented (in thousands):

(18) Adjusted net income and adjusted EPS are non-GAAP financial measures. Please see a description of adjusted net income and adjusted EPS under the “Non-GAAP Financial Measures” section of this release for additional information. Below is a reconciliation of net income and earnings per diluted share to adjusted net income and adjusted EPS for the periods presented (in thousands, except per share data):

(19) Consists of total assets under custody at the Company's primary broker-dealer subsidiary, LPL Financial, as well as assets under custody of a third-party custodian related to Commonwealth Equity Services, LLC and Atria Wealth Solution’s introducing broker-dealer subsidiaries.

(20) Assets on the Company's corporate RIA advisory platform are serviced by investment advisor representatives of LPL Financial. Assets on the Company's independent RIA advisory platform are serviced by investment advisor representatives of separate registered investment advisor firms rather than representatives of LPL Financial.

(21) Consists of advisory assets in LPL Financial’s Model Wealth Portfolios, Optimum Market Portfolios, Personal Wealth Portfolios and Guided Wealth Portfolios platforms.

(22) Consists of total client deposits into advisory or brokerage accounts less total client withdrawals from advisory or brokerage accounts, plus dividends, plus interest, minus advisory fees. The Company considers conversions from and to brokerage or advisory accounts as deposits and withdrawals, respectively.

(23) Consists of existing custodied assets that converted from brokerage to advisory, less existing custodied assets that converted from advisory to brokerage.

(24) Calculated as annualized current period organic net new assets divided by preceding period assets in their respective categories of advisory assets or total assets.

(25) Represents the amount of securities purchased less the amount of securities sold in client accounts custodied with LPL Financial.

(26) Client cash balances include CCA and exclude purchased money market funds. CCA balances include cash that clients have deposited with LPL Financial that is included in Client payables in the condensed consolidated balance sheets. The following table presents purchased money market funds for the periods presented (in billions):

(27) Calculated by dividing revenue for the period by the average balance during the period.

(28) EBITDA and Credit Agreement EBITDA are non-GAAP financial measures. Please see a description of EBITDA and Credit Agreement EBITDA under the “Non-GAAP Financial Measures” section of this release for additional information. Under the Credit Agreement, management calculates Credit Agreement EBITDA for a trailing twelve month period at the end of each fiscal quarter and in doing so may make further adjustments to prior quarters. Below are reconciliations of trailing twelve month net income to trailing twelve month EBITDA and Credit Agreement EBITDA for the periods presented (in thousands):

(29) Calculated based on the average advisor count from the current period and prior periods.

(30) Calculated based on the end of period total assets divided by end of period advisor count.

(31) Reflects retention of total assets, calculated by deducting quarterly annualized attrition from total assets, divided by the prior quarter total assets.

(32) Capital expenditures represent cash payments for property and equipment during the period.

(33) Acquisitions, net represent cash paid for acquisitions, net of cash acquired during the period.

(34) Represents a fair value adjustment to our contingent consideration liabilities that is reflected in other expense in the condensed consolidated statements of income.

(35) Acquisition costs and other primarily include costs related to acquisitions and costs incurred related to the integration of the strategic relationship with Prudential Advisors.

(36) M&A accretion is an adjustment to reflect the annualized expected run rate EBITDA of an acquisition as permitted by the Credit Agreement for up to eight fiscal quarters following the close of such acquisition.