# HLI — AI stock forecast & analysis

> AI-generated analysis by K3vl4r — 2026-10-29. Informational only, not financial advice.

**Recommendation:** ACCUMULATE

**Scores (0–100):** Overall 6.3 · Fundamentals 7.6 · Technicals 5.4 · Growth 5.8 · Risk 5.2

## Summary

Houlihan Lokey delivered a strong Q2 FY2027 (revenue $692M, +5% YoY; adj. EPS $1.85 vs ~$1.63 est.) but the stock fell ~5-6% post-earnings on cautious guidance, reflecting deal-flow sensitivity and a stock down ~21% YTD / ~32% off its $204 high. Fundamentals remain high-quality (ROE ~18%, net margin ~16%, low 0.22x D/E, 2% yield), but near-term direction hinges on corporate-finance recovery, and the model's 1-week forecast is unreliable (17% vs 83% naive). Valuation is reasonable on forward terms (fwd P/E ~15.9) but not cheap on trailing (P/E ~23).

## Price targets (6-month horizon)

- Bear: $128.00
- Base: $157.00
- Bull: $175.00

## News context

Signal: HLI beat Q2 FY2027 on both revenue ($692M, +5% YoY) and adjusted EPS ($1.85 vs ~$1.63 est.), and Citizens upgraded to Outperform with a $175 target citing strengthening Restructuring and FVA pipelines and record backlog. Management flagged an expected stronger-than-normal second half with improving deal activity. Noise: despite the beat, the stock fell ~5-6% pre-market on Oct 29 on cautious commentary, and several banks cut targets in October (Morgan Stanley $177→$165, BofA $152→$150, KB $153→$150) while others raised (UBS $147→$154, Goldman $148→$153). Analyst targets span ~$147-187, reflecting a split Buy/Hold consensus. Insider activity is mildly constructive (CFO Alley bought $501K in Aug; GC Crain sold $140K in Sep). The negative price reaction to a beat is the dominant theme — upside may be largely priced in near-term.

## About
- Methodology: https://app.k3vl4r.com/methodology
- Full report: https://app.k3vl4r.com/r/hli-ai-stock-forecast-7f72eedf98aaab959a1ef720efc1b9a3
- AI-generated; model outputs can be wrong. Not financial advice.