Key Takeaways

Shares of Jefferies Financial Group ( JEF ) tumbled 9% Thursday, a day after the financial services firm posted worse-than-expected results, which it said were caused by difficult capital market conditions.

The company posted first-quarter fiscal 2025 adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.57 on revenue that slid 8% year-over-year to $1.59 billion. Analysts surveyed by Visible Alpha were looking for $0.94 and $1.88 billion, respectively.

Asset management revenue plunged 30% to $191.7 million. Revenue from investment banking dropped nearly 4% to $700.7 million, and capital market revenue similarly declined to $698.3 million.

'Capital Markets Have Become Increasingly More Challenging,' Execs Say

In the management comments section of the earnings report, CEO Richard Handler and President Brian Friedman blamed the performance on global factors, arguing that "capital markets have become increasingly more challenging due to the uncertainties that have arisen around U.S. policy and geopolitical events."

However, Handler and Friedman said they remain confident in the company's strategy. "We will navigate this period of uncertainty the way we always do, by focusing on our clients and helping them address their challenges and opportunities, while watching our risk, maintaining record liquidity and striving to gain market share across our firm," they wrote.

Even with today's losses, shares of Jefferies Financial Group have added about 20% of their value over the past year.

Read the original article on Investopedia