JLL Posts Record Quarter, Plans $500 Million Accelerated Buyback

JLL posted record third-quarter earnings on Wednesday, with diluted EPS up 49% to $6.85, and said it plans to launch a $500 million accelerated share repurchase "imminently" while raising its full-year profit target.

The Chicago-based commercial real estate services firm said the new buyback would bring its full-year repurchases to more than $1 billion, according to the earnings release it filed with an 8-K on Wednesday. CEO Christian Ulbrich said the company raised its full-year adjusted EPS target range, which reflects 37% growth at the midpoint.

Advisory businesses take off

Revenue rose 12% to $7.28 billion from $6.51 billion. The company's Advisory revenues grew 22% in local currency, while its Resilient revenues rose 9%.

Leasing Advisory was the standout. Revenue jumped 27% to $941.8 million, led by U.S. growth in industrial, office and data centers. Capital Markets Services revenue rose 21% in local currency to $736.8 million, with what JLL described as broad-based growth across sectors and geographies.

Real Estate Management Services, the largest segment, grew 9% to $5.50 billion, driven by a 10% increase in Workplace Management and a 14% rise in Project Management. Investment Management was the lone decliner, with revenue down 9% in dollars to $105.2 million.

"JLL's record third quarter at the top and bottom line reflected our track record of converting growth into margin-accretive profit," Ulbrich said in the release.

Profit growth outpaces revenue

Net income attributable to common shareholders rose 44% to $319.8 million from $222.8 million. Adjusted diluted EPS climbed 50% to $6.76, and adjusted EBITDA increased 33% to $460.2 million.

JLL said higher adjusted EBITDA and margin were driven mainly by Leasing Advisory and Capital Markets Services, along with incremental contributions from Real Estate Management Services and better platform leverage. Results also benefited from lower loan-related expenses, including the absence of a loan loss expense recognized a year earlier.

For the first nine months of the year, net income attributable to common shareholders rose 78% to $694.4 million, and adjusted diluted EPS rose 52% to $15.40. The third-quarter effective tax rate was 19.3%, compared with 19.1% a year earlier.

Cash, debt and buybacks

Operating cash flow was $609.7 million, roughly flat with $617.1 million a year earlier, and free cash flow was $556.0 million versus $567.6 million.

Net debt fell to $858.7 million at Sept. 30 from $1.19 billion at the end of June, and the net leverage ratio improved to 0.5 times from 0.7 times. Corporate liquidity stood at $3.57 billion.

JLL bought back 415,900 shares for $141.7 million in the third quarter and 1.72 million shares for $551.7 million over the first nine months. It had $2.5 billion remaining under its repurchase authorization as of Sept. 30.

"Our imminent $500 million accelerated share repurchase underscores our conviction in our long-term strategy to build an even more integrated and resilient JLL," Ulbrich said.

Sources

1. JLL Form 8-K with third-quarter 2026 earnings release (Exhibit 99.1), filed Oct. 28, 2026 (accession 0001037976-26-000187)

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