PJT Partners stock slides on earnings miss

PJT Partners Inc. PJT, -7.83% shares fell 9.8% on Tuesday after the advisory firm’s fourth-quarter earnings of $1.52 a share fell short of the Wall Street estimate of $1.72 a share in a survey of analysts by FactSet. PJT’s revenue of $313.3 million also missed the analyst target of $339 million. PJT said its advisory revenue for restructuring services fell more than expected due to “a challenging market backdrop for restructuring activity following an extraordinary run up in 2020.” It’s the biggest share drop for PJT since March 18, 2020, when the stock fell 17.4%. On a call with analysts, PJT chairman and CEO Paul Taubman said he remains cautious about the firm’s restructuring business going forward. “We certainly are seeing increasing stress building in the system, and we’re seeing companies having more difficulty in refinancing,” he said. “We’re seeing companies more nervous about their business prospects and that to me, is an essential element for a change in restructuring. But I certainly think that the headwinds are behind us. When we get the tailwinds. It will happen. I’m just not yet prepared to say it’s going to happen soon.”