Raymond James Financial had no trouble topping analysts' second-quarter sales and earnings estimates Wednesday, posting a profit of $80.9 million, or 64 cents a share, on sales of $852 million.
Analysts pegged the St. Petersburg, Fla.-based firm for a profit of 62 cents a share on sales of $25 million.
The $852 million in sales represents a 16% improvement from the year-ago quarter when it pocketed $55.6 million, or 45 cents a share, on sales of $734.4 million.
"This quarter’s record net revenue, assets under administration and assets under management demonstrate the underlying strength of the firm through this economic recovery," CEO Paul Reilly said in a statement.
In the quarter, Raymond James' private client group unit grew its assets under administration to more than $275 billion while total assets under management surged to a record $35.6 billion thanks to both strong market performance and improved inflows.
"Our business results continue to improve and we are well-positioned to continue our growth and expansion," Reilly added. "The uncertain economic outlook, global unrest and mountain of proposed regulatory rules keep our optimism in check, but we look forward to meeting these challenges."
Five of the seven analysts tracking the stock maintain a "hold" recommendation while the other two rate it a "strong buy."
