A month has gone by since the last earnings report for Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL Quick QuoteJLL - Free Report) . Shares have added about 8.5% in that time frame, outperforming the S&P 500.

Will the recent positive trend continue leading up to its next earnings release, or is Jones Lang LaSalle due for a pullback? Before we dive into how investors and analysts have reacted as of late, let's take a quick look at its most recent earnings report in order to get a better handle on the important catalysts.

Jones Lang's Q2 Earnings & Revenues Beat Estimates

JLL reported second-quarter 2024 adjusted EPS of $2.55, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.30. The reported figure increased from the prior-year quarter’s number of $2.12.

Results reflected better-than-anticipated revenues. The company benefited from the continued strength in its resilient lines of business and decent growth in transactional revenues. JLL also gained from its cost management efforts.

Revenues of $5.63 billion increased 11.4% from the year-ago quarter and surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $5.35 billion.

Per Christian Ulbrich, CEO of JLL, "We are pleased with our second quarter results as Work Dynamics led strong resilient revenue growth and our transactional business lines benefited from investments we have made to take advantage of greater commercial real estate activity.”

Segment-Wise Performance

During the second quarter, the Markets Advisory segment’s revenues came in at $1.08 billion, reflecting a year-over-year increase of 5.2% (in USD). The rise was mainly driven by Leasing, which reported growth in most geographies, particularly in the United States, Greater China, India and Germany. Leasing growth was led by the office sector, which witnessed increased deal size and transaction volumes, partly offset by industrial that saw a decline in both deal size and volume.

Meanwhile, growth in Property Management revenues was driven by expansion in the Americas and Asia Pacific, including incremental revenues associated with pass-through expenses.

Revenues for the Capital Markets segment were $457.6 million, increasing 2.1% (in USD) year over year. Despite macroeconomic headwinds, this segment achieved broad-based revenue growth across all business lines. Investment Sales, Debt/Equity Advisory and Other, excluding Net non-cash MSR, increased in the office, industrial and hotels sectors.

JLL’s Work Dynamics segment reported revenues of $3.93 billion, up 16.6% (in USD) year over year. The uptick in revenues was driven by continued strong performance in Workplace Management with Americas contract wins and mandate expansions from 2023 onboarding. Project Management revenues also grew year over year, mainly in the Americas and Asia Pacific.

However, the JLL Technologies segment reported revenues of $56.4 million, declining 6.9% (in USD) from the prior-year quarter levels. The fall was partially due to lower contract signings over the last few quarters. Moreover, the lower revenues reflected delayed decisions on technology spend from existing solutions clients, which included certain contract renewals.

The revenues in the LaSalle segment fell 28.7% (in USD) year over year to $102.6 million. The decline in revenues was mainly due to a decrease in incentive fees and lower advisory fees because of lower assets under management (AUM). This is further attributable to lower fees in Europe as a result of structural changes to a lower-margin business.

As of Jun 30, 2024, LaSalle had $86.6 billion of AUM, down from $93.2 billion as of Jun 30, 2023. This resulted from dispositions and withdrawals, net valuation decreases, foreign currency decreases and a decline in uncalled committed capital and cash held, partially offset by acquisitions.

Balance Sheet

JLL exited the second quarter of 2024 with cash and cash equivalents of $424.4 million, up from $396.7 million at the end of the first quarter and $410 million as of Dec 31, 2023.

As of Jun 30, 2024, the net leverage ratio was 1.7, down from 1.9 as of Mar 31, 2024 and 2.0 as of Jun 30, 2023. The corporate liquidity was $2.45 billion as of the second quarter's end, up from $2.3 billion as of the first quarter’s end.

The company repurchased 103,701 shares during the reported quarter for $20.1 million. As of Jun 30, 2024, $1.053 billion remained authorized for repurchase under the share repurchase program.

How Have Estimates Been Moving Since Then?

In the past month, investors have witnessed an upward trend in estimates revision.

VGM Scores

Currently, Jones Lang LaSalle has a great Growth Score of A, a grade with the same score on the momentum front. Charting a somewhat similar path, the stock was allocated a grade of B on the value side, putting it in the top 40% for this investment strategy.

Overall, the stock has an aggregate VGM Score of A. If you aren't focused on one strategy, this score is the one you should be interested in.

Outlook

Estimates have been broadly trending upward for the stock, and the magnitude of these revisions has been net zero. Notably, Jones Lang LaSalle has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). We expect an in-line return from the stock in the next few months.

Performance of an Industry Player

Jones Lang LaSalle is part of the Zacks Real Estate - Operations industry. Over the past month, CBRE Group (CBRE Quick QuoteCBRE - Free Report) , a stock from the same industry, has gained 8%. The company reported its results for the quarter ended June 2024 more than a month ago.

CBRE reported revenues of $8.39 billion in the last reported quarter, representing a year-over-year change of +8.7%. EPS of $0.81 for the same period compares with $0.82 a year ago.

CBRE is expected to post earnings of $1.06 per share for the current quarter, representing a year-over-year change of +47.2%. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate has changed -0.3%.

The overall direction and magnitude of estimate revisions translate into a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) for CBRE. Also, the stock has a VGM Score of D.