Lincoln International, Inc. (LCLN) Stock Price & How to Invest

Lincoln International advises on mergers and acquisitions in the private capital markets, working mainly for private equity firms, their portfolio companies and privately held business owners rather than for large public acquirers. The firm reports two segments. Investment Banking Advisory, which covers sell-side and buy-side M&A, private funds advisory and capital markets work, produced ~$177.7M of the ~$225.7M in second-quarter 2026 revenue. Valuations and Opinions, which marks illiquid private holdings for fund managers and writes fairness opinions, contributed the other ~$47.9M and behaves more like a subscription than a deal fee. Roughly ~1,450 professionals work from more than ~30 offices across ~14 countries, and the firm counts ~162 Managing Directors. Its October 2025 purchase of MarshBerry, an advisory and consulting business focused on the insurance and wealth-management sectors, added ~$210M of goodwill and explains a visible share of the recent growth rate.

The IPO on May 20, 2026 raised ~$451.5M of net proceeds and changed how the income statement reads. As a partnership, Lincoln paid its partners through distributions that never landed in compensation expense, which is why fiscal 2025 shows ~$772M of revenue and ~$214M of net income at a ~28% margin. Partner compensation now runs through the P&L, and the second quarter of 2026 came in at a ~$15.9M GAAP operating loss and ~$0.01 of diluted EPS against ~$28.7M of adjusted net income and ~$0.26 of adjusted EPS. Data providers that stitch the old partnership earnings onto the new share count produce a trailing P/E near ~5.7 that describes nothing about the business as it is structured today. The forward multiple near ~18x is the more honest anchor, and the open question is whether the current run rate in sponsor M&A holds long enough to grow into it.

Advisory revenue is cyclical and lumpy, and a stall in private equity exit activity would hit the segment generating roughly four fifths of the top line. The Up-C structure hides complications behind a simple share count: only ~34.8M of the ~102.2M total shares are publicly traded Class A stock, a Tax Receivable Agreement obligation of ~$84.8M sits on the balance sheet, and the firm qualifies as a controlled company under NYSE rules, so it is not required to maintain a majority independent board. Float will keep growing as lock-ups expire and LILP units convert into Class A stock, and the company already issued ~1.43M additional Class A shares on August 12, 2026 to former partners under an obligation disclosed in the prospectus. Compensation is both the largest cost and the hardest to hold down, since retaining producers competes directly against margin. The public record is genuinely thin: the quarter ended June 30, 2026 produced the first Form 10-Q, no annual report has been filed yet, and the company stated in that filing that it is not currently a party to any material litigation.

7 analysts publish price targets on LCLN, averaging $27.64 against a $25.59 price as of August 2026, or +8.0%. The published targets run from $25.00 to $30.00, a narrow spread, and the ratings split 3 buy, 4 hold, 0 sell. Over the last six months there have been 2 raises and 1 cut among the published actions. A price target is what an analyst published on a date, not a prediction, and sell-side ratings skew positive across the whole market.

Read the full LCLN forecast and price target for the target table, the recent rating actions by firm, and how the consensus has shifted.

We give no verdict on Lincoln International, Inc.. Both cases are real, which is why the question is contested at all, so here is the strongest version of each.

The case for buying. Sponsor M&A is thawing. Investment Banking Advisory revenue rose ~56% year over year in the second quarter of 2026, to ~$177.7M, which management attributed to a higher number of completed transactions, higher average fees and the MarshBerry acquisition. The most optimistic published target, $30.00, assumes this works close to its best case.

The case against. Advisory revenue is cyclical and lumpy, and a stall in private equity exit activity would hit the segment generating roughly four fifths of the top line. The most pessimistic target, $25.00, is roughly what LCLN is worth if this bites instead.

Read the full bull and bear case on LCLN, including what would have to change to break either one. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

A simple financial snapshot. These are approximations and refresh quarterly; for current figures see Lincoln International, Inc.'s investor relations page or your broker.

• Revenue (TTM): ~$874M
• Q2 2026 revenue: ~$226M, up ~51% year over year
• Q2 2026 diluted EPS, GAAP vs adjusted: ~$0.01 vs ~$0.26
• Adjusted compensation ratio (Q2 2026): ~61% of revenue
• Net cash at June 30, 2026: ~$149M
• Market cap and forward P/E: ~$2.6B, ~18x

At roughly ~$25.6 a share across ~102.2M total shares in all three classes, Lincoln carries a market value near ~$2.6B, or about ~3x trailing revenue. The trailing P/E near ~5.7 quoted by most data providers divides a post-IPO share count into pre-IPO partnership earnings, so it reflects an accounting structure that no longer exists. Revenue of ~$772M in fiscal 2025 and ~$572M in fiscal 2024 is the cleaner growth comparison, because the reorganization changed the expense lines while leaving the top line untouched.

Other names that sit close to LCLN: same theme, named as a direct competitor, or held beside it in the same funds. Each entry says which. Worth a look if you are thinking about diversification within a thesis rather than concentration on one ticker.

There are three common ways to get LCLN exposure. Buy shares (or fractional shares) directly at any major broker. Hold an ETF that includes it, which spreads the position across many companies. Or build it into a focused thematic portfolio, so LCLN sits alongside other stocks that express the same thesis.

Walnut takes the portfolio route. Describe a thesis where LCLN fits (for example “AI infrastructure” or “dividend-growth large-caps”) and the AI proposes 5 to 6 constituents with target weights. You review the plan and fund it through your own broker when you're ready.

New to this? Start with how to invest in stocks, see how to analyze a stock with AI, or compare the best AI stock analyzers.

Lincoln International is a real, cash-generative advisory franchise whose reported GAAP history was rewritten by its own IPO, so the adjusted figures and the pace of sponsor M&A are what the ~$2.6B valuation actually rests on.

Whether LCLN is worth buying today depends more on your time horizon and what you already hold than on any single call. We walk through valuation, what would have to go right, and the risks in is LCLN a buy or a sell?, and where the stock could go from here in the LCLN stock forecast.

For income investors, whether LCLN pays a dividend and how the payout looks is covered in does LCLN pay a dividend? And to weigh LCLN against a peer, read the full side-by-side comparisons: LCLN vs HLI and LCLN vs PJT.