JLL Notches Seventh Straight Quarter of Sharp Revenue Growth

Brokerage services giant JLL recorded its seventh consecutive quarter of double-digit revenue growth during the last three months of 2025. Revenue in the fourth quarter was up 10 percent annually to more than $7.6 billion.

Executives at the Chicago-based company with a global footprint attributed that milestone to robust performances in its management, investment sales, debt advisory and leasing business lines. 

Still, CEO Christian Ulbrich used a Wednesday morning earnings call to reassure investors regarding the effects of artificial intelligence on the work that JLL does. 

Specifically, commercial real estate stocks — particularly those of publicly traded brokerage services firms — suffered a rout earlier this month following renewed concerns about the effects of AI on what they do and who they do it for. Think of AI supplanting a lot of white-collar work — the same sort of work that requires large-scale, long-term office leases and all the servicing that comes with that. JLL’s share price declined in the span of a couple of days in early February from around $353 to about $263. 

“We have been acutely focused on both the opportunities and the disruption risks associated with technology, including AI, for nearly a decade,” Ulbrich said in prepared remarks at the start of the Wednesday call. “Relative to our industry at large, we have a uniquely informed perspective on this topic. When we assess the last 30-plus years and look across industries, a consistency has been true: The services businesses with scale, proprietary data, unified platforms and the best people outperform and win. We strongly believe this will continue to be true.”

Later on the call, during questions and answers with investors and analysts, Ulbrich had to revisit the topic. This time the question was AI competition from outside of commercial real estate entirely. Ulbrich said that “for the time being” he did not anticipate any pressure from outside the industry, and reiterated the strength of JLL’s business lines as well as its own in-house proprietary data. The company’s share price crested $300 during the call. 

As for those business lines, the fourth-quarter numbers were a home run for JLL. Its real estate management services revenue increased 9 percent annually. Capital markets services, including investment sales and debt advisory, were up 19 percent. And leasing advisory, including leasing itself, was up 17 percent over 2024’s fourth quarter. JLL said demand for office in particular was the highest now since 2019, before the pandemic. 

Diluted earnings per share were up 66 percent compared with the fourth quarter of 2024, to reach $8.34. These and other fourth-quarter metrics beat analysts’ expectations. 

Tom Acitelli can be reached at tacitelli@commercialobserver.com.