Cohen Targets Revenue of More Than $500 Million Within 3 to 5 Years
Key Facts
Daniel Cohen said Cohen & Company could exceed $500 million in revenue within 3 to 5 years, announcing the target on the third-quarter earnings call. Cohen is returning as CEO as the company reported revenue of $32.441 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2026. That was down from $84.213 million in the same quarter last year and $69.487 million in the second quarter of 2026. Cohen said the company has the “potential to transform” into a company generating more than that level of revenue within the timeframe he outlined. The target was announced as part of a presentation on leadership, the business and the period’s results, while the stock fell in premarket trading on November 12.
The board returned Cohen to the CEO role after he served as CEO and chief investment officer from December 2009 to September 2013. He has been a board member since 1999 and has served as chairman and CEO since May 2022. Cohen said his role would focus on business strategy, operations and corporate vision. He will therefore combine executive leadership of the company with chairing its board. The leadership change comes as the company seeks to increase revenue over the coming years, while third-quarter revenue contracted from both the year-earlier and prior-quarter periods.
Revenue from investment banking and new issue sales fell to $12.7 million in the third quarter, from $54 million in the second quarter and $68.6 million a year earlier. Management said revenue in the business came from capital markets activity, driven primarily by SPAC transactions and initial public offerings. It was affected, however, by losses of $17.6 million on financial instruments the company received in exchange for its services. The figures highlight the difference between activity completed during the quarter and the revenue the company actually recorded. They also show that the decline in overall revenue came during a period when revenue from one of the company’s main businesses fell sharply from the two comparable quarters.
Cohen said the capital markets arm underwrote 6 SPAC initial public offerings and one closed-end fund during the quarter. He added that the company raised $1.8 billion for clients and advised on 8 deals to complete SPAC mergers with operating companies. For deals that have yet to close, management reported 45 SPACs it had underwritten with deferred fees, including 13 that had signed business combination agreements. Cohen noted that some deals are not closing as quickly as they were two quarters ago. These figures put the deal pipeline and deferred fees at the center of potential revenue growth, but do not change the revenue recorded for the third quarter.
Cohen said the market for new SPAC offerings remains slow and that the company has a large number of potential issuers in its pipeline. Management expects the market to become more open near the end of 2026 or the beginning of 2027, potentially allowing more of these offerings to launch. Cohen also said he hoped the company’s Inflection Point Acquisition Corp. VII would complete its merger with Elroy Air during the fourth quarter of 2026. The company had about $1.3 billion in assets under management as of September 30, 2026, most of them fixed-income assets. The company said its board declared a quarterly distribution of $0.25 per share, payable on December 14, 2026, to shareholders of record on November 30.
COHN shares closed at $11 on November 11, then fell in premarket trading to $10.05 on November 12, down 8.63% from the previous close. The move followed the third-quarter results and Cohen’s revenue target for the coming years. Near-term dates include November 30, the record date for shareholders eligible for the distribution, followed by payment on December 14. Management hopes to complete the merger of Inflection Point Acquisition Corp. VII and Elroy Air in the fourth quarter of 2026. The revenue growth prospects Cohen described are tied to developments in the SPAC market and the completion of deals cited by management.