Private Equity, VC & Investor · Advertiser / Brand · vs · Private Equity, VC & Investor
Houlihan Lokey vs William Blair
Structured technology and market comparison · 2026
Direct Feature Comparison
Houlihan Lokey · vs · William BlairIndependent investment bank for M&A, restructuring and valuation advisory.
Employee-owned financial-services partnership for advisory, investment management and wealth clients.
Analyze all overlapping signals and tech stacks for Houlihan Lokey and William Blair
Compare mutual enterprise clients, monetization models, live market signals, and partner networks directly in the interactive Knowledge Graph.
Comparison Analysis
What is the main difference between Houlihan Lokey and William Blair?
When comparing Houlihan Lokey and William Blair, both platforms operate within the Market Research & Intelligence, Other / Non-Digital Advertising Relevant, and Management & Strategy Consulting ecosystem. Houlihan Lokey is positioned as Independent investment bank for M&A, restructuring and valuation advisory, whereas William Blair focuses on Employee-owned financial-services partnership for advisory, investment management and wealth clients. Decision-makers evaluate both solutions when orchestrating their commercial monetization and technology stack.
What are the top alternatives to Houlihan Lokey and William Blair?
When evaluating Houlihan Lokey and William Blair, enterprise buyers also consider other platforms in Market Research & Intelligence, Other / Non-Digital Advertising Relevant, and Management & Strategy Consulting. You can discover the full competitive landscape and evaluate other alternatives by viewing their respective footprint profiles on Polaris7.
How do the corporate scale, structure, and headquarters of Houlihan Lokey and William Blair compare?
Houlihan Lokey is headquartered in US (founding year unrecorded) with 1,001–5,000 employees. William Blair is based in US (founded in 1935) with 1,001–5,000 employees. Complete ownership, subsidiary trees, and corporate affiliations are documented across Polaris7.
Market Signals
Recent Market Signals & Activity: Houlihan Lokey vs William Blair
Documented market movements, strategic partnerships, product releases, and regulatory developments mapped across Polaris7.
Houlihan Lokey
Recent Signals
- ·SEC APIfinancials
8-K Financial Filing Analysis for Houlihan Lokey (2026-09-22)
Houlihan Lokey reported several key governance and leadership actions following its annual stockholder meeting on September 16, 2026. Stockholders approved the Second Amended and Restated 2016 Incentive Award Plan, which sets the reserved share pool at 12 million shares, reinstates an annual evergreen replenishment at a reduced 1% rate (down from 6%), and eliminates the fixed plan expiration date. Additionally, the company announced the election of Thomas Reichert to the Board as an independent Class I director effective October 1, 2026, receiving a $120,000 initial restricted stock grant. In executive leadership changes, General Counsel Christopher M. Crain retired to transition into a Corporate Senior Advisor role, and Prabha Sipi Bhandari was appointed as Chief Legal Officer and Secretary.
- Stockholders approved the Second Amended and Restated 2016 Incentive Award Plan, establishing a 12 million share reserve and resetting annual evergreen dilution increases to 1% (down from 6%).
- Thomas Reichert was elected as an independent Class I director effective October 1, 2026, receiving a $120,000 restricted stock grant vesting over three years.
- Christopher M. Crain retired as General Counsel to become Corporate Senior Advisor, with Prabha Sipi Bhandari appointed as Chief Legal Officer and Secretary on September 16, 2026.
- ·DigidayM&A
Ad Tech's Public Market Woes: Investment Banker Explains Small-Cap Problem
At ExchangeWire's ATS London conference, investment banker Josh Wepman of Houlihan Lokey argued that the struggles of publicly-traded ad tech companies stem from their small market capitalizations, not performance. Most companies are too small to attract significant investment from index funds and mutual funds, with 'it's hard to be a $7 billion company' serving as a key quote. Deal activity has picked up to around $14 billion so far in 2026, but transactions are fewer and larger. Nick Macshane of Progress Partners noted extreme volatility in ad tech stocks, with some companies swinging 60% up or down, suggesting many should not be public. The article highlights take-private trends, mentioning Criteo's rumored buyout, and companies like DoubleVerify, LiveRamp, and Integral Ad Science moving off public markets. It also notes enterprise interest from Salesforce, Adobe, ServiceNow, Workday, Databricks, Snowflake, and OpenAI.
- Josh Wepman, MD at Houlihan Lokey, says public ad tech companies are too small for index/mutual funds to invest meaningfully.
- Public ad tech stocks have underperformed broader tech indices, with declining multiples through 2025-2026.
- Deal activity reached approximately $14 billion so far in 2026, spread across fewer, larger deals.
William Blair
Recent Signals
- ·PR Newswire: Advertising & MarketingFinancials
SueWallSt Investigates Alignment Healthcare Over Star Ratings Drop
SueWallSt.com, powered by Levi & Korsinsky LLP, has announced an investigation into potential securities law violations by Alignment Healthcare, Inc. (NASDAQ: ALHC) following a significant drop in its stock price. On October 9, 2026, shares opened roughly 20% lower after the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) lowered the company's California H3815 HMO contract to 3.5 stars from 4.0 stars in the 2027 Medicare Advantage Star Ratings. This contract covers more than 75% of Alignment's health-plan members. The company's October 8 announcement revealed that six of its seven eligible contracts earned four stars or higher, but the H3815 contract slipped. Following the news, Bank of America and William Blair downgraded the stock and cut price targets. The investigation focuses on whether Alignment made misleading statements before the disclosure, particularly during the July 30, 2026 earnings call when CEO John E. Kao expressed confidence in the company's position.
- Alignment Healthcare shares opened down ~20% on October 9, 2026, after CMS lowered its California H3815 HMO contract to 3.5 stars from 4.0 stars.
- The H3815 contract covers more than 75% of Alignment's health-plan members.
- Bank of America and William Blair downgraded ALHC and cut price targets following the news.
- ·Retail DiveFinancials
Reformation Q2 revenue jumps 24%, plans to double stores
Reformation, in its first earnings report as a public company, reported Q2 net revenue of $155.2 million, a 24% year-over-year increase. Direct-to-consumer revenue grew 21.2%, while wholesale revenue surged 48.7%. The company's net income rose 79.4% to $12.4 million. Active customers increased nearly 23%, though revenue per customer dipped slightly. The brand plans to double its store fleet from 70 to 140 over the next five years and expects full-year revenue between $602 million and $606 million. The IPO, which targeted a $1 billion valuation, initially traded at the lower end of its range.
- Reformation Q2 net revenue increased 24% year-over-year to $155.2 million.
- Direct-to-consumer revenue grew 21.2%, wholesale revenue grew 48.7%.
- Net income increased 79.4% to $12.4 million.
- ·Retail DiveFinancials
Five Below Q2 Sales Surge 23% on Social Media Shift
Five Below reported strong fiscal Q2 2026 results, with net sales up nearly 23% year over year to $1.3 billion and comparable sales up about 14%. Operating income jumped 425% to $275.4 million, and net income grew 417% to $221.4 million, aided by tariff refunds. CEO Winnie Park attributed part of the success to a 2025 shift in media spending away from traditional commercial channels toward social media, which helped the retailer better capitalize on trends. The company raised its full-year net sales outlook to a range of $5.63 billion to $5.71 billion. Analysts at Jefferies and William Blair praised the retailer's momentum, traffic-driven comp growth, and merchandising overhaul. Five Below also plans to open its first Puerto Rico stores in the second half of 2027.
- Five Below's Q2 fiscal 2026 net sales grew nearly 23% year over year to $1.3 billion.
- Comparable sales increased about 14%, driven primarily by transaction growth and new store units.
- Operating income rose 425% to $275.4 million; net income grew 417% to $221.4 million.
Compare their exact ecosystem overlaps.
Explore all deep relationships in Polaris7. Discover exactly which mutual clients, integrated technologies, and overlapping partners Houlihan Lokey and William Blair share across the market ecosystem.
Unlock full capability matrix, client overlaps & technology stacks