Cushman & Wakefield posted a profit fueled by a rebound in office leasing and the brokerage's strongest quarter for property sales and financing in nearly three years.
Chicago-based Cushman, the world’s third-largest brokerage, posted a nearly 62% profit increase to $113 million in the fourth quarter, as revenue increased and the company reduced debt costs and other expenses.
Cushman reported $2.6 billion in revenue, a 3% year-over-year increase, as revenue from capital markets — or property sales and debt transactions — jumped 35% and leasing revenue rose 6%, driven mainly by surging office deal activity in the United States.
The company finished last year with “unparalleled momentum” against the backdrop of a resilient global economy amid its strongest quarter for capital markets revenue since early 2022, CEO Michelle MacKay said.
“We believe that we are in the early innings of a multiyear upcycle in commercial real estate,” MacKay told investors during the company’s earnings call Thursday.
Cushman, the last global brokerage to report year-end results, joined CBRE, JLL, Colliers International, Newmark Group and Marcus & Millichap in posting strong quarterly earnings as property sales increased in the final months of last year and office leasing stayed strong into 2025.
“As of now, the macroeconomic environment as it pertains to property is largely favorable," MacKay said. "The economy is growing and creating jobs, corporate profits are healthy and the odds of a recession have receded."
"All of these factors have created a healthy backdrop for leasing, and our own performance confirms that leasing has momentum,” MacKay added.
Industrial, office
Despite the uncertainty surrounding the economic effects of trade tariffs and other global issues, industrial real estate's main growth engines remain strong, including ecommerce sales, consumer spending, population growth and the move by many companies to onshore manufacturing in the United States, MacKay said.
The brokerage posted a fifth consecutive year-over-year gain in leasing revenue, and MacKay expects office deal activity to keep improving this year as more companies mandate a full return to offices.
"Nearly half of the office markets that we track registered positive absorption in the quarter, and a healthy pipeline of expiring leases will create steady deal flow," she said.
Cushman expects mid-single-digit revenue growth for its leasing and services segments this year, CFO and Executive Vice President Neil Johnston told investors.
Johnston also expects Cushman’s full-year growth in property sales and capital markets to accelerate this year from the mid-single-digit rate reported for the full year of 2024.
However, the degree of capital market growth in coming months depends on such factors as “interest rate volatility, investor sentiment and continuing availability of capital,” he added.