# Raymond James: a high-quality wealth manager sitting in the sweet spot two weeks before earnings

Raymond James (RJF), In the Sweet Spot pick for October 14, 2026: Raymond James pairs a quality percentile of 93.6 and a core score of 277 with a PAR of 15.1...

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In the Sweet Spot · October 14, 2026 · Raymond James (RJF) · Financials

**Raymond James pairs a quality percentile of 93.6 and a core score of 277 with a PAR of 15.1%, inside the sweet spot, as shares sit 14.2% below their 52-week high.**

Raymond James (RJF) was Manifest Investing's In the Sweet Spot daily stock pick for October 14, 2026. At the time of the pick, Raymond James carried a quality percentile of 94 and a projected annual return (PAR) of 15.1% against a MIPAR of 9.8%, placing it inside the sweet spot of 14.8% to 19.8%.

## Key metrics at the time of the pick

- **Quality percentile**: 94
- **Projected annual return (PAR)**: 15.1%
- **MIPAR (median PAR of coverage)**: 9.8%
- **PROVE**: 11.7%
- **Core score (of 300)**: 277
- **Financial strength (of 100)**: 89
- **EPS stability (of 100)**: 93.9
- **Sales growth forecast**: 12.6%
- **P/E ratio**: 14.2
- **Price at pick**: $156.78
- **52-week low**: $138.82
- **52-week high**: $182.73
- **Above 52-week low**: 12.9%
- **Below 52-week high**: 14.2%
- **Dividend yield**: 1.4%
- **Projected yield**: 1.8%
- **In the sweet spot**: Yes
- **Triple play**: No

**Why Raymond James, why today**

Raymond James (RJF) reports fiscal fourth-quarter results on October 28, 2026, two weeks out, per our data aggregator. The shares closed at $156.78, which is 14.2% below the 52-week high of $182.73 and 12.9% above the 52-week low of $138.82. Here is how the methodology sees the stock.

**Where it sits on our scale**

- **PAR of 15.1%.** PAR is our projected annual return over five years, combining price appreciation and dividends. With MIPAR (the median PAR across every stock we follow) at 9.8%, the sweet spot runs from 14.8% to 19.8%. RJF is inside that band. It is toward the lower end, so a modest move in price or in MIPAR could shift its position. We would not lean on the band label alone.
- **Quality of 93.6.** Quality is a percentile against all covered stocks, so 93.6 places RJF well into the top tier of the database. Anything above 80 counts as excellent. Quality blends financial strength, EPS stability, relative sales growth and relative profitability.
- **Financial strength of 89.3 and EPS stability of 93.9**, both out of 100. EPS stability measures how smooth earnings per share have been, and RJF’s record is very smooth.
- **Core score of 277 out of 300.** This is simply quality plus financial strength plus EPS stability. A total of 225 or more marks a core-holding candidate, and RJF clears that by a wide margin.
- **Growth forecast of 12.6%**, with a current P/E of 14.2 and a projected yield of 1.8% against a current yield of 1.35%.

RJF is not flagged as a Triple Play, so we are not claiming that setup here.

**What our AI review of recent earnings calls says**

Our AI review of its earnings calls, covering Q1 through Q3 of fiscal 2026 (generated September 1, 2026, so it predates the October 28 report), rates the overall trend as up. The main findings:

- **Growth.** Record revenues in each of the three quarters. Net new assets and adviser recruiting ran well ahead of last year’s record pace. Fee-based client assets jumped sharply in the latest quarter, and management guided fee revenue sharply higher for the fourth quarter. That is the line to watch on the 28th.
- **Banking.** Securities-based lending, which is loans against clients’ investment portfolios, kept growing quickly. Credit quality improved.
- **Credibility.** Management met or beat its own guidance on fee revenue, kept non-compensation expenses on target even while absorbing two acquisitions, and delivered its stated share repurchase pace each quarter.
- **Competition.** Private-equity-backed adviser aggregators showed signs of capital-raising stress, which management believes helps its recruiting. The firm also completed an enterprise rollout of a proprietary AI assistant.

The review also carries a red flag, and we want to be plain about it. A putative class action over the firm’s client cash sweep programs drove a meaningful rise in legal expenses in the latest quarter. Management expects costs to moderate but not disappear, and the ultimate exposure is hard to size. Several industry peers face similar suits. A second item to watch is capital markets activity, which has been recovering but remains below what management calls normalized, with AI-related valuation uncertainty weighing on software and fintech deal-making. The review also notes that falling interest rates pressure sweep-related income.

**Other context**

The Wall Street consensus 12-month price target, per our data aggregator, is $178.50. That is a one-year outside data point and a different horizon from our five-year PAR, so the two should not be read against each other.

**The way we see it**

A 15.1% PAR means that, on the analyst-file assumptions, the price offers a return above the market median with a company whose earnings have been unusually steady. The fourth-quarter report and the legal-cost trajectory are the next real tests of those assumptions. This is educational research, not a recommendation, and returns are never guaranteed.

## About In the Sweet Spot

Manifest Investing's daily stock pick: one high-quality company whose projected annual return (PAR) sits in the sweet spot above the market median (MIPAR). Each pick pairs Manifest Investing's quality percentile with its projected annual return (PAR); the sweet spot runs from MIPAR + 5 to MIPAR + 10 percentage points. Browse [every pick in the archive](/sweet-spot/archive).

_In the Sweet Spot is educational and is not investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Figures reflect Manifest Investing's methodology as of the pick date._