WillItSurvive
Accounting, tax and business software · United States

FTI Consulting

fticonsulting.com ↗

Global forensic, litigation, and regulatory advisory firm serving law firms and Fortune 100 companies.

Defensible for now
Assessed 22 July 2026 · Evidence as of 22 July 2026
Real protection, with named pressure against it.
On the recordSince 22 July 2026 · Checkable from Q3 2026 · Every call on the record Checkpoint: Q3 2026 earnings, will show if margin drop from 12.8% to 9.8% is a blip or a trend
The call

Courtroom rules and conflict-of-interest law keep FTI's core business protected while its own AI tools and rival firms squeeze margins at the edges.

FTI Consulting provides expert testimony, investigation, and financial advice to companies and law firms in disputes and crises. Its core business is hard to replace because courts require named experts to testify in person and take responsibility for their opinions, and Big Four accounting firms are blocked by law from doing this kind of work due to conflicts of interest. However, FTI's profits are shrinking (earnings power down from 12.8% to 9.8% in early 2026) partly because artificial intelligence is automating document review work that used to require many billable hours, and partly because competitors like Alvarez & Marsal are recruiting away FTI's star employees without legal barriers to stop them. The outcome depends on whether the profit squeeze is temporary or signals deeper trouble in how clients value FTI's services.

Why
01
AI pressure: FTI's own IQ.AI plus generative AI tools for document review. AI compresses billable hours in e-discovery and document review, about 10% of revenue, margins already slipping as FTI cannibalizes itself first. Could AI do the core job? Unlikely.
02
Bigger players: Alvarez & Marsal and AlixPartners. Rival consulting firms are poaching senior teams and clients, Economic Consulting already lost a group in early 2025. Could a giant copy it? No, they are blocked.
03
What protects it. Expert testimony and forensic opinions need a credentialed human signature courts will accept, and SOX bars Deloitte, EY, KPMG, and PwC from many conflict-laden cases.
What would change this call
Q3 2026 earnings report shows EBITDA margin still below 12% (vs 9.8% in Q1 2026). Margin compression from AI-driven fee pressure and competition is a sustained trend, not a blip.
A&M or AlixPartners announce hires of named senior FTI practice leaders with client books. Peer poaching is translating into actual client and revenue loss, not just talent movement.
FTI's Technology segment revenue growth stalls or declines despite IQ.AI rollout. AI tool is cannibalizing billable e-discovery hours faster than it generates new revenue.
Key numbers
  • FY2025 revenue $3.789B, up 2.4% (2025-12-31)
  • Q1 2026 EBITDA margin 9.8%, down from 12.8% (2026-03-31)
  • Stock fell 6.3% after Q2 2026 earnings miss (2026-05-05)
Named risks
  • AI-driven fee compression in e-discovery/Technology segment eroding margins. Severity: high
  • Senior talent poaching by Alvarez & Marsal and prior Economic Consulting group defection (early 2025). Severity: medium
  • Economic Consulting revenue fell 14.5% in Q4 2025 on weak antitrust demand. Severity: medium
  • Sector-wide AI valuation overhang; peer consulting stocks averaged a 14.2% drop after Q1 2026 earnings. Severity: medium
  • New CFO (effective 2026-05-01) integration risk during ongoing margin pressure. Severity: low
Rivals, as read in July 2026
RivalDirectionEvidence
Alvarez & Marsalgaining onPoached senior FTI staff including reputation-advisory practice, reported 2026-06-10
AlixPartnerscontestingRanked alongside FTI and A&M as the restructuring 'big three' per industry commentary, 2026-02-08
Big Four (Deloitte, EY, KPMG, PwC)losing toSOX audit-independence rules bar them from FTI's core conflict-related consulting work
Ankura, Berkeley Research Group, GuidehousecontestingMid-size specialists competing on price in investigations, compliance, healthcare advisory
Questions people ask
Is FTI Consulting profitable in 2026?
Yes. FTI posted FY2025 net income of $270.9M on revenue of $3.789B (2026-02-26). Q1 2026 net income was $57.6M but Adjusted EBITDA margin fell to 9.8% from 12.8% a year earlier, and Q2 2026 results missed estimates, sending shares down 6.3% on 2026-05-05.
Could AI replace FTI Consulting?
Unlikely for its core forensic and expert-testimony work, which requires a credentialed human signing off for legal liability. AI is compressing FTI's Technology segment (e-discovery, ~10% of revenue); FTI itself launched IQ.AI in 2024 and expanded it with IQ.AI Studio in March 2026 to self-cannibalize that work first.
Who is FTI Consulting's biggest competitor?
Alvarez & Marsal, which as of 2026-06-10 was actively poaching senior FTI staff, including its reputation-advisory practice, to build a conflict-free alternative to the Big Four. AlixPartners is also considered part of the restructuring 'big three' alongside FTI and A&M.
Who owns FTI Consulting?
FTI Consulting is an independent public company on NYSE under ticker FCN, with no parent entity; roughly 99.36% of shares are institutionally held per a MarketBeat filing tracker dated 2026-07-21. Market capitalization was about $4.68-4.96 billion as of mid-July 2026.
Why can't Deloitte or KPMG just take FTI Consulting's clients?
SOX audit-independence rules structurally bar the Big Four (Deloitte, EY, KPMG, PwC) from taking on conflict-laden forensic, restructuring and litigation-consulting engagements involving their audit clients, a regulatory wall that protects roughly 90% of FTI's revenue base.
Is FTI Consulting growing or shrinking in 2026?
Revenue is still growing (FY2025 $3.789B, up 2.4% YoY; Q4 2025 hit a record $990.7M, up 11% YoY) but profitability is under pressure: Q1 2026 Adjusted EBITDA margin dropped to 9.8% from 12.8% a year prior, and Economic Consulting revenue fell 14.5% in Q4 2025 on weak antitrust demand.
Timeline
  • 2026-06-10Alvarez & Marsal reported poaching senior FTI staff to build conflict-free Big Four alternative
  • 2026-05-05FTI stock fell 6.3% following a Q2 2026 earnings miss despite revenue beat
  • 2026-03-31Q1 2026 results showed Adjusted EBITDA margin falling to 9.8% from 12.8% prior year
  • 2026-03-10FTI launched IQ.AI Studio, expanding its generative AI legal/compliance suite
  • 2026-03-09Eun Angela Nam named permanent CFO, effective 2026-05-01
  • 2026-02-26FTI reported FY2025 revenue of $3.789B and issued 2026 guidance of $3.94-4.10B revenue
  • 2025-09-12CFO Ajay Sabherwal departed FTI Consulting
  • 2025-03-25FTI Technology launched IQ.AI for Review, claiming up to 70% cost savings on some workflows
  • 2024-10-08FTI Consulting's Technology segment launched IQ.AI for legal and compliance work
Revision history
22 July 2026
First assessed. Defensible for now. The text above is fixed as of this date and is not edited afterwards.
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