B. Riley bulls cheer surprise Q2 profit as firm beats Nasdaq filing deadline
B. Riley Financial shares leapt in premarket trading on Tuesday, December 16, 2025, after the company unexpectedly reported a profit for the second quarter and filed its long-overdue Q2 results just in time to satisfy a critical Nasdaq requirement. The move eased immediate fears that the financial services firm could be pushed off the exchange for failing to keep its filings current.
The company submitted its quarterly report for the period ended June 30, 2025, ahead of Nasdaq’s December 23 cutoff date, according to corporate disclosures. By meeting that deadline, B. Riley removed the most urgent delisting risk that had been hanging over the stock for months, even as broader concerns about its balance sheet, past investments, and regulatory exposure continue to weigh on sentiment.
For investors, the headline surprise was profitability. B. Riley booked net income of $137.5 million in Q2 2025, a dramatic turnaround from the net loss of $435.6 million it posted in the same quarter a year earlier. Income from continuing operations also swung sharply into the black, coming in at $71.7 million versus a loss of $449.2 million in Q2 2024. The reversal suggests that, at least on paper, some of the financial damage from prior periods has been absorbed or offset.
Revenue nearly doubled year over year, rising to $225.3 million from $94.9 million in the second quarter of 2024. Part of that improvement reflects the absence of a major drag that hit the prior-year results: in Q2 2024, the company recorded a negative $175.6 million loss tied to fair value adjustments on loans. The current quarter’s top line also benefited from several discrete items, which boosted reported performance but may not be repeatable in future periods.
Among those one-time drivers were a $66.8 million gain from the sale of GlassRatner and an additional $44.5 million gain associated with exchanges of senior notes. These transactions helped pad earnings, giving B. Riley more breathing room as it works to stabilize operations and reassure both regulators and shareholders about its financial health.
On an operating basis, the firm showed more modest but still notable improvement. Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations increased to $38.5 million, up from $31.2 million in the same quarter a year earlier. Non-GAAP earnings per share came in at $4.50, a figure that reflects both the stronger operating contribution and the impact of the non-recurring gains.
Chairman and Co-CEO Bryant Riley emphasized that the Q2 filing marks only one step in a broader effort to return the company’s reporting to a normal cadence. He acknowledged that the third-quarter report remains outstanding but said B. Riley is “well positioned to file” its Q3 2025 results by Nasdaq’s next key date of January 20, 2026. Successfully meeting that deadline would bring the firm fully current on its financial disclosures and remove a critical overhang.
Nasdaq previously granted B. Riley multiple extensions following a panel hearing, giving the company additional time to catch up on its late reports. Those extensions were tied to specific milestones and to the firm’s demonstrated efforts to address its reporting lapses. As part of that push, B. Riley appointed a new chief financial officer and structured the executive’s compensation in a way that explicitly links pay to timely and accurate regulatory filings, according to the company’s regulatory statements.
The reporting delays and market anxiety did not arise in a vacuum. B. Riley has been wrestling with the fallout from failed or troubled investments, complex debt restructuring, and intensifying regulatory attention. A central flashpoint has been the collapse of Franchise Group, a significant portfolio company that filed for bankruptcy in late 2024 and forced B. Riley to recognize hundreds of millions of dollars in write-offs. Those losses raised questions about the firm’s risk management, underwriting standards, and the true quality of its earnings power.
Complicating matters further, a former CEO of Franchise Group recently pleaded guilty in a separate case involving the defrauding of hedge fund investors at Prophecy Asset Management of roughly $300 million. While B. Riley has insisted it had no knowledge of those fraudulent schemes, the association has drawn additional scrutiny from regulators and investors alike and has kept the company in the headlines for reasons that have little to do with its core advisory and brokerage businesses.
According to B. Riley’s own disclosures, the firm remains the subject of an ongoing U.S. civil investigation related to that individual. The probe underscores that, despite the positive optics around a surprise profit and the successful Q2 filing, legal and regulatory risks remain material. Depending on the outcome, the investigation could result in fines, settlements, or additional compliance obligations that might weigh on profitability in future periods.
For bullish investors, the latest quarter offers a narrative of resilience. The sharp swing to profit, stronger adjusted EBITDA, and timely regulatory filing suggest that management is regaining control of the situation after a tumultuous stretch. Meeting Nasdaq’s deadlines demonstrates operational discipline at a time when markets are closely watching whether the company can execute, not just promise. The leadership’s confidence in hitting the January 20 Q3 deadline is another signal bulls are seizing on as evidence that the worst of the reporting crisis might be over.
Skeptics, however, will point out that a meaningful portion of Q2’s earnings came from one-off events such as asset sales and debt exchanges, rather than purely from recurring fee-based or interest income. While these strategic moves can strengthen the balance sheet and simplify the business, they also make it harder to gauge the company’s sustainable earning capacity once the portfolio reshuffling is complete. Investors will be watching future quarters for cleaner results that rely less on extraordinary gains.
Another open question is how the market will value B. Riley’s stock as uncertainty gradually lifts. The immediate pop in premarket trading reflects an unwinding of some worst-case delisting fears, but valuation will ultimately hinge on whether the firm can produce consistent profitability without leaning heavily on fair value adjustments or opportunistic transactions. Institutional holders in particular may adopt a wait-and-see approach until the Q3 report is filed and the regulatory cloud begins to clear.
The Q3 filing thus becomes a key catalyst. Timely publication by the January 20 deadline would not only satisfy Nasdaq but also give investors a more current snapshot of B. Riley’s trajectory following the Franchise Group fallout and ongoing investigation. Analysts are likely to drill into credit exposures, loan books, fair value marks, and the performance of core operating segments to determine whether the Q2 rebound is the start of a lasting recovery or an accounting bright spot in an otherwise challenging period.
Corporate governance and risk oversight will also remain under the microscope. The company’s decision to tie the new CFO’s compensation to timely reporting signals to the market that B. Riley recognizes the importance of robust controls and transparency. Over time, investors will look for evidence that similar accountability mechanisms are being embedded across senior management, risk, and compliance functions to prevent a repeat of the reporting delays and the reputational damage they caused.
For now, B. Riley’s path forward appears to rest on three pillars: executing on its remaining filings to fully satisfy Nasdaq, continuing to clean up its balance sheet and portfolio exposures, and cooperating with regulators to bring the ongoing civil investigation to a close. How effectively the firm manages each of these fronts will determine whether the current rally in its shares becomes a durable re-rating or a short-lived relief bounce.
In the near term, the narrative has clearly shifted from imminent danger of delisting to cautious optimism about stabilization. The surprise Q2 profit, strengthened by one-time gains and improved operating performance, has given supporters fresh ammunition. Yet the market’s final judgment will depend on whether B. Riley can turn this one-quarter reprieve into a consistent pattern of timely reporting, transparent governance, and repeatable earnings growth in the quarters ahead.