Oppenheimer analysts provided their outlook on Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) ahead of the upcoming Q4 results, scheduled to be announced on Jan 9.

While the investment banking market remains challenged, analysts expect the company to remain solidly profitable. Their estimate goes to $0.75 for Q4/22 from $0.77 prior. The analysts believe their estimate is above the ex-Oppenheimer consensus estimate of approximately $0.53.

The analysts think this level of core earnings still equates to roughly a 10% ROTCE at the company's core investment bank, although mentioning that this will become harder and harder to distinguish as the parent and broker-dealer have been merged together. The analysts raised their price target to $52 from $46 while reiterating their Outperform rating.