Executive Summary

Q4 2021 revenue was $81.7M, up 14.5% year over year, while diluted EPS was $0.41 vs $0.74 in Q4 2020; operating income rose to $29.4M but non‑operating items (mark‑to‑market losses and the $11.3M shareholder-designated charitable contribution) compressed net income to $11.0M .
Assets under management ended the quarter at $35.0B, up from $32.6B a year ago; equity mutual fund revenues grew to $46.1M and Institutional/PWM to $17.8M, supported by market levels and client activity .
The board maintained the regular quarterly dividend at $0.04/share and repurchased 353,333 shares for $8.7M at an average price of $24.62; the $0.50/share SDCC was doubled from last year, creating an $11.3M expense in Q4 .
Management highlighted added market volatility and framed macro drivers as the “Six I’s” (Inflation, Interest Rates, Infrastructure, Income Taxes, International/Internal Relations, Infection), expecting fundamental-driven value investing to benefit as financial conditions normalize .

What Went Well and What Went Wrong

What Went Well

Strong YoY revenue growth (+14.5%) on higher investment advisory fees; Q4 investment advisory fees were $75.1M vs $64.9M a year ago, with mutual fund revenues at $46.1M and Institutional/PWM at $17.8M .
Operating income expanded to $29.4M (vs $23.7M YoY), aided by CEO compensation waivers ($7.6M benefit vs $4.7M in Q4’20) .
AUM ended Q4 at $34.982B, up from $32.561B a year ago, supported by product breadth and client events; closed-end funds AUM rose to $8.656B (from $7.773B) .

What Went Wrong

Non‑operating losses weighed on bottom line: $1.9M mark‑to‑market losses vs $4.5M gains in Q4’20, and the $11.3M SDCC expense reduced non-operating results, driving diluted EPS down to $0.41 from $0.74 YoY .
Effective tax rate ticked up to 28.8% from 28.4% in Q4’20, offering less after‑tax leverage .
Sequential operating leverage softened vs Q3 (operating income $29.4M in Q4 vs $40.7M in Q3), reflecting lower advisory margin mix and the non‑operating headwinds in Q4 .

Financial Results

Quarterly Financials (sequential comparison)

Metric	Q1 2021	Q2 2021	Q3 2021	Q4 2021
Revenues ($USD Millions)	$67.928	$75.624	$75.907	$81.667
Operating Income ($USD Millions)	$22.454	$24.849	$40.676	$29.441
Net Income ($USD Millions)	$15.950	$17.101	$29.161	$10.987
Diluted EPS ($USD)	$0.59	$0.64	$1.09	$0.41
EBIT Margin %	33.1% (22.454/67.928)	32.9% (24.849/75.624)	53.6% (40.676/75.907)	36.1% (29.441/81.667)
Effective Tax Rate %	29.6%	37.4%	24.5%	28.8%

Year-over-Year (Q4)

Metric	Q4 2020	Q4 2021
Revenues ($USD Millions)	$71.348	$81.667
Operating Income ($USD Millions)	$23.684	$29.441
Net Income ($USD Millions)	$19.723	$10.987
Diluted EPS ($USD)	$0.74	$0.41
Effective Tax Rate %	28.4%	28.8%

Segment and Revenue Mix

Segment Metric ($USD Millions)	Q4 2020	Q3 2021	Q4 2021
Investment Advisory Fees	$64.9	$69.1	$75.1
Mutual Fund Revenues	$40.3	$48.0	$46.1
Institutional & PWM Revenues	$15.0	$19.2	$17.8
SICAV Revenues	$1.1	$1.9	$2.0
Distribution Fees & Other Income	$6.4	$6.8	$6.6
Total Revenues	$71.3	$75.9	$81.7

KPIs and AUM/Flows

KPI	Q1 2021	Q2 2021	Q3 2021	Q4 2021
AUM End of Period ($USD Billions)	$33.409	$34.625	$33.539	$34.982
AUM Average ($USD Billions)	$33.380	$34.603	$34.625	$34.272
Client Inflows ($USD Millions)	$1,277	$1,128	$1,264	$1,706
Client Outflows ($USD Millions)	$(2,797)	$(1,494)	$(1,672)	$(1,747)
Market Appreciation/Depreciation ($USD Millions)	$2,492	$1,708	$(549)	$(188)
Fund Distributions (net of reinvestments) ($USD Millions)	$(124)	$(126)	$(129)	$1,672

Balance Sheet and Capital Return

Cash, cash equivalents, and U.S. Treasury Bills $142.0M; investments in securities $32.3M; total assets $232.0M; subordinated notes $51.0M due June 15, 2023; stockholders’ equity $93.9M .
Management stated “cash and investments” of $159.4M at quarter end (note: presentation differs from Table III classification) .
Dividend: $0.04/share declared on Feb 3, 2022; buybacks of 353,333 shares for $8.7M at $24.62 average in Q4; additional 56,336 shares repurchased post‑quarter at $23.46 average .

Guidance Changes

Metric	Period	Previous Guidance	Current Guidance	Change
Regular Quarterly Dividend per share	Q4 2021 declaration; payable Mar 29, 2022	$0.04/share declared Nov 4, 2021 for Dec 28, 2021 payment	$0.04/share declared Feb 3, 2022 for Mar 29, 2022 payment	Maintained
Shareholder-Designated Charitable Contribution (SDCC)	FY 2021	$0.25/share in prior year	$0.50/share approved, est. ~$11.3M	Raised
Preliminary EPS Ranges (pre-announcements)	Q2 2021; Q3 2021	Q2: $0.62–$0.66 diluted EPS (prelim) ; Q3: $1.08–$1.12 diluted EPS (prelim)	Final Q2: $0.64 ; Final Q3: $1.09	Final in range

Note: No explicit forward guidance on revenue, margins, OpEx, OI&E, or tax rate was provided in the Q4 press release .

Earnings Call Themes & Trends

No Q4 2021 earnings call transcript was available in the document set; themes below reflect press releases across Q2–Q4.

Topic	Previous Mentions (Q-2 = Q2 2021; Q-1 = Q3 2021)	Current Period (Q4 2021)	Trend
Macro/Volatility & Outlook	Q2: Special subordinated note dividend; shelf registration; active client events ; Q3: Rights offerings; client symposiums	“Six I’s” framework; expect normalization to favor value investing	Heightened macro focus; constructive value bias
ESG/ETFs	Q2: Launched LOPP and GGRW ETFs in Feb 2021	Jan 3, 2022: third actively managed semi‑transparent ETF focused on automation; adviser absorbing fees on first $25M for one year	Continued product expansion
Capital Allocation	Q2: $2.00 subordinated note dividend; buybacks; $0.02 regular dividend	Q3: Regular dividend doubled to $0.04; buybacks	Q4: Maintained $0.04; buybacks $8.7M
AUM & Flows	Q2: EOP AUM $34.625B; positive market	Q3: EOP AUM $33.539B; market depreciation	Q4: EOP AUM $34.982B; strong distributions and mixed flows
Tax/Regulatory	Q2: ETR 37.4% ; Q3: ETR 24.5%	Q4: ETR 28.8%; commentary on Tax Cuts & Jobs Act impacts	Variable tax rate dynamics

Management Commentary

“This year has begun with added volatility as the market is influenced by a set of dynamics we frame as the ‘Six I’s’: Inflation, Interest Rates, Infrastructure, Income Taxes, International/Internal Relations and Infection. Ultimately, we expect the economy and earnings growth to remain strong. The normalization of financial conditions should be positive for fundamental driven investing in general and our style of Value investing in particular.”
Business highlights included multiple preferred offerings across Gabelli closed‑end funds and the launch of a third actively managed semi‑transparent ETF focused on automation in early January 2022 .

Q&A Highlights

No Q4 2021 earnings call transcript was available; therefore, Q&A insights and tone comparisons to prior quarters cannot be provided based on primary sources. [ListDocuments results showed no transcript for Q4 2021]

Estimates Context

S&P Global consensus estimates (EPS and revenue) for GAMI were unavailable due to missing CIQ mapping in our SPGI integration; as such, we cannot provide consensus comparisons for Q4 2021. Values retrieved from S&P Global.*
Reference points: Management’s preliminary diluted EPS ranges were provided for Q2 ($0.62–$0.66) and Q3 ($1.08–$1.12), with final results landing at $0.64 (Q2) and $1.09 (Q3) .

Key Takeaways for Investors

Q4 exhibited solid top‑line growth and operating income expansion, but non‑operating headwinds (mark‑to‑market losses and the $11.3M SDCC) weighed on EPS; watch for normalization of non‑operating items in subsequent quarters .
AUM trajectory remains constructive with $35.0B EOP and diversified product capability across mutual funds, closed‑end funds, SICAVs, and semi‑transparent ETFs; sequential AUM recovery from Q3 is a positive signal .
Capital returns continue: dividend maintained at $0.04/share and meaningful buybacks; SDCC highlights an ongoing shareholder‑centric capital and ESG stance that affects reported GAAP results .
Margin profile remains sensitive to mix and compensation waivers; Q3’s unusually high EBIT margin underscores variability—focus on underlying advisory revenues and CEO waiver disclosures to gauge sustainable profitability .
Macro narrative (“Six I’s”) suggests a value investing tailwind as financial conditions normalize; product expansion into automation‑focused ETF adds optionality in flows .
Near‑term trading: Results lacked a clear beat/miss vs Street due to unavailable consensus; stock reaction likely hinges on AUM momentum, buyback cadence, and any updates to non‑operating items/tax rate. Medium‑term: Monitor net flows and product performance across mutual funds/ETFs for scalable revenue growth .

GAMCO INVESTORS, INC. ET AL (GAMI)·Q4 2021 Earnings Summary