Jefferies dips after Q1 profit miss

** Shares of investment bank Jefferies Financial JEF fall as much as 3.5%, last down 2.9% at $44.80

** After market close on Wednesday, JEF posted Q1 adjusted profit of 69 cents/shr, missing analysts' expectation of 75 cents/shr - LSEG data

** Investment banking revenue jumped 31.4% to $739.7 mln, driven by rising activity across its advisory as well as equity and debt underwriting businesses

** Capital markets revenue rose 8.8% to $711.6 mln, the third-best quarter ever for the segment, driven by strong performance in equities

** Asset management revenue nearly quadrupled to $273.4 mln, helped by strong performance across multiple investment strategies and funds

** Despite earnings miss, we believe overall results were positive and showcased an emerging recovery within the sector - CFRA analyst Michael Elliott

** JEF took a pre-tax loss of $55 mln related to its investment in hedge fund Weiss Multi-Strategy Advisers, which has closed down

** Investment banking pipeline continues to strengthen, which leads us to believe a more robust market is developing - CEO Richard Handler and President Brian Friedman

** As of last close, JEF shares were up 14.2% YTD