BlackRock (BLK) Earnings & Analysis

Latest quarter

BlackRock reported Q3 FY2026 revenue of $7.8 billion, above the $7.5 billion consensus, and adjusted earnings per share of $15.93, above the $13.97 consensus. Revenue rose from $6.5 billion a year earlier, while diluted earnings per share rose to $10.57 from $8.43.

The filing attributed revenue growth to market gains, organic base-fee growth, higher performance fees and increased technology services and subscription revenue. BlackRock said base fees and securities-lending revenue grew with organic fee growth and the effect of markets on average assets under management. It attributed higher performance fees primarily to liquid alternatives, partly offset by lower private-markets revenue.

BlackRock reported a 30.0% operating margin, unchanged from a year earlier. The filing said higher revenue lifted operating income, partly offset by expenses that included a noncash change in acquisition-related contingent consideration and higher sales, asset and account costs.

The filing said assets under management increased from the preceding quarter as net inflows more than offset market depreciation. BlackRock reported $1.1 billion of free cash flow for Q2 FY2026, compared with $1.3 billion a year earlier.

Adjusted EPS is the figure the consensus estimates, not the GAAP EPS above.

What management said on the call

The latest available call covers Q1 2026, rather than the reported third quarter. CFO Martin Small said clients were seeking advice and access across their portfolios as they made strategic allocation decisions and navigated near-term market themes. He attributed organic base-fee growth to that client engagement and described growth across products, regions and client types.

Small said advisers were bringing Aperio’s tax-aware direct indexing into client accounts, while infrastructure fundraising and deployment were ahead of plan. He also said demand for international iShares exposures and growth in businesses including private markets, systematic equities and active ETFs had benefited the fee rate.

CEO Laurence Fink said clients increasingly wanted allocation and implementation across public and private markets together. He described a shift toward fewer strategic partners as portfolios and governance became more complex. Fink also said institutional demand for private credit was growing, particularly among insurers, and that BlackRock had signed a rotation into high-grade private credit from an existing insurance client.

On technology, Fink said private credit had expanded faster than the risk-management infrastructure supporting it. He said BlackRock was positioning Aladdin, eFront and Preqin to provide data, transparency and risk analytics for private-credit portfolios.

In the Q&A, Small addressed wealth management, saying demand for whole-portfolio services and the move from brokerage to advisory were helping ETFs and separately managed accounts. He said BlackRock was expanding model portfolios to include private markets and planned to broaden its evergreen offerings.

Discussing margins, Small said acquired private-markets businesses and scaled franchises could lift recurring fee-related earnings margins over time. On private-credit fund flows, he said BlackRock could not determine whether wealth channels would experience elevated redemptions and more muted subscriptions. He also said BlackRock planned to launch LifePath with private investments alongside partners to build a track record for plan sponsors.

Guidance

On the Q1 2026 call, Small estimated a 25.0% adjusted tax run rate for the remainder of 2026. He also anticipated repurchasing at least $450.0 million of shares per quarter for the balance of the year, subject to market and other conditions, consistent with BlackRock’s January guidance.