BlackRock reported third-quarter results on Wednesday morning, October 14, before the market opened on Wall Street. Assets under management reached $15.49 trillion, and net inflows for the quarter were $205 billion. Adjusted diluted earnings per share rose 38% to $15.93, and GAAP earnings per share rose 25% to $10.57.
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What Was Reported
| Q3 2026 | Q3 2025 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Assets under management (period-end) | 15,488,263 | 13,463,625 | +15% |
| Assets under management (average) | 15,460,140 | 12,960,773 | +19% |
| Total net inflows | 205,466 | 204,642 | +0.4% |
| Revenue | 7,752 | 6,509 | +19% |
| Base fees and securities lending revenue | 6,036 | 5,046 | +20% |
| Performance fees | 630 | 516 | +22% |
| Operating income (GAAP) | 2,328 | 1,955 | +19% |
| Operating income, as adjusted | 3,330 | 2,621 | +27% |
| Operating margin (GAAP) | 30.0% | 30.0% | |
| Operating margin, as adjusted | 47.8% | 44.6% | +3.2 pts |
| Net income (GAAP) | 1,659 | 1,323 | +25% |
| Net income, as adjusted | 2,621 | 1,907 | +37% |
| Diluted EPS (GAAP, dollars) | 10.57 | 8.43 | +25% |
| Diluted EPS, as adjusted (dollars) | 15.93 | 11.55 | +38% |
| Dividend per share (dollars) | 5.73 | 5.21 | +10% |
In millions of dollars, except earnings and dividend per share and margins. Percentage changes that do not appear in the release were calculated from the figures themselves. Source: the company's results release (Form 8-K), October 14, 2026.
The company presents its results two ways: under GAAP, and on an "as adjusted" basis that excludes certain items, such as those tied to acquisitions. The gap between the two is central to this report, so it is broken down below.
Net Inflows, and the Channels That Produced Them
Total net inflows of $205.5 billion were almost identical to the same quarter a year earlier ($204.6 billion, up 0.4%). Of that, $174.8 billion went to long-term assets and $30.7 billion to cash management. Since the start of the year, net inflows have accumulated to $526.9 billion, and over the last twelve months to about $869 billion.
ETFs brought in $134.5 billion of the $174.8 billion of long-term net inflows - about 77%. Institutional active added $44.5 billion, retail $23.3 billion, while institutional index recorded net outflows of $27.4 billion. On a style view, active products recorded net inflows of $66.4 billion.
By asset type, fixed income led with $78.2 billion, followed by equities with $52.4 billion. Alternatives recorded $24.2 billion, of which $15.3 billion in private markets; digital assets added $7.9 billion and multi-asset $5.1 billion. By region, the Americas led with $125 billion, against $31 billion in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and $19 billion in Asia-Pacific (APAC).
The company's chairman and CEO, Larry Fink, said: "Clients entrusted us with $205 billion of net inflows this quarter, and $869 billion over the last year." According to him, inflows were broad across asset classes and regions, in active and in index - though in the channel data, institutional index is the only one of the four channels that recorded outflows.
The company also reports organic growth in base fees: 11% on an annualized basis in the quarter, and 10% over the last 12 months. Assets under management rose $144 billion from the end of the second quarter ($15.34 trillion) - less than net inflows alone. The difference is the sum of the other movements in assets, including changes in markets and currencies.
Revenue, and Performance Fees
Revenue rose 19% to $7,752 million, and 9% from the prior quarter ($7,084 million). Base fees and securities lending revenue reached $6,036 million, up 20%, in line with the 19% rise in average assets ($15.46 trillion, versus $12.96 trillion). They contributed $990 million of the $1,243 million rise in revenue - about 80%. Technology and subscription revenue rose 14%, to $588 million, and distribution fees rose 17%, to $414 million.
Performance fees reached $630 million, versus $516 million a year earlier and $305 million in the prior quarter - more than double the prior quarter. According to the release, the increase stems mainly from one hedge fund whose annual measurement period ends in the third quarter. In detail: performance fees in liquid alternatives rose to $409 million, from $202 million, while in private markets they fell to $191 million, from $298 million.
Margins, and the Gap Between GAAP and Adjusted
Adjusted operating income rose 27% to $3,330 million, faster than revenue, and the adjusted operating margin reached 47.8%, from 44.6% a year earlier and 45.9% in the prior quarter. The margin is calculated on adjusted revenue of $6,967 million, not on reported revenue. On a GAAP basis, by contrast, the operating margin stayed at 30.0%, identical to the same quarter, and operating income rose 19%, in line with revenue, to $2,328 million.
The gap between the two operating incomes, $1,002 million, stems mainly from contingent consideration on the GIP and HPS deals: the change in its fair value was booked in the quarter as an expense of $564 million, versus $93 million a year earlier and $11 million in the prior quarter. The expense depends on BlackRock's share price at period-end, and it is excluded from the adjusted figures - about $556 million after tax, or about $3.4 per share. According to the release, it is largely non-deductible for tax purposes and affects GAAP operating income and earnings per share.
Other items excluded from the adjusted figures: amortization of intangible assets of $276 million, acquisition-related compensation of $84 million, and acquisition-related general and administrative expense of $46 million. The GAAP effective tax rate rose to 29.4%, from 25.2%; on the adjusted figures it was 24.2% in both periods.
There is also a change below the operating line. Adjusted nonoperating income moved from a loss of $106 million a year earlier to income of $127 million. The company booked a gain of about $22 million on Circle (against a loss of about $115 million a year earlier) and a gain of about $80 million on Securitize. Adding the improvement in adjusted operating income ($709 million) to the change in nonoperating income ($233 million) gives an improvement of $942 million. About a quarter of it, by this calculation, came from nonoperating items.
Adjusted net income rose 37% to $2,621 million, and adjusted diluted EPS reached $15.93, against $13.91 in the prior quarter. On a GAAP basis, net income rose 25% to $1,659 million. In the first nine months of the year, revenue reached $21,534 million, up 25%, and adjusted EPS reached $42.37, against $34.89 in the same period a year earlier.
Capital, and Outlook
BlackRock repurchased $550 million of its own shares in the quarter. The dividend per share rose 10% to $5.73, from $5.21, and the diluted share count fell to 164.5 million, from 165.2 million.
The release includes no numerical guidance. Fink describes accelerating momentum heading into the fourth quarter, which is the seasonally strongest, and points to a pipeline across the whole product portfolio, in private markets, in retirement and in international.
Versus Expectations, and the Stock
According to an AP summary, using Zacks data, analysts expected adjusted earnings of $13.97 per share (7 analysts) and revenue of $7.46 billion (4 analysts). Reported adjusted earnings of $15.93 are about 14.0% above the expectation, and revenue of $7.752 billion is about 3.9% above. Estimates differ slightly between data providers, so the comparison here is to AP's figures only.
The report was published before the market opened. The stock closed the report day at $1,074.61, up 0.80% from $1,066.12 the day before.
הזווית שלי
דעה אישית של אילן אברמוב - לא ייעוץ ולא המלצה
What interests me about this report is the composition of the profit more than its size. Adjusted earnings per share rose 38%, adjusted operating income 27%, and GAAP operating income - 19%, in line with revenue. Between those figures sit acquisition items, performance fees from a single hedge fund and a $233 million swing in nonoperating income.
There are two ways to read it. One: the core is strong, because about 80% of revenue growth came from base fees, organic growth in base fees is 10%-11%, and net inflows over the last year reached about $869 billion. Two: part of the jump in earnings per share does not necessarily repeat every quarter, quarterly net inflows barely changed from the same quarter a year earlier, and the GAAP margin did not move. Both readings rest on the same numbers.
The fourth quarter will show how much of the margin remains when that fund's performance fees are not in the picture, and Fink himself expects a seasonally strong quarter.
(To be clear: this is my personal opinion only. Nothing here is a recommendation to take any action, and there is no forecast here of the price of any security.)
Ilan Abramov, the author, or anyone on his behalf may hold some of the securities or funds mentioned in this article.
