- BlackRock’s adjusted earnings rose 38% to $15.93 per share, exceeding Wall Street’s $14.13 estimate, while quarterly revenue reached approximately $7.8 bn.
- The asset manager attracted $205 bn in quarterly net inflows, including $134.5 bn into iShares ETFs, pushing total assets under management to $15.49 trillion.
- BlackRock raised $68 bn for private markets over the past year, including $25 bn for private credit, as it expands investment opportunities linked to AI infrastructure.
BlackRock (NYSE: BLK) exceeded Wall Street’s third-quarter 2026 profit expectations and attracted $205 bn in net inflows, sending its shares up as much as 5% in Wednesday trading as strong equity markets supported investment returns and asset growth.
The world’s largest asset manager reported a 38% year-over-year increase in earnings per share, while revenue reached approximately $7.8 bn, surpassing analysts’ consensus forecast of $7.5 bn.
Adjusted earnings of $15.93 per share exceeded the $14.13 expected by analysts surveyed by LSEG.
Chief Executive Officer Larry Fink attributed the performance partly to the strength of the S&P 500, which extended its gains during the quarter and finished near record highs.
BlackRock shares initially traded 0.8% higher after Wednesday’s market opening, even as broader US stock indexes declined and competing asset managers recorded losses. The stock subsequently gained as much as 5% during the session.
Market fundamentals are strong and well supported, with higher margins and earnings momentum catalyzed by new technology.
Larry Fink, BlackRock Chief Executive Officer
The performance represented an improvement for BlackRock, whose shares had lagged the broader market earlier in 2026 amid concerns that investor caution could weaken revenue and earnings growth.
Assets under management increased to $15.49 trillion, compared with $13.46 trillion a year earlier and $15.34 trillion at the end of the second quarter.
Growth reflected both rising market valuations and continued investor demand for BlackRock’s investment products. Its iShares exchange-traded funds attracted $134.5 bn in new money during the quarter.
Net inflows into fixed-income products reached $78.2 bn despite higher bond yields and declining bond prices.
Investor sentiment has faced pressure from rising yields and expectations that the Federal Reserve’s recent interest rate increase could mark the beginning of a broader monetary tightening cycle.
BlackRock Chief Financial Officer Martin Small said traditional distinctions between risk-seeking and risk-averse investment environments no longer adequately describe market conditions. “I don’t believe we can evaluate the investment environment as risk-on or risk-off any longer,” Small said during the company’s earnings call.
BlackRock is also expanding its involvement in financing artificial intelligence infrastructure, including partnerships with Microsoft and Meta.
The company is positioning itself to participate in the substantial capital investment required by large technology companies developing AI computing capacity and related infrastructure.
During the earnings call, Fink compared the early development of AI infrastructure financing with the emergence of mortgage-backed securities in the 1980s, which subsequently became a market worth trillions of dollars.
He suggested that computing capacity could eventually support tradable securitized investment products, creating a new category of financial assets.
Fink described computing capacity as an “asset class” and said the development of standardized data tracking AI infrastructure could help attract investors to securities backed by these assets.
BlackRock already possesses “data at scale,” he said, and intends to establish a significant position in the emerging market.
The expansion of AI infrastructure financing comes as governments and businesses compete for increasingly scarce capital. Fink said substantial AI investment requirements, combined with growing government deficits, are intensifying that competition.
Private credit remains another important area of BlackRock’s growth strategy.
The asset manager has expanded its presence in private lending markets, where investment products typically generate higher management fees than its core ETF business.
BlackRock previously outlined plans to generate more than $35 bn in annual revenue by the end of the decade, with private markets and technology expected to contribute more than 30% of that amount.
Over the past 12 months, the company raised $68 bn for private markets investments, including $25 bn allocated to private credit.
The private credit industry has nevertheless faced greater scrutiny over concerns about lenders’ exposure to AI-related business disruption and uncertainty surrounding the valuation of illiquid assets.
These concerns contributed to increased redemption requests from investors during recent quarters, although several private credit fund managers have reported that withdrawal pressures are beginning to ease.
BlackRock does not separately disclose revenue generated by its private markets operations. The company reported $15.31 bn in quarterly net inflows into the segment.
The combination of record assets under management, strong ETF demand and expanding private markets activity supported BlackRock’s third-quarter results, while its growing involvement in AI infrastructure financing provides another potential source of investment and fee revenue.
