BlackRock posted stronger-than-expected fourth-quarter results on Thursday, beating Wall Street forecasts as a broad market rally fueled higher fee income and pushed its assets under management to a record $14 trillion.
Shares of the world’s largest asset manager climbed more than 4% in U.S. trading after the company announced a 10% increase in its quarterly dividend and expanded its share buyback program, moves that signaled confidence in its financial momentum and outlook.
The upbeat results also reflect a broader rebound across U.S. markets. Stocks climbed last year as excitement around artificial intelligence, falling inflation, and resilient economic growth drew investors back into equities, particularly lower-cost index funds.
At the same time, cooling price pressures and signs of a softer labor market pushed the Federal Reserve toward a more accommodative stance. That shift helped revive demand for bonds, leading to solid inflows into BlackRock’s fixed-income offerings as investors repositioned for a changing rate environment.
Flows into BlackRock’s products remained strong, though there were some shifts beneath the surface. Equity funds attracted $126 billion during the quarter, a modest dip from a year earlier, while fixed-income products pulled in nearly $84 billion as investors leaned back into bonds.
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Overall, long-term net inflows reached about $268 billion, powered largely by the firm’s ETF business, which continues to be its biggest driver of organic growth. For the full year, BlackRock recorded a record $698 billion in net inflows, underscoring the growing appeal of its investment platform. ETFs, in particular, remain popular with investors looking for low-cost and diversified exposure to global markets.
The company also saw a sharp jump in performance fees, which climbed 67% to $754 million for the period, reflecting stronger revenue from its private markets business.
“BlackRock enters 2026 with accelerating momentum across our entire platform, coming off the strongest year and quarter of net inflows in our history,” BlackRock CEO Larry Fink stated in a statement, quoted by Reuters.
BlackRock is also stepping up its push into private markets, including real estate and infrastructure, with growing attention on AI-related assets such as data centers and power networks. The strategy is aimed at capturing larger, long-term capital commitments while building steadier and higher-margin revenue streams that are less dependent on public market swings.
That focus is already showing results. The firm’s private markets business attracted $12.7 billion in inflows during the quarter. Looking ahead, BlackRock has set an ambitious goal of raising $400 billion in private market assets by 2030.
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As part of that broader push, the company has also announced plans to bring private assets into its retirement offerings, expanding access to a segment traditionally limited to institutional investors.
Private assets bring in much higher fees than exchange-traded funds, which remain a core part of BlackRock’s business through its iShares brand. That fee mix helped lift profits even as the company continued to invest in growth.
Stripping out one-time items, BlackRock’s net profit climbed to $2.18 billion, or $13.16 per share, for the three months ended December 31. That was up from $1.87 billion, or $11.93 per share, a year earlier and comfortably ahead of analysts’ average estimate of $12.21 per share.
Assets under management rose to $14.04 trillion during the quarter, up sharply from $11.55 trillion a year ago. Revenue, which is largely tied to assets under management, increased to $7 billion from $5.68 billion, topping Wall Street expectations of $6.69 billion.
Expenses also moved higher, with total costs rising to $5.35 billion from $3.6 billion a year earlier, reflecting higher spending across the business.