BlackRock (BLK) saw a modest increase in premarket trading on Monday after the asset management giant announced its Fiscal Q2 2024 results. The company’s earnings per share (EPS) were $10.36, beating the consensus estimate of $9.96. However, revenue fell short of expectations, reaching $4.81 billion compared to the anticipated $4.85 billion, though it marked an 8% increase year-over-year.
Positive Q2 Results for BLK
Assets under management (AUM) hit $10.65 trillion, up 13% year-over-year but slightly below the projected $10.73 trillion. Net inflows were $81.57 billion, reflecting a 1.8% increase from the previous year but missing the estimate of $101.24 billion.
The company’s adjusted operating margin improved to 44.1%, exceeding both last year’s 42.5% and the estimated 42.7%. Equity net inflows were $6.44 billion, significantly lower than the forecasted $31.85 billion.
BlackRock Inc. reported a profit of $1.495 billion, or $9.99 per share, for the second quarter, up from $1.366 billion, or $9.06 per share, in the same period last year. Excluding items, adjusted earnings were $1.550 billion or $10.36 per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ expectations of $9.95 per share.
The company’s revenue for the quarter rose 7.7% to $4.805 billion from $4.463 billion last year.
BlackRock’s Revenue Breakdown
Additionally, BlackRock’s largest revenue segment—Investment advisory, administration fees, and securities lending revenues—increased to $3.875 billion from $3.611 billion a year ago, driven by positive organic base fee growth and the impact of market beta on average AUM.
Technology services revenue at BlackRock rose to $395 million from $359 million the previous year, reflecting strong demand for its Aladdin technology offerings. Aladdin is BlackRock’s proprietary platform that provides tools for investment management, risk analysis, and operational support.
Investors can use TipRanks’ Revenue Breakdown tool to see where BLK generates the most revenue.
Dividends and CEO’s Update
BLK’s Board of Directors paid a quarterly cash dividend per share of $5.10 and repurchased shares worth $500 million in the quarter.
Larry Fink, BlackRock’s CEO, added, “We are on pace to close our planned acquisition of Global Infrastructure Partners in the third quarter of 2024, which is expected to double private markets base fees and add approximately $100 billion of infrastructure AUM. And just a few weeks ago, we announced our agreement to acquire Preqin, a leading private markets data provider.”
Is BLK Stock a Buy, Sell, or Hold?
Today’s price confirms analysts’ bullish views on BlackRock. Overall, the Street has a Strong Buy consensus rating on BlackRock, with 7 analysts deeming it a Buy and 1 giving it a Hold. The average BLK price target is $931, implying an upside of 12.44%.
