Oct 14, 2026 earnings call — Strong inflows, AI infrastructure, and private markets growth
Earnings per share were $15.93, up 38% year over year.
Revenue $7.8B (est $7.4B) · EPS $15.93 (est $14.32)
Key quotes
"Clients entrusted us with nearly $870 billion of net inflows over the last 12 months, driving 10% organic base fee growth."
"We partnered with Meta on the financing of its planned $14 billion data center in Texas, bringing together infrastructure investments from GIP, private financing capabilities from HPS."
"We again delivered double-digit growth in revenue, operating income, and earnings per share, with all three measures reaching new records."
Analyst Q&A 6
What drove base fee growth
Q (Michael Cho · JPMorgan): Analyst asked which businesses and products drove the acceleration in organic base fee growth and whether those contributions look sustained.
A: Martin said the firm is executing its 2030 plan and reported third quarter organic base fee growth of 11%. He said growth was very well diversified across the platform, led by systematic businesses, active management, AI infrastructure deployment, private markets and several ETF and tax-aware strategies, and he described strong, durable pipelines and consolidation opportunities.
"Organic base fee growth this quarter, I think as Larry and I referenced, it was very well diversified across the platform." — Martin S. Small (CFO)
Clients and higher interest rates
Q (Michael Cyprys · Morgan Stanley): Analyst asked how asset-owner clients are changing allocations after long-term rates rose and whether AI infrastructure financing is sensitive to higher financing costs.
A: Rob said fixed income demand is in the early innings and that today's higher yields let investors earn attractive income without taking large duration risk, noting fixed income saw $78 billion of net inflows in the third quarter and $205 billion year to date. Larry said federal deficits are large, private capital is being unlocked for data centers and GPUs, financing needs are growing and this will tend to keep rates structurally higher, so new asset-based financing and analytics will be needed for startups and compute expansion.
"Fixed income generated $78 billion of net inflows in the third quarter and $205 billion year to date, reflecting demand for high-quality income and more resilient portfolio construction." — Robert S. Kapito (PRESIDENT)
Tax-aware demand and custodian limits
Q (Craig Siegenthaler · BofA): Analyst asked where demand is strongest in the tax-aware suite, requested Q3 flow detail, and asked how BlackRock is handling capacity constraints at major RIA custodians for long-short products.
A: Martin said demand for tax-aware solutions is strong across direct indexing, long-short and options overlays, and gave specific Aperio metrics: Aperio is near $200 billion AUM and had $5 billion of net inflows in Q3, with $4 billion into long-short and $1 billion into long-only. He said custodian financing models are adjusting, more financing counterparties are entering, and BlackRock is expanding custody and distribution attachments and alternative delivery options to broaden access.
"Aperio had $5 billion of net inflows in the third quarter, including $4 billion into long-short and $1 billion into long only." — Martin S. Small (CFO)
Margin expansion drivers and outlook
Q (Michael Brown · UBS): Analyst asked what drove the large margin expansion, whether margins should be flat in Q4, and what margin opportunity looks like in 2027 in a typical market.
A: Martin said operating margin was 47.8% for the quarter, up 320 basis points, and margin ex performance fees was 48.6%, up 230 basis points, with recurring fee margin expanding 230 basis points excluding performance fees. He said margin expansion is driven by structural growers like private markets, ETFs, SMAs and technology, and that acquired businesses (GIP, HPS) and scaled franchises should allow further margin scaling toward best-in-class private markets economics.
"Operating margin for the quarter was 47.8%. That is up 320 basis points." — Martin S. Small (CFO)
BlackRock's role in AI/data-center financing
Q (Alex Blostein · Goldman Sachs): Analyst asked which parts of the AI/data-center ecosystem BlackRock will participate in, what capital-structure roles it will play, how much bridge financing it will provide, and whether it could build a syndication business.
A: Larry said BlackRock is in conversations with hyperscalers and sees large opportunities for GPU financing (via HPS) and build-out financing (via GIP), has closed on the Aligned Data Center platform and is pursuing additional platforms, and noted this will take time for data, ratings and analytics to mature. Martin said BlackRock will participate across the capital stack through public debt, mezzanine and equity via its platforms, but the primary focus is sourcing investments and placing them into long-term client accounts; syndication revenues would be incremental.
"When we originate, the focus is on where that investment can create the most value across our institutional wealth and insurance client portfolios." — Martin S. Small (CFO)
What will drive flows and product mix next
Q (Dan Fannon · Jefferies): Analyst asked which asset classes, products, or mix changes will be the biggest contributors as the pipeline accelerates into year-end.
A: Martin said they are heading into a seasonally strong fourth quarter when 30%-40% of iShares annual flows typically occur, and he expects continued shift toward higher-fee ETF categories like precision exposures, active ETFs, digital assets and factors. He also expects stronger private markets fundraising in Q4, sees $20 billion in evergreens with $1.2 billion of quarter flows and $800 million of gross subscriptions, and thinks higher base rates will bring renewed allocations to private credit and retail BDCs.
"We tend to see 30%-40% of iShares annual flows happening in the fourth quarter." — Martin S. Small (CFO)