Asset management giant BlackRock’s second-quarter profit outpaced Wall Street estimates, with a stock market rally lifting the value of client assets. To sweeten up matters further, investors poured significant money into the company’s exchange-traded funds (ETFs), sending its shares up more than 7%.
Assets managed by the New York-based company jumped to a record USD 15.34 trillion in the Q2 2026, up from USD 12.53 trillion a year earlier and USD 13.89 trillion in the first quarter.
The world’s largest money manager pulled in USD 192 billion of client cash during the period, underpinned by strength in its iShares ETF franchise.
Equity products, on the other hand, accounted for USD 71.6 billion of net flows in the quarter, while fixed-income products accounted for USD 92 billion.
“Market fundamentals are strong and well supported, with higher margins and earnings momentum catalyzed by new technology. The scale and depth of our client relationships globally have never been greater,” CEO Larry Fink said while announcing the results.
On an adjusted basis, BlackRock earned USD 13.91 per share in the three months ended June 30, topping analysts’ expectations of USD 12.59, compiled by LSEG.
Commenting on BlackRock’s blockbuster Q2 earning data, Barclays analysts said the gain was “broad-based,” with profit margins expanding more than Wall Street’s expectations.
The company’s second-quarter adjusted operating margin stood at 45.9%, the highest in almost five years. BlackRock has already increased its planned share buybacks in 2026 to USD 2 billion from USD 1.8 billion.
Major American equity indexes had ended June with their biggest quarterly gains since 2020 as optimism grew over corporate earnings. Investors have also looked beyond the volatility sparked by the Iran war.
BlackRock, traditionally known more for its strong presence in stocks and bonds than private markets, has stepped up efforts to become a major player in alternative assets, which include everything except stocks and bonds.
The company spent about USD 28 billion on strategic acquisitions, as it bought infrastructure investor Global Infrastructure Partners, private credit firm HPS Investment Partners, and data provider Preqin, turbocharging its private markets push.
However, BlackRock has also been affected by the negative sentiments surrounding the multi-trillion-dollar private credit sector, amid investors’ concerns about lending standards and fears of AI-driven disruption at software companies.
About it, Fink said, “There was idiosyncratic risk in private credit late last year. But we’ve seen actually a stabilization in terms of credit. And we’re not seeing any real change in the credit quality of payments from our private investments.”
“Private credit net inflows were USD 6 billion in the reported period, while infrastructure hauled USD 5.2 billion. Overall, private markets’ net inflows stood at USD 15.4 billion,” he said further.
The firm has set a target of USD 400 billion in gross private markets fundraising from 2025 to 2030.