BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) solidified its dominance as the world’s largest asset manager on Thursday, reporting that assets under management (AUM) reached a historic $14 trillion.
The milestone follows a "blockbuster" year of growth, capped by record fourth-quarter net inflows of $342 billion as institutional and retail investors flooded into the firm’s iShares ETFs and private market offerings.
The New York-based firm reported fourth-quarter net income of $1.13 billion, or $7.16 per share.
On an adjusted basis, excluding non-recurring items and costs related to its aggressive acquisition strategy—including the integration of Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) and HPS Investment Partners—earnings were $13.16 per share.
This comfortably cleared the $12.39 consensus estimate among analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research.
Revenue for the quarter climbed to $7.01 billion, an increase of 23% compared to the prior-year period, also exceeding Street forecasts of $6.75 billion.
The growth was driven by a 12% annualized organic base fee expansion, reflecting broad strength across systematic active equities, technology services, and the firm’s burgeoning private credit business.
For the full year 2025, the firm reported total revenue of $24.22 billion and a profit of $5.55 billion.
In a sign of confidence for the year ahead, BlackRock’s board approved a 10% increase in the quarterly cash dividend to $5.73 per share and authorized the repurchase of an additional 7 million shares.
The firm’s "mega-force" strategy—focusing on infrastructure for the AI revolution and the global energy transition—appears to be paying off as it captures "whole portfolio" mandates from global clients.