The stock of BlackRock (BLK), the world’s largest asset manager, is up 5% after the company reported strong financial results for this year’s third quarter.
The New York-based firm announced earnings per share (EPS) of $15.93 U.S., beating Wall Street forecasts of $14.30 U.S.
Revenue in the period totaled $7.75 billion U.S., which topped the $7.44 billion U.S. consensus estimate among analysts. Sales were up 19% from a year earlier.
Importantly, the firm’s total assets under management (AUM) reached a record $15.49 trillion U.S. in the summer quarter.
BlackRock said in its earnings statement that it attracted $205 billion U.S. in capital inflows during the third quarter as the stock market hit successive all-time highs.
Investors were encouraged to pour money into BlackRock’s mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) as the stock market hit new highs due to rally in artificial intelligence stocks.
Management said they saw $134.5 billion U.S. of new inflows into the company’s flagship iShares ETFs during the latest quarter.
Net flows into BlackRock’s debt products, or bonds, were $78.2 billion U.S. in the quarter, signaling strong investor appetite.
However, a steep selloff in U.S. Treasuries and rising bond yields has led to greater volatility in the market to begin the year’s fourth quarter.
Expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve will continue raising interest rates is also complicating the outlook for markets.
Prior to today (Oct. 14), BLK stock had declined 11% over the past 12 months to trade at $1,066.12 U.S. per share.
