Blackstone Inc.
BX · NYSE
Next quarter
Reports Oct 22, 2026.
Consensus is $1.36 EPS for Sep 2026 across 8 estimates, ranging $1.25 to $1.54.
BX Jun 2026
- 14.29%
- +4.42%
- $1.33
- $1.52
- —
- $5.04B
Reported results
- $5.04B
- $1.23B
- $1.54
Highlights
- Earnings beat: Distributable EPS was $1.52 versus consensus of $1.33, a 14.3% surprise; GAAP diluted EPS was $1.54 versus $0.98 a year ago and $0.83 in Q1.
- Fee earnings: Fee Related Earnings rose 22% year over year to $1.8 billion, or $1.43 per share, with management and advisory fees up 11% to $2.27 billion.
- Performance revenues: Distributable Earnings increased 26% year over year to $2.0 billion, helped by net realizations of $414.3 million, up 26%, and stronger investment performance.
- Fundraising momentum: Blackstone generated $68.3 billion of inflows in the quarter and $262.5 billion over the last twelve months, taking total AUM to $1.35 trillion, up 11% year over year.
- Perpetual capital: Perpetual Capital AUM reached $555.6 billion, up 15% year over year; $463.0 billion was fee-earning, or 48% of Fee-Earning AUM.
- Private equity strength: Private Equity AUM increased 17% to $454.2 billion, while segment Distributable Earnings rose 31% to $981.5 million; Corporate Private Equity appreciated 3.7% during the quarter.
- Credit scale, lower realizations: Credit & Insurance AUM grew 15% to $469.3 billion on $31.0 billion of inflows, but segment Distributable Earnings fell 6% to $373.2 million as net realizations dropped 95% to $3.2 million.
- Investment marks: Net Accrued Performance Revenues rose 7% sequentially to $7.5 billion, or $6.00 per share, led by private equity and multi-asset appreciation.
- Shareholder returns: Blackstone declared a $1.29 quarterly dividend and repurchased 0.2 million shares; $1.7 billion is being returned to shareholders for the quarter.
Analysis
Blackstone's second quarter was a clear earnings beat, with reported EPS of $1.52 against consensus of $1.33, or a 14.3% upside surprise. GAAP revenue reached $5.04 billion, up 36% from $3.71 billion a year ago and 39% from $3.62 billion in Q1. Net income attributable to Blackstone rose 61% year over year to $1.23 billion and 89% sequentially from $649.7 million, while GAAP diluted EPS increased from $0.98 and $0.83, respectively.
The defining feature was broad operating momentum supported by fundraising and investment marks. Fee Related Earnings grew 22% year over year to $1.8 billion, while Distributable Earnings rose 26% to $2.0 billion, or $1.52 per share, versus $1.36 in Q1. Inflows of $68.3 billion lifted AUM 11% to $1.35 trillion, with particularly strong growth in private equity and perpetual capital. Private Equity segment Distributable Earnings increased 31% to $981.5 million, aided by 3.7% quarterly appreciation in Corporate Private Equity, while net accrued performance revenues increased 7% sequentially to $7.5 billion. Credit remained a scale and fundraising story, but its segment earnings declined 6% as realizations fell sharply.
Earnings and fee growth
Blackstone delivered growth across both recurring and performance-linked earnings. Management and advisory fees rose 11% year over year to $2.27 billion, while fee-related performance revenues increased 68% to $472.1 million. After $1.03 billion of fee-related compensation and operating expenses, Fee Related Earnings reached $1.78 billion, up 22%.
- Distributable Earnings: DE was $1.98 billion, or $1.52 per common share, up 26% from $1.57 billion and $1.21 per share in 2Q25. DE increased from $1.76 billion and $1.36 per share in Q1.
- GAAP results: Revenue was $5.04 billion, net income attributable to Blackstone was $1.23 billion, and diluted EPS was $1.54, compared with $3.71 billion, $764.2 million, and $0.98 in 2Q25.
- Earnings mix: Performance allocations rose to $1.95 billion from $1.14 billion a year earlier, while principal investment income increased to $520.4 million from $462.6 million.
Fundraising and AUM
Capital formation was the quarter's central operating strength. Blackstone raised $68.3 billion, deployed $34.2 billion and realized $31.8 billion. Over the last twelve months, inflows reached $262.5 billion against $138.5 billion of deployment and $144.5 billion of realizations.
- AUM expansion: Total AUM ended at $1.346 trillion, up 11% year over year, while Fee-Earning AUM rose 8% to $961.6 billion.
- Perpetual capital: Perpetual Capital AUM increased 15% to $555.6 billion. Fee-earning perpetual assets reached $463.0 billion, representing 48% of Fee-Earning AUM.
- Dry powder: Total dry powder was $228.1 billion, providing capital for future investment despite $34.2 billion of quarterly deployment.
Investment performance
Investment appreciation increased the future pool of performance revenue and supported the quarter's earnings beat. Net Accrued Performance Revenues rose from $7.0 billion in Q1 to $7.5 billion, with $1.39 billion of net performance revenues added during the quarter partly offset by $920 million of realized distributions.
- Private equity marks: Corporate Private Equity appreciated 3.7% in the quarter and 14.4% over the last twelve months. Tactical Opportunities appreciated 3.9%, Secondaries 1.7%, and Infrastructure 7.2% in the quarter.
- Multi-asset returns: The Absolute Return Composite generated a 5.8% gross return, or 5.4% net, versus a 5.4% quarterly return for the HFRX Global Hedge Fund Index.
- Real estate contrast: Opportunistic real estate appreciated 0.4% in the quarter but declined 1.4% over the last twelve months; Core+ appreciated 0.2% and was up 3.2% over the same period.
Segment performance
Private Equity was the strongest large segment, combining asset growth, fundraising and favorable marks. Credit & Insurance continued to expand rapidly but contributed less performance-linked earnings because realizations were unusually weak.
- Private Equity: AUM rose 17% to $454.2 billion, with $24.5 billion of quarterly inflows and $14.5 billion of deployment. Segment Distributable Earnings increased 31% to $981.5 million.
- Credit & Insurance: AUM increased 15% to $469.3 billion on $31.0 billion of inflows. Fee Related Earnings rose 11% to $370.1 million, but segment Distributable Earnings declined 6% to $373.2 million as net realizations fell to $3.2 million from $62.8 million.
- Real Estate: AUM declined 3% year over year to $314.1 billion, but segment Distributable Earnings increased 32% to $745.3 million, supported by higher realized performance revenues.
- Multi-Asset Investing: AUM grew 21% to $108.6 billion and segment Distributable Earnings rose 35% to $97.7 million.
Capital return and liquidity
Blackstone maintained its distribution framework while retaining part of quarterly earnings for growth. The company declared a $1.29 dividend payable August 10, 2026, and continued modest share repurchases.
- Shareholder distribution: $1.7 billion will be returned for the quarter through dividends and repurchases; last-twelve-month distributions totaled $6.9 billion.
- Dividend coverage: Quarterly DE per share was $1.52 against the $1.29 dividend, with $0.20 per share retained as capital.
- Balance sheet: Cash and net investments totaled $22.7 billion, or $18.23 per share, against $13.2 billion of outstanding debt. The company had a $4.3 billion revolver, of which $3.5 billion was undrawn.
