Key Takeaways
- • Blackstone (BX) reported third-quarter distributable earnings of $1.7 billion, or $1.32 per common share, and GAAP net income of $1.3 billion, with fee-related earnings growth offsetting a 20% sequential decline in net realizations.
- • Total assets under management rose 10% year over year to approximately $1.4 trillion, with $63 billion of inflows in the quarter and more than $270 billion over the prior 12 months.
- • Total fee revenues increased 8% to $2.7 billion, with base management fees reaching a quarterly record of $2 billion, according to CFO Michael Chae.
- • Private wealth AUM grew 15% year over year to a record $330 billion, while BCRED recorded $1.4 billion of net outflows as redemption requests exceeded its quarterly limit.
- • Management expects a "significant step-up" in net realizations in the fourth quarter and double-digit base-management-fee growth in 2027.
Summary
Blackstone Inc. (BX) reported third-quarter distributable earnings of $1.7 billion, or $1.32 per common share, and GAAP net income of $1.3 billion, according to its earnings call summary. The firm declared a dividend of $1.12 per share, payable to shareholders of record as of Nov. 2. Management attributed the results to fundraising momentum and fee-related earnings growth, which offset a sequential decline in realizations amid volatile markets, sharply higher global bond yields, geopolitical conflicts, inflation concerns and elevated oil prices.
Chairman and CEO Steve Schwarzman said artificial intelligence investment continues to support growth in data centers, semiconductors, power generation, construction and engineering services, even as higher capital costs have weighed on transaction activity. Vice Chairman and CFO Michael Chae said total fee revenues rose 8% year over year to $2.7 billion, transaction and advisory fees increased 34% to $210 million, and fee-related performance revenues grew 19% to $540 million. Fee-related earnings totaled $1.6 billion, up 6%, or $1.26 per share. Net realizations fell 20% sequentially, as the firm had previously expected, but Chae said Blackstone anticipates a significant step-up in the fourth quarter, including sales of multiple companies and year-end performance-revenue crystallizations. For the first nine months of 2026, fee revenues and fee-related earnings each rose 17%, while realized performance revenues and distributable earnings each increased 12%.
On infrastructure, Chae said the dedicated infrastructure platform appreciated 6.4% in the quarter and 29% over 12 months, versus a 4% return for the Global Infrastructure Index. Corporate private equity funds gained 2.8% in the quarter and 15% over the past year, led by power and electrification holdings. President and COO Jon Gray said AI-related investments account for about 7% of the $1.4 trillion asset base across debt and equity, with a focus on physical infrastructure and contracted assets. Executives said data center leases generally run 15 to 20 years with tenants averaging about $2.5 trillion in market capitalization. Blackstone cited partnerships including Crux with Google and Ode with Anthropic, and said Nvidia named Blackstone among managers intended to help deploy $500 billion of large-scale GPU financing.
In wealth and insurance channels, Gray said private-wealth AUM rose 15% to a record $330 billion, with nearly $9 billion of quarterly sales. BXPE recorded $2.9 billion of sales and reached $29 billion of NAV in under three years, with an 18% net annualized return since inception. BREIT grew 9% to $58 billion and posted its best regular-way net flows in four years. BCRED, the private-credit vehicle for individual investors, saw $1.4 billion of net outflows as redemption requests exceeded its quarterly limit; the fund fulfilled about half of requested redemptions. The firm also introduced BXHF, a perpetual hedge fund product that raised roughly $400 million including Oct. 1 subscriptions. Insurance-channel AUM rose 14% to more than $300 billion, and investment-grade private credit grew 24% to nearly $150 billion.
In real estate, higher interest rates led Blackstone to increase valuation cap rates. Core Plus funds gained 1.6% in the quarter, while BREP opportunistic funds declined 3.2%. Data centers and logistics account for 54% of the global real estate portfolio, and Gray said data center leasing across the platform is expected to triple this year. Management expects real estate base management fees to remain broadly stable through year-end and into 2027.
Chairman and CEO Steve Schwarzman said artificial intelligence investment continues to support growth in data centers, semiconductors, power generation, construction and engineering services, even as higher capital costs have weighed on transaction activity. Vice Chairman and CFO Michael Chae said total fee revenues rose 8% year over year to $2.7 billion, transaction and advisory fees increased 34% to $210 million, and fee-related performance revenues grew 19% to $540 million. Fee-related earnings totaled $1.6 billion, up 6%, or $1.26 per share. Net realizations fell 20% sequentially, as the firm had previously expected, but Chae said Blackstone anticipates a significant step-up in the fourth quarter, including sales of multiple companies and year-end performance-revenue crystallizations. For the first nine months of 2026, fee revenues and fee-related earnings each rose 17%, while realized performance revenues and distributable earnings each increased 12%.
On infrastructure, Chae said the dedicated infrastructure platform appreciated 6.4% in the quarter and 29% over 12 months, versus a 4% return for the Global Infrastructure Index. Corporate private equity funds gained 2.8% in the quarter and 15% over the past year, led by power and electrification holdings. President and COO Jon Gray said AI-related investments account for about 7% of the $1.4 trillion asset base across debt and equity, with a focus on physical infrastructure and contracted assets. Executives said data center leases generally run 15 to 20 years with tenants averaging about $2.5 trillion in market capitalization. Blackstone cited partnerships including Crux with Google and Ode with Anthropic, and said Nvidia named Blackstone among managers intended to help deploy $500 billion of large-scale GPU financing.
In wealth and insurance channels, Gray said private-wealth AUM rose 15% to a record $330 billion, with nearly $9 billion of quarterly sales. BXPE recorded $2.9 billion of sales and reached $29 billion of NAV in under three years, with an 18% net annualized return since inception. BREIT grew 9% to $58 billion and posted its best regular-way net flows in four years. BCRED, the private-credit vehicle for individual investors, saw $1.4 billion of net outflows as redemption requests exceeded its quarterly limit; the fund fulfilled about half of requested redemptions. The firm also introduced BXHF, a perpetual hedge fund product that raised roughly $400 million including Oct. 1 subscriptions. Insurance-channel AUM rose 14% to more than $300 billion, and investment-grade private credit grew 24% to nearly $150 billion.
In real estate, higher interest rates led Blackstone to increase valuation cap rates. Core Plus funds gained 1.6% in the quarter, while BREP opportunistic funds declined 3.2%. Data centers and logistics account for 54% of the global real estate portfolio, and Gray said data center leasing across the platform is expected to triple this year. Management expects real estate base management fees to remain broadly stable through year-end and into 2027.
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