Ares Management Corp - Class A
Q2 2026 Earnings
Market Reaction
S&P 500 over the same 30 days: +1.97%.
Did ARES Beat Earnings? Q2 2026 Results
Ares Management Corp delivered a strong second quarter for fiscal 2026, beating Wall Street expectations on both the top and bottom lines as record fundraising and accelerating deployment drove broad-based growth across its alternative investment platform. The firm posted earnings per share of $1.29, edging past the consensus estimate of $1.27 by 1.44%, while revenue of $1.43 billion exceeded the $1.14 billion estimate by nearly 25%, rising 5.8% year-over-year. The single most material driver behind the outperformance was a record $36.40 billion in new capital raised during the quarter, which lifted total AUM 17% year-over-year to $671.30 billion and pushed Fee Related Earnings up 20% to $491.10 million, with FRE margins expanding to 42.2%. Record dry powder of $170.00 billion underpins management's confidence in continued growth, with CFO Jarrod Phillips noting that many key financial metrics grew more than 20% year-over-year and that the firm is well-positioned to execute against what it described as its largest-ever forward investment pipeline heading into the second half of the year.
- Record fundraising of more than $36 billion in Q2-26 inflows
- Credit Group management and other fees grew 14% YoY driven by U.S. and European direct lending deployment and alternative credit strategies
- Real Assets Group management fees grew 15% YoY driven by open-ended core infrastructure fund and diversified non-traded REIT capital raises
- Secondaries fee related performance revenues grew 141% YoY driven by APMF NAV appreciation
- Perpetual Capital AUM grew 34% YoY to $223.3 billion
- AUM Not Yet Paying Fees of $92.6 billion available for future deployment could generate approximately $828 million in potential incremental annual management fees
- FRE margin expanded to 42.2% from 41.2% in Q2-25
- Gross capital deployment of $35.9 billion up from $26.9 billion in Q2-25
- Incentive Generating AUM grew 21% YoY to $169.0 billion
“We generated strong second-quarter results, including another record quarter of fundraising with more than $36 billion of inflows as our clients continue to reward us due to our strong and consistent fund performance across our strategies.”
Ares Management CEO, on the earnings call
Forward Guidance & Outlook
Management indicated the firm remains on track to achieve its financial goals for the year. CFO Jarrod Phillips noted that many key financial metrics grew more than 20% year over year and highlighted the record $170 billion of dry powder positioning the firm to execute on its largest-ever forward investment pipeline and support continued earnings growth. CEO Michael Arougheti noted a meaningful pickup in the firmwide investment pipeline despite a slower transaction environment.
ARES YoY Financials
ARES Revenue by Segment
Figures from SEC filings and company reports. Not investment advice.