Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.01 EPS

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday. The asset manager reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.01, FiscalAI reports. Ares Management had a return on equity of 22.14% and a net margin of 10.54%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.03 earnings per share.

Here are the key takeaways from Ares Management’s conference call:

• Record fundraising and strong earnings growth: Ares raised approximately $36 billion in the second quarter, lifting AUM and fee-paying AUM 17% year over year. Fee-related earnings rose 20% and realized income increased 31%.
• Significant future fee visibility: The firm ended the quarter with approximately $170 billion of dry powder and $114 billion of AUM not yet paying fees, which management estimates could generate roughly $828 million in incremental annual management fees if deployed.
• Investment activity and pipelines are improving: Firm-wide deployment increased to approximately $36 billion, while the forward pipeline reached a record level, up nearly 20% sequentially. Management expects stronger second-half activity, particularly in U.S. and European direct lending, infrastructure, and digital infrastructure.
• Outlook and shareholder returns remain favorable: Management reaffirmed its 2026 financial objectives, including 16%–20% FRE growth and more than 20% realized-income and dividend growth, while raising the quarterly dividend by more than 20% year over year.
• Wealth-channel redemptions remain a risk: Although redemptions from core U.S. individual investors declined, requests remain concentrated among non-U.S. family offices and smaller institutions, particularly in Asia. Ares expects the remaining redemption queue to take another two to three quarters to normalize and is considering new share-class restrictions.

Ares Management Stock Performance

Ares Management stock traded up $4.19 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $128.31. The stock had a trading volume of 4,174,760 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,204,200. Ares Management has a 52-week low of $95.80 and a 52-week high of $195.26. The company has a market capitalization of $42.32 billion, a PE ratio of 59.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.51. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $123.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $123.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ares Management

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ARES. Nuveen LLC increased its stake in shares of Ares Management by 17.3% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 2,358,996 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $381,284,000 after purchasing an additional 347,523 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 35.5% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,694,570 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $273,893,000 after buying an additional 444,355 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Ares Management by 61.7% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,314,983 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $212,541,000 after buying an additional 501,938 shares during the period. M&G PLC boosted its holdings in Ares Management by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. M&G PLC now owns 1,219,112 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $197,496,000 after buying an additional 146,699 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in Ares Management by 15.4% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,149,390 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $185,777,000 after buying an additional 153,488 shares during the period. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ares Management News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Ares Management this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Record fundraising supports future fee growth. Ares raised more than $36 billion during the second quarter as institutions continued allocating capital to private credit. Assets under management exceeded $671 billion at June 30, strengthening the company’s recurring management-fee base. Ares hauls record $36 billion on private credit fundraising momentum
• Positive Sentiment: Fee-related earnings and investment flows improved. Fee-related earnings reached $491.1 million, while after-tax realized income was $467.6 million, or $1.29 per share. The results indicate continued operating momentum despite mixed revenue performance. Ares Management Reports $150.6 Million Q2 Net Income
• Positive Sentiment: Earnings exceeded consensus and direct-lending activity remained robust. Second-quarter earnings of $1.29 per share were slightly above the $1.28 consensus and increased from $1.03 a year earlier. Ares also closed approximately $8.2 billion of U.S. direct-lending commitments across 69 transactions, bringing the 12-month total to about $52.3 billion. Ares Management Corporation Reports Second Quarter 2026 Results
• Neutral Sentiment: Shareholder distributions were maintained. Ares declared a quarterly common-stock dividend of $1.35 per share, payable September 30, 2026, along with a dividend on its Series B mandatory convertible preferred stock. Ares Management Reports $150.6 Million Q2 Net Income
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue missed expectations, and private-credit losses could pressure sentiment. Analysts noted that quarterly revenue fell short of estimates even as earnings met or narrowly exceeded forecasts. Separately, reports highlighted rising defaults and an uptick in non-accruals at Ares-related private-credit funds, raising concerns about portfolio credit quality as the platform expands. Ares Private-Credit Fund Reports Rising Defaults, and New Deals

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ARES has been the topic of several research reports. Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Citizens Jmp dropped their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $190.00 to $160.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ares Management in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Ares Management from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Ares Management from $140.00 to $139.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $158.93.

Ares Management Company Profile

Ares Management Corporation (NYSE: ARES) is a global alternative asset manager that provides investment solutions across credit, private equity and real estate. The firm originates and manages capital across a range of strategies including direct lending, syndicated and special situations credit, private equity buyouts and growth investments, and real estate equity and debt. Ares serves institutional investors, insurance companies, pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, and high‑net‑worth clients through both commingled funds and bespoke managed account structures.

Within credit, Ares offers strategies spanning leveraged loans, structured credit, opportunistic and distressed debt, and specialty finance, with an emphasis on underwriting, portfolio construction and active asset management.