In the fourth quarter, BlackRock reported a new high in assets under management, surpassing $14 trillion for the first time in its history. The firm attracted $342 billion of net client cash inflows during the period, bringing full-year net inflows to $698 billion. These inflows were driven by strong demand across its iShares exchange-traded funds, systematic active equity strategies, private markets initiatives and cash management solutions. This milestone underscores BlackRock’s leadership in global asset gathering and reflects successful integration of recent acquisitions to expand its footprint in private markets.

BlackRock delivered adjusted earnings per share of $13.16 in Q4, topping consensus estimates by more than 5%, while quarterly revenue rose 23% year-over-year to $7.0 billion, ahead of the analyst consensus of $6.75 billion. Organic base fee revenue was up 12% on an annualized basis, driven by fee growth in both active and passive strategies. For the full year, total revenue increased 19% to $24.22 billion, and adjusted earnings per share reached $48.09. The board approved a 10% increase in the quarterly cash dividend and authorized repurchases of an additional 7 million shares, signaling confidence in the firm’s cash flow and capital returns strategy.

During its earnings call, CEO Larry Fink announced that BlackRock’s joint AI infrastructure partnership with Microsoft has raised $12.5 billion of the targeted $30 billion private equity capital. The partnership, which also includes Nvidia and xAi, aims to mobilize up to $100 billion in total investment potential for data-center build-out and related infrastructure. In October, the group closed a $40 billion acquisition of Aligned Data Centers, the largest data-center deal to date. Fink emphasized that the initiative is attracting significant institutional interest and is poised to support the next wave of AI-driven innovation across multiple sectors.