Blackstone (BX) Q4 Earnings Beat, Revenues, Costs & AUM Rise
Blackstone’s BX fourth-quarter 2020 distributable earnings of $1.13 per share surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 93 cents. Moreover, the figure represents a rise of 56.9% from the prior-year quarter.
Results for the quarter primarily benefited from an improvement in revenues. Moreover, a rise in assets under management (AUM) balance, mainly driven by inflows, was a positive for the company. However, higher operating expenses were the undermining factor.
Net income attributable to Blackstone was $748.9 million, up 55% year over year.
For 2020, distributable earnings of $2.65 per share surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.45. Also, the bottom line was 14.7% higher than that in 2019. Net income was $1.05 billion, down 49% year over year.
Segment Revenues Improve, Expenses Rise
Total quarterly segment revenues were $2.80 billion, up 56.4% year over year. The reported figure surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.18 billion. On a GAAP basis, revenues of $3.63 billion were up 73.5% from the prior-year quarter.
For the year, total segment revenues of $6.51 billion surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $5.88 billion. The top line was 16.7% higher than the 2019 number.
Total expenses (GAAP basis) for the reported quarter increased 44.7% year over year to $1.61 billion. A rise in total compensation and benefits costs, and general, administrative and other costs were partly offset by lower interest expenses and fund expenses.
As of Dec 31, 2020, Blackstone had $5.6 billion in total cash, cash equivalents and corporate treasury investments as well as $11.5 billion in cash and net investments. Further, the company has a $2.3-billion undrawn credit revolver.
AUM Improves
Fee-earning AUM grew 15% year over year to $469.43 billion as of Dec 31, 2020. Total AUM amounted to $618.56 billion as of the same date, up 8.3% year over year. The rise in total AUM was largely driven by $32.29 billion of inflows.
As of Dec 31, 2020, undrawn capital available for investment was $147.7 billion.
Our Viewpoint
Growth in AUM, driven by inflows, is expected to continue aiding Blackstone’s top line in the near term amid the coronavirus-induced crisis. Also, the company is well-positioned to gain from its fund-raising ability. However, continuously increasing expenses are expected to hamper the bottom line to an extent in the near term.
Blackstone Group IncThe Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Blackstone Group IncThe price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Blackstone Group IncThe Quote
Currently, Blackstone carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Performance & Upcoming Release Date of Other Investment Managers
BlackRock, Inc.’s BLK fourth-quarter 2020 adjusted earnings of $10.18 per share surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $8.84. The figure reflects a rise of 22.1% from the year-ago quarter’s number.
Invesco IVZ reported fourth-quarter 2020 adjusted earnings of 72 cents per share, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 57 cents. Also, the bottom line grew 12.5% from the prior-year quarter.
Waddell & Reed Financial, Inc. WDR is scheduled to release results on Feb 2.
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