BlackRock shares jumped on Thursday after the world’s largest asset manager reported a better-than-expected quarter — capping off what the company described as “one of the strongest years” ever. Revenue in the fourth quarter of 2025 rose 23% year over year to $7 billion, topping the $6.69 billion estimate, according to LSEG. Adjusted earnings per share in the three months ended Dec 31 increased to $13.16, ahead of the $12.21 consensus, LSEG data showed. Assets under management at the end of the quarter reached a record $14.04 trillion, outpacing the Bloomberg consensus of $13.94 trillion. BLK 1Y mountain BlackRock 1 year Shares of BlackRock popped 6% on Thursday to just over $1,150 each, pushing their year-to-date gain to about 8%. The early 2026 outperformance followed a tough 2025. BlackRock was able to mount a steady recovery from last year’s April lows to a record-high close above $1,200 in mid-October. However, the stock struggled into year-end, and only gained 4.4% in 2025 compared to the S & P 500 ‘s more than 16% advance last year. Bottom line The BlackRock quarter was an important decision point for its standing in Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust, the portfolio we use for the CNBC Investing Club. After selling nearly half of our position near the start of the year, we indicated on Wednesday that the stock would be on the chopping block if it didn’t deliver with earnings. These results passed our test. One way to figure out BlackRock’s earnings power is by reviewing its net inflows and organic base fee growth. Both metrics cleared the bar. BlackRock is gobbling up assets. It brought in $342 billion of net inflows during the fourth quarter, about $80 billion more than what analysts forecasted. For the year, it set a record of $698 billion of net inflows, driven by $527 billion of flows into iShares exchange-traded funds and index mutual funds. The company’s private market platform delivered $40 billion of full-year net inflows, led by private credit and infrastructure. That number may seem small, but it should materially increase in the coming years as it deploys more capital across private markets. The company is targeting $400 billion in gross private markets fundraising through 2030. We have been big fans of management’s strategy to push into private markets because those assets command higher fees than commodity index funds. “No firm has the combination of public markets, now private markets, and investment technology. So we’re able to provide a whole portfolio, a complete relationship,” BlackRock Chairman and CEO Larry Fink told Jim and the “Squawk on the Street” crew in an interview shortly after earnings. The 73-year-old co-founder has positioned BlackRock as a one-stop shop asset manager, offering investment products spanning not just publicly traded stocks and bonds, but cryptocurrencies, private credit, and infrastructure assets. This strategy has paid off. Annualized organic base fee growth accelerated to 12% in Q4 from 10% in the prior period, marking the second quarter in a row with double-digit percentage growth. Organic base fees strip out the impact of market moves during a given period, helping investors gauge added revenue from new client money rather than asset price appreciation. BlackRock entered the new year with base fees approaching $21 billion, which was 13% higher than in 2025. This should set up another year of strong double-digit growth. On top of it all, BlackRock increased its quarterly dividend by 10% — its highest rate in years — and Fink pledged to step up share buybacks due to the company’s belief in future growth, increasing profitability, and durability of cash flow. The company repurchased $500 million worth of shares in the fourth quarter and announced that its board of directors authorized the purchase of an additional seven million shares under its existing repurchase program. Why we own it BlackRock is a premier asset gatherer, perhaps best known for its family of iShares ETFs. However, the firm is wisely pushing into alternative strategies, such as infrastructure and private credit. Led by venerable Larry Fink, BlackRock has a track record of sustained asset and technology services growth while remaining disciplined on expenses to boost profitability. Initiation date: Oct. 16, 2024 Most recent buy: April 22, 2025 Competitors: State Street , Vanguard, Apollo Global Management , and Ares Management BlackRock’s 2025 was all about closing multibillion-dollar acquisitions. It paid $12 billion to acquire private credit manager HPS Investment; it paid $12.5 billion to buy Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP); and it bought the private markets data provider Preqin for about $3.2 billion. With the integration process well underway, we look forward to seeing what BlackRock can deliver in the future. We’re maintaining our 2 rating and $1,300 price target. (Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust is long BLK. See here for a full list of the stocks.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust’s portfolio. 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BlackRock’s earnings pass our test with flying colors. What about 2026?
