$ARES (+0,06%)

Ares reported GAAP net income of $85.3 million for the third quarter, a significant decline from $288.9 million in the same quarter of the previous year. GAAP earnings per share fell from $1.15 to $0.21, due to unrealized investment losses and market valuation fluctuations.

However, the company’s non-GAAP metrics painted a more positive picture of its underlying business performance. Profit after taxes, excluding unrealized gains and losses, reached $449.6 million, an increase of 6% from $425.8 million in the third quarter of 2025. Earnings after taxes per share were $1.26, slightly below analysts’ forecast of $1.27, but representing a 6% increase from the prior year.

The company’s asset growth accelerated in many respects during the quarter. Total assets under management (AUM) reached $690.6 billion as of September 30, 2026, an increase of $94.9 billion, or 16%, from $595.7 billion a year earlier. Fee-based AUM, which directly generates management fees, grew by 13% from $367.6 billion to $416.4 billion. Ares raised $31.0 billion in gross capital commitments during the third quarter.

A key aspect of Ares’ investment strategy is the growth potential inherent in capital that has already been raised but is not yet subject to fees. The company ended the quarter with $117.1 billion in assets under management for which no fees are currently being charged. Of this amount, $93.8 billion is available for future investments, and $2.3 billion is in development projects that have not yet stabilized.

$ARCC (+0,29%)

Non-GAAP EPS of $0.46 fell short of expectations by $0.02, while revenue of $763 million fell short by $13.12 million

This marks the third consecutive quarter in which costs have not been covered by the dividend. In previous quarters, the shortfall was 0.01 cents; now it has risen to 0.02 cents.

Nevertheless, the dividend will remain at 0.48 cents.

Ares Capital has agreed to acquire MidCap Financial $MFIC (+0,28%) .

This will further diversify and expand Ares Capital’s investment portfolio, which is already the largest among publicly traded BDCs.

The merger will create an even larger BDC (Business Development Company). Ares Capital closed the third quarter with an industry-leading investment portfolio of $29.2 billion across 636 portfolio companies. The acquisition of MidCap will expand the portfolio to over $31 billion across more than 800 portfolio companies. This increased scale and diversification will help lower the risk profile and strengthen resilience.

$ARES (+0,06%)
Ares Management
is financing a portion of the purchase price directly.

MFIC shareholders will receive $10.88 per share, consisting of approximately $1.21 in cash and approximately $9.67 in shares of Ares Capital. This represents a 30.1% premium to MFIC’s closing price on October 26 and a 25.8% premium to the volume-weighted average price over the past 30 days. However, the price is about 15% below MFIC’s preliminary net asset value of $12.86 per share as of September 30.

The cash portion comes from Ares Management and not from the BDC itself. According to Ares Capital’s latest quarterly report, its investment advisor, Ares Capital Management, is participating in the merger agreement—in part to finance the cash payment—and is acting in its own name.

$ARES (+0,06%)

Ares Management Corporation has announced its financial results for the first quarter of 2026, missing forecasts for profit and revenue. The company reported earnings per share (EPS) of USD 1.24, falling short of the forecast of USD 1.38, which corresponds to a negative surprise of 10.14%. At USD 1.27 billion, turnover was also below the forecast of USD 1.32 billion (a deviation of -3.79%). Despite these missed targets, Ares Management's shares proved resilient and rose by 2.7% to USD 120.50 in pre-market trading.

Ares Management reported solid growth in assets under management (AUM), which increased 18% year-over-year to $644 billion. Fee-paying AUM grew by 19% to USD 400 billion. Despite missing the profit forecast, the company achieved several milestones, including exceeding the USD 1 billion mark in management fees for the first time, underlining the strong operating performance.

Outlook & forecast

Ares Management has set itself ambitious targets for the future. The EPS forecasts for the coming quarters are between USD 1.45 and USD 2.15. Revenue forecasts for the coming quarters point to continued growth, with expectations of up to USD 1.45 billion in the fourth quarter of 2026. The company remains optimistic about its growth trajectory, driven by robust demand across its various investment platforms.

$ARES (+0,06%)

Introduction and market context

Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES) released its fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 results on February 5, 2026, reporting strong asset growth but falling short of analyst expectations. The alternative asset manager reported realized earnings per share after tax of USD 1.45, missing the forecast of USD 1.70 by 14.71% and triggering a 4.9% drop in the share price in pre-market trading.

Despite missing profit expectations, Ares presented impressive operating figures, including surpassing the 600 billion dollar mark in assets under management and a fundraising and investment volume of over 100 billion dollars in the year under review. Following the publication of the figures, the share price fell by 10.35%, reflecting investors' disappointment with the results.

Quarterly performance highlights

Ares reported a realized gain of $589.1 million for the fourth quarter of 2025, up 24% from the same period in 2024. Fee-related revenue (FRE) increased 33% to $527.7 million, underscoring the company's operational strength despite the earnings miss.

Management fees reached a record USD 993.7 million in the fourth quarter, an increase of 27% year-on-year. For the full year, management fees amounted to USD 3.68 billion, an increase of 25% compared to 2024. The fee-related profit margin increased to 42.5% in the fourth quarter and 41.7% for the full year.

Balance sheet and liquidity

Ares had a solid balance sheet as of December 31, 2025 with cash and cash equivalents of USD 488.9 million. The company had non-current liabilities of USD 2.56 billion and available liquidity of USD 948.9 million.

Forward-looking statements

Despite missing earnings expectations, Ares management was optimistic about the outlook for 2026. The company expects capital raising to reach or exceed the record level of 2025 and forecasts a fee-based profit margin at the upper end of the target range of 0 to 150 basis points.

CEO Michael Arougheti said: "We have passed the USD 600 billion mark in assets under management and have surpassed the USD 100 billion mark in both our fundraising and investment activities by 2025." He also expressed confidence that the company would overcome market challenges, adding: "We are confident that our company is well equipped to overcome any market challenges."

Ares Management increases the dividend by 20 % to 1.35 $.

BATTLE CREEK (dpa-AFX) - S&P Dow Jones Indices, a division of S&P Global (SPGI), announced that Ares Management $ARES (+0,06%) (ARES) will replace Kellanova (K) in the S&P 500 effective before the start of trading on Thursday, December 11.

Mars Inc. is acquiring Kellanova; the transaction is expected to close subject to the fulfillment of final conditions.

S&P also announced that Vital Farms Inc (VITL) will replace Heidrick & Struggles Intl Inc (HSII) in the S&P SmallCap 600 effective before the start of trading on Thursday, December 11. Advent International and Corvex Private Equity are acquiring Heidrick & Struggles Intl; the transaction is expected to close subject to the fulfillment of final conditions.

Sezzle Inc (SEZL) will replace Vital Energy Inc (VTLE) in the S&P SmallCap 600 effective before the start of trading on Monday, December 15. Crescent Energy Co (CRGY), an S&P SmallCap 600 company, is acquiring Vital Energy. The transaction is expected to close shortly, subject to the fulfillment of final conditions.

Favorites for a recording: $CRH (+0,22%) , $VRT (-2,73%) , $ARES (+0,06%) , $ALNY (+1,28%)

With a lower probability: $SOFI (-0,97%) .

Good morning!

In the last few days, some dividend stocks have fallen sharply. E.G. $BATS (+0,37%)
$ARES (+0,06%)
$HTGC (+0,16%)
$MAIN (+0,03%) . What do you think is the reason for this? Upcoming earnings, and is this possibly an opportunity to get in?

Thank you!