BlackRock (BLK) Q2 2026: $15.3T AUM, Real Margin Gain Just 86bp
Strip out acquisition accounting and BlackRock's headline margin story largely disappears: the 282-basis-point jump in GAAP operating margin narrows to roughly 86bp, and the first half's 622bp expansion collapses to about 35bp. Revenue of $7,084 million rose 30.6% year over year and assets under management reached a record $15.34 trillion. The flow engine did real work — the company reported $191.7 billion of net inflows in the quarter and $868 billion over the trailing twelve months, equal to a management-reported organic base fee growth rate of roughly 10% (a fee-rate metric, not an AUM growth rate) — but the bulk of the AUM increase was still price, not deposits: of the roughly $2.8 trillion twelve-month rise, management attributes about $1.8 trillion to market appreciation, with the remainder split between net new money and AUM acquired with HPS Investment Partners. Roughly $230 million of the quarterly revenue gain likewise came from HPS rather than the legacy franchise. What did improve genuinely was mix — private markets and performance fees are now carrying a visibly larger share of the P&L. The question this filing forces is whether investors are paying for operating leverage that exists, or for accounting artifacts and equity beta that do not persist.
Sources: figures below are drawn from BlackRock's Q2 2026 Form 10-Q (condensed consolidated financial statements and notes) unless noted. AUM, flow, and "as adjusted" non-GAAP figures come from the Q2 2026 earnings release and supplement dated July 15, 2026, which are not part of the 10-Q financial statements.
1. Balance Sheet
1-1. Principal Asset Items
| Item | Dec 31, 2025 ($M) | Jun 30, 2026 ($M) | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cash and cash equivalents | 11,468 | 10,492 | -8.5% |
| Accounts receivable | 5,158 | 5,444 | +5.5% |
| Investments | 13,271 | 15,144 | +14.1% |
| Separate account assets | 60,098 | 65,267 | +8.6% |
| Separate account collateral (securities lending) | 7,922 | 6,269 | -20.9% |
| Property and equipment, net | 1,256 | 1,305 | +3.9% |
| Intangible assets, net | 27,968 | 27,415 | -2.0% |
| Goodwill | 35,283 | 35,203 | -0.2% |
| Operating lease right-of-use assets | 1,874 | 1,848 | -1.4% |
| Other assets | 5,700 | 7,488 | +31.4% |
| Total assets | 169,998 | 175,875 | +3.5% |
The headline $175.9 billion asset base overstates the operating business by a wide margin. Separate account assets of $65,267 million plus $6,269 million of securities lending collateral — 40.7% of total assets — are held by BlackRock Life Limited for UK pension contracts and are matched dollar-for-dollar by offsetting liabilities. They are not subject to general creditor claims and carry no economic exposure for shareholders. Strip them out and the working balance sheet is $104,339 million of assets against $39,799 million of liabilities.
