Blackstone Q2 Earnings Call Highlights

• AI Consolidation Begins: Blackstone & Google Forge an AI Empire

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) reported sharply higher second-quarter 2026 earnings as executives said the firm’s early and aggressive positioning around artificial intelligence infrastructure is driving investment performance, fundraising and new business formation across the platform.

Weston Tucker, Blackstone’s Head of Shareholder Relations, said the firm reported GAAP net income of $2.4 billion for the quarter. Distributable earnings were $2 billion, or $1.52 per common share, and Blackstone declared a dividend of $1.29 per share, payable to holders of record as of August 3.

• As Broadcom Eclipses $2 Trillion, Private Credit Giants Wants In

Chairman and CEO Steve Schwarzman said distributable earnings rose 26% year-over-year, while fee-related earnings increased 22% and net realizations rose 27%. Total inflows reached nearly $70 billion in the quarter and more than $260 billion over the last 12 months, bringing assets under management to a record $1.35 trillion, up 11% from a year earlier.

AI Infrastructure Remains Central to Blackstone’s Strategy

Schwarzman said the largest driver of Blackstone’s recent momentum has been its investments in AI-related areas, including data centers, energy and power, and private AI companies. He said Blackstone has become “one of the largest private capital providers in the AI ecosystem,” giving investors access to opportunities that often cannot be replicated in public markets.

• Sony's $4 Billion Bet on Rock & Roll Royalties

During the quarter, Schwarzman highlighted four AI-related initiatives. Blackstone teamed with Google to build a new AI cloud provider using Google’s TPU chips, with an initial investment of up to $5 billion. The firm also partnered with Anthropic to form a company focused on enterprise adoption of AI-powered solutions. In credit, Blackstone joined Broadcom and another manager to create a financing platform to support Broadcom’s deployment of large-scale AI compute for end customers, providing $35 billion initially for 1 gigawatt of compute. The company also launched BXDC, a Blackstone REIT designed to acquire stabilized, newly built data centers, in a $2 billion offering that Schwarzman described as the largest blind-pool REIT IPO in history.

Blackstone’s data center platform has grown to $185 billion of total value, including facilities under construction, up from $130 billion at the start of the year. Schwarzman said the firm expects to lease more than three times as much capacity this year as in any prior year in its history. He also said the platform could double over the next few years if Blackstone executes on its pipeline.

Executives acknowledged risks around AI. Schwarzman said Blackstone is mindful of “excessive exuberance” and is focusing on risk-adjusted returns and downside protection. He also discussed workforce, environmental and community considerations tied to data center development, including union jobs, workforce training, water-free cooling systems and expanded power generation.

Fundraising Broad-Based Across Institutions, Insurance and Wealth

President and COO Jon Gray said Blackstone’s clients are responding to performance with strong inflows across institutions, insurance companies and individual investors, which he called the firm’s “three I’s.”

In infrastructure, Gray said AUM grew 40% year-over-year to $90 billion, supported by investments in digital and energy infrastructure. He said the commingled BIP strategy has generated an 18% net annual return since inception.

Gray also said Blackstone’s Multi-Asset Investing business, BXMA, reached a record $109 billion of AUM, up 21% year-over-year, and delivered 25 consecutive quarters of positive returns for its largest strategy. After the quarter ended, BXMA recorded $4.8 billion of monthly inflows on July 1, which Gray said was its best single month of fundraising.

In institutional drawdown funds, Gray said three strategies reached their hard caps so far in 2026: opportunistic private credit, life sciences and Asia private equity. He said Blackstone expects its new private equity energy transition flagship to reach its hard cap soon as well. Together, those four strategies represent nearly $40 billion.

Blackstone’s Asia private equity flagship closed at $13.1 billion in the quarter, more than double the prior vintage, backed by a 27% net annual return in the previous fund since inception. Gray said Blackstone’s focus on India and Japan has been a key driver of that performance.

Credit and Insurance Platforms Continue to Expand

Gray said Blackstone’s combined corporate and real estate credit platform grew to nearly $550 billion, up 13% year-over-year, with $33 billion of inflows in the quarter. Credit represented nearly half of total firm inflows.

He said Blackstone is benefiting from a secular shift toward investment-grade private credit, particularly in insurance. insurance AUM reached $290 billion, up 15% year-over-year. Gray highlighted a new partnership with Nippon Life, Japan’s largest life insurer, under which Blackstone expects to deploy approximately $10 billion in private credit over the next several years and invest in Nippon Life’s domestic real estate portfolio.

During the question-and-answer session, Gray said insurers are increasingly using private investment-grade credit to compete, because it can provide higher returns at similar or higher ratings levels. He said Blackstone now has 40 clients in its dedicated insurance solutions area, nearly double the number from two years ago, and emphasized that the firm operates with an open architecture model without taking on insurance liabilities.

Private Wealth Growth Offsets BCRED Redemptions

Blackstone’s private wealth AUM grew 16% year-over-year to a record $324 billion. Gray said total sales were $8.6 billion in the quarter, with slower activity in April and May amid geopolitical concerns but a strong recovery in June that continued into the third quarter.

BXPE raised $2.4 billion in the quarter, bringing its NAV to more than $25 billion after 10 quarters. Gray said its largest share class has produced a 20% net annualized return since inception, including approximately 8% net in the second quarter. BXINFRA raised about $900 million, bringing its NAV to $6 billion after six quarters.

BREIT raised $1.2 billion, while repurchase requests declined 42% year-over-year and 33% sequentially from the first quarter. Gray said that produced the vehicle’s best “regular way” net flows in nearly four years, adding that BREIT is “clearly back in growth mode.”

BCRED saw $1 billion of gross sales, but repurchase requests exceeded its 5% limit, with roughly 50% fulfilled, leading to net outflows of $1.2 billion. Gray said early third-quarter redemption requests were down materially and attributed the improvement partly to a reduction in negative market commentary around private credit.

Executives Point to IPO Market and Realizations

CFO Michael Chae said fee-related earnings rose 22% year-over-year to $1.8 billion, or $1.43 per share. Fee revenues increased 22% to $3 billion, with growth across all four segments: private equity, real estate, BXMA and credit. Transaction and advisory fees nearly doubled year-over-year to a record $321 million.

Chae said net realizations were $414 million, up 27% year-over-year, helped by dispositions including a data center sale and multiple energy portfolio realizations. He said Blackstone’s net accrued performance revenue stood at $7.5 billion, or $6 per share, the highest level in four years.

Executives said the IPO market has strengthened. Gray noted that U.S. IPO activity increased sixfold in the first half of 2026 compared with the same period last year, while global issuance rose more than three-and-a-half-fold. Blackstone has executed three IPOs since May and has eight IPOs on file globally.

Chae said Blackstone expects net realizations to slow sequentially in the third quarter but anticipates a robust fourth quarter and 2027. He also said the firm expects base management fee growth to return to double digits in 2027, supported by drawdowns in private equity funds, growth in perpetual strategies, credit deployment and stabilization in real estate fee trends.

About Blackstone (NYSE:BX)

Blackstone Inc (NYSE: BX) is a global investment firm focused on alternative asset management. Founded in 1985 by Stephen A. Schwarzman and Peter G. Peterson and headquartered in New York City, the firm organizes and manages investment vehicles that acquire and operate businesses, real estate and credit investments, as well as provide hedge fund solutions and other alternative strategies for institutional and individual investors.

Blackstone's business is organized around several principal investment platforms.

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