ARES$142.53

Revenue has grown strongly over the period, with a sharp FY2025 jump and TTM still above the latest full year, though the TTM growth rate shows clear deceleration versus FY2025. Net income is positive throughout and trends higher overall, but it is not perfectly smooth, with a small dip in FY2024 before recovering in FY2025 and continuing upward in TTM. Profitability looks solid for a fee-driven financial model, though operating margin has been less stable than revenue, as expenses rose materially in FY2025 and TTM. Interest income and other income remain meaningful but somewhat variable. No credit-loss data is shown, so the main flags are expense growth, mix volatility, and reliance on non-operating items.

Ares shows a mixed balance sheet profile. Total assets rose to $29.6bn from $28.6bn, and shareholders’ equity remains positive at $4.0bn, but the current year shows weaker near-term liquidity: total current assets fell to $7.6bn while total current liabilities increased to $8.0bn, leaving working capital negative at $378.7m. Cash and equivalents improved to $1.85bn, but receivables also remain large at $5.8bn, so liquidity depends on collection quality. Total liabilities of $21.0bn are still manageable versus assets, yet they have climbed steadily, while retained earnings deepened to negative $1.85bn. Overall, leverage is contained, but liquidity and equity quality have softened, and the balance sheet looks less comfortable than in prior years.

Cash generation has improved sharply, with operating cash flow moving from -734.1 million in FY2022 and -233.3 million in FY2023 to 2.8 billion in FY2024 and 3.3 billion in FY2025, while TTM CFO remains positive at 912.1 million despite a weaker recent trend. For an asset manager, these swings are more informative than traditional free cash flow, which is less meaningful here, though FCF also turned strongly positive at 2.7 billion and 3.2 billion in FY2024 and FY2025. Capital returns look active, with dividends rising from 836.4 million to 1.76 billion, alongside substantial debt issuance and repayment. Working capital movements are sizable but improved in FY2025, and overall cash generation appears solid, if somewhat uneven.

Liquidity ratios are not especially meaningful here, so the more useful signal is capital strength and earnings power. Leverage remains elevated, but it has moderated materially versus FY2022-2023 and now looks more stable, with debt-to-equity and long-term debt-to-equity both below earlier peaks. Efficiency is supported by improving asset turnover, which rose from 0.14 in FY2022 to 0.20 currently, though the business still runs on a low-asset base. Profitability is solid overall: ROE has stayed above 12% in the latest periods, ROA remains around 1.8% to 2.2%, and net margin has held in double digits despite some volatility in pre-tax margin. Equity appears to be growing steadily, supporting a resilient capital base.

Revenue advanced from 3.06B USD to 3.63B USD, then 3.88B USD, before a sharper jump to 5.60B USD, showing clear acceleration, followed by a pullback to 4.95B USD and a renewed rise to 5.81B USD. That pattern suggests strong underlying fee and fundraising momentum with some cyclical normalization. EPS has been more volatile, but the forecast path improves from 5.85105 per share to 7.19193, implying earnings growth that keeps pace with revenue and supports stable margin expansion. Analyst sentiment is constructive: the consensus is Buy, with a 122 to 168 USD target range and 18 analysts, indicating solid coverage and moderate confidence. The recommendation mix has stayed broadly steady, with Hold edging up in July before stabilizing.