Ares Management (ARES) AI Stock Analysis

• Market Cap: $36.45B
• Dividend Yield: 2.65%
• Average Volume (3M): 4.02M
• Price to Earnings (P/E): 63.5
• Beta (1Y): 1.62
• Revenue Growth: 50.70%
• EPS Growth: 7.32%
• Country: US
• Employees: 3,504
• Sector: Financial
• Sector Strength: 70
• Industry: Asset Management
• EPS (TTM): 1.45
• Shares Outstanding: 216,852,340
• 10 Day Avg. Volume: 4,178,360
• 30 Day Avg. Volume: 4,017,081
• PEG Ratio: -12.54
• Price to Book (P/B): 8.22
• Price to Sales (P/S): 5.43
• P/FCF Ratio: 11.00
• Enterprise Value/Market Cap: 1.38
• Enterprise Value/Revenue: 8.56
• Enterprise Value/Gross Profit: 14.68
• Enterprise Value/Ebitda: 22.98
• 1Y Price Target: $175.27
• Price Target Upside: 56.48% Upside
• Rating Consensus: Strong Buy
• Number of Analyst Covering: 11
• EPS Forecast (FY): 6.47
• Revenue Forecast (FY): $5.85B

• Rating: 64 Neutral
• Price Target: $125.00 ▲(11.60% Upside)
• Action: Reiterated Date: 02/25/26
• Date: Action: Reiterated 02/25/26

The score is primarily supported by solid financial performance (strong revenue trajectory, improved leverage, and stronger recent cash generation) and a constructive earnings call emphasizing credit quality, liquidity, and dividend coverage. These positives are moderated by weak technicals (price below key moving averages with negative MACD) and a demanding valuation (high P/E despite a supportive dividend yield).

Positive Factors

Scale & AUM growth

Material scale (>$600B AUM and record fundraising) strengthens recurring management-fee revenue and distribution reach. Large AUM and available capital support durable fee capture, bargaining power on deal terms, and the ability to seed or scale strategies, reducing reliance on any single channel.

Origination & diversification

Record originations and a broad borrower base increase deal flow and pricing optionality, supporting sustainable fee and carry generation. High non‑sponsored originations and small average position sizes lower concentration risk and improve portfolio resilience across economic cycles.

Improved balance sheet & liquidity

Substantially stronger liquidity and a materially improved leverage profile reduce solvency and refinancing risk. Persistently lower leverage and ample liquidity provide capacity to fund new investments, support distributions, and weather market dislocations without forcing asset sales.

Negative Factors

Rate sensitivity

A structural sensitivity exists because earnings and distributable income depend on floating-rate loan resets and rate-linked economics. A sustained lower-rate environment will depress interest margins and fee-related economics over multiple quarters, pressuring core EPS and distributable cash.

Cash-flow variability

Free cash flow is volatile and cyclical, driven by fund flows, working-capital timing, and realized gains. The recent FCF decline and prior multi-year negative cash conversion raise execution risk for sustainable buybacks, reinvestment, and dividend growth if markets or fundraising weaken.

Limited NAV appreciation

Modest NAV per‑share change despite realized gains indicates limited valuation expansion in the investment portfolio. This constrains long‑term capital appreciation for shareholders and implies returns depend more on fee income and distributions than on material NAV uplift.

Ares Management Business Overview & Revenue Model

Company Description

Ares Management Corporation operates as an alternative asset manager in the United States, Europe, and Asia. The company's Tradable Credit Group segment manages various types of investment funds, such as commingled and separately managed accounts for institutional investors, and publicly traded vehicles and sub-advised funds for retail investors in the tradable and non-investment grade corporate credit markets. Its Direct Lending Group segment provides financing solutions to small-to-medium sized companies. The company's Private Equity Group segment focuses on majority or shared-control investments primarily in under-capitalized companies. Its Real Estate Group segment invests in new developments and the repositioning of assets, with a focus on control or majority-control investments; and originates and invests in a range of self-originated financing opportunities for middle-market owners and operators of commercial real estate. The firm was previously known as Ares Management, L.P. Ares Management Corporation was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California with additional offices in the United States, Europe and Asia. Ares Management GP LLC is the general partner of the company.

How the Company Makes Money

Ares Management generates revenue primarily through management fees and performance fees. Management fees are earned from the assets under management (AUM) across its investment funds, which are typically a percentage of the AUM. Performance fees, also known as carried interest, are earned when investment funds exceed predefined performance benchmarks, providing an additional revenue stream tied to the firm's investment performance. Additionally, Ares benefits from a diversified approach by investing in various sectors and geographies, which helps mitigate risk and enhance returns. The firm has established significant partnerships with institutional investors, including pension funds and sovereign wealth funds, which contribute to its capital raising efforts and overall earnings potential.

Ares Management Financial Statement Overview

Summary

Financial statements point to strong operating momentum (accelerating revenue growth and solid EBIT margin), improving leverage profile by 2025, and much stronger recent cash generation. Offsets include weaker 2025 net margin, declining 2025 free cash flow versus 2024, and historically volatile cash flow in earlier years.

Income Statement

Revenue growth is strong and accelerating (2025 up ~20.8% vs. 2024 nearly flat), indicating improved fundraising/fee momentum. Profitability is mixed: gross margin improved sharply in 2025, but net margin declined to ~8.2% from ~11.9% in 2024, suggesting higher costs, compensation, or non-operating drag. Operating profitability remains solid (2025 EBIT margin ~31.8%), but margins were meaningfully higher in 2023–2024 than in 2025, pointing to some recent normalization.

Balance Sheet

Leverage appears to have improved materially by 2025, with much lower total debt and a substantially higher equity base versus prior years; this reduces balance-sheet risk compared with 2021–2024 when debt levels were very high relative to equity. Returns on equity are positive but moderated in 2025 (~6.1%) versus stronger levels in 2023–2024, implying less efficient capital use recently. Overall asset base is large and growing, but the historical swing in leverage and equity levels signals that reported capital structure can be volatile year-to-year.

Cash Flow

Cash generation strengthened significantly in 2024–2025, with operating cash flow turning strongly positive and free cash flow reaching ~3.2B in 2025. However, free cash flow declined in 2025 (down ~28.9% year over year), indicating more variability than the income statement might suggest. Earlier years (2020–2023) showed consistently negative operating cash flow and free cash flow, highlighting that cash conversion can be cyclical and sensitive to working-capital/fund-related movements.

Breakdown	Dec 2025	Dec 2024	Dec 2023	Dec 2022	Dec 2021
Income Statement
Total Revenue	6.47B	3.88B	3.63B	3.06B	4.21B
Gross Profit	4.84B	2.15B	2.15B	1.56B	3.05B
EBITDA	2.30B	2.41B	2.43B	1.33B	1.47B
Net Income	527.36M	463.74M	474.33M	167.54M	408.84M
Balance Sheet
Total Assets	28.99B	24.88B	24.73B	22.00B	21.61B
Cash, Cash Equivalents and Short-Term Investments	1.50B	2.74B	1.50B	1.11B	1.39B
Total Debt	14.91B	13.15B	15.76B	13.33B	12.49B
Total Liabilities	20.29B	18.06B	20.26B	18.20B	17.79B
Stockholders Equity	4.28B	3.54B	1.89B	1.59B	1.83B
Cash Flow
Free Cash Flow	3.19B	2.70B	-300.44M	-769.91M	-2.62B
Operating Cash Flow	3.27B	2.79B	-233.26M	-734.11M	-2.60B
Investing Cash Flow	694.23M	-159.40M	-111.08M	-337.38M	-1.08B
Financing Cash Flow	-3.27B	-1.43B	292.13M	1.13B	3.50B

Ares Management Technical Analysis

• Technical Analysis Sentiment: Negative
• Last Price: 112.01
• 50DMA: Negative
• 100DMA: Negative
• 200DMA: Negative
• MACD: Positive
• RSI: Positive
• STOCH: Neutral

Evaluating momentum and price trends is crucial in stock analysis to make informed investment decisions. For ARES, the sentiment is Negative. The current price of 112.01 is below the 20-day moving average (MA) of 129.76, below the 50-day MA of 151.44, and below the 200-day MA of 162.51, indicating a bearish trend. The MACD of -10.10 indicates Positive momentum. The RSI at 28.65 is Positive, neither overbought nor oversold. The STOCH value of 20.12 is Neutral, not indicating any strong overbought or oversold conditions. Overall, these indicators collectively point to a Negative sentiment for ARES.

Ares Management Peers Comparison

Name	Overall Rating	Market Cap	P/E Ratio	ROE	Dividend Yield	Revenue Growth	EPS Growth
Sector *	68 Neutral	$18.00B	11.42	9.92%	3.81%	9.73%	1.22%
OWL	66 Neutral	$16.40B	102.23	3.64%	5.45%	27.24%	-59.82%
BX	65 Neutral	$139.31B	29.30	35.78%	3.02%	33.12%	19.86%
ARES	64 Neutral	$36.45B	63.48	12.40%	2.65%	50.70%	7.32%
CG	60 Neutral	$18.74B	23.85	14.23%	2.30%	-24.62%	437.16%
TPG	59 Neutral	$16.70B	96.75	13.14%	3.03%	25.02%	235.70%
KKR	57 Neutral	$78.16B	37.44	8.69%	0.56%	-33.80%	-24.81%

Ares Management Corporate Events

Ares Management Reports Strong 2025 Results, Raises Dividend

On February 5, 2026, Ares Management reported its fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 results, posting GAAP net income attributable to the company of $54.2 million, or $0.08 per share, and after-tax realized income of $529.1 million, or $1.45 per Class A share, supported by fee-related earnings of $527.7 million in the quarter. Management highlighted 2025 as an “exceptional year,” marked by crossing $600 billion in assets under management, setting new annual records with more than $100 billion in fundraising and investing, completing the GCP International acquisition to expand real estate and digital infrastructure capabilities, and delivering year-over-year increases of 29% in AUM, 32% in fee-paying AUM and 25% in management fees. Reflecting the stronger earnings profile and enhanced global platform with more than $150 billion of available capital, Ares’ board approved a 20% increase in the quarterly common stock dividend to $1.35 per share, declared for Class A and non-voting common stockholders of record on March 17, 2026 and payable on March 31, 2026, alongside a preferred dividend and the launch of a dividend reinvestment program, underscoring a focus on returning capital to shareholders while supporting continued growth. The company also scheduled its 2026 annual stockholders meeting for June 8, 2026, set April 13, 2026 as the record date, and announced a same-day conference call and webcast on February 5, 2026 to discuss the results, reinforcing its engagement with investors after a year of significant scale and fee growth.

The most recent analyst rating on (ARES) stock is a Hold with a $142.00 price target. To see the full list of analyst forecasts on Ares Management stock, see the ARES Stock Forecast page.