BlackRock, Inc. is a publicly owned investment manager. The firm primarily provides its services to institutional, intermediary, and individual investors including corporate, public, union, and industry pension plans, insurance companies, third-party mutual funds, endowments, public institutions, governments, foundations, charities, sovereign wealth funds, corporations, official institutions, and banks. It also provides global risk management and advisory services. The firm manages separate client-focused equity, fixed income, and balanced portfolios. It also launches and manages open-end and closed-end mutual funds, offshore funds, unit trusts, and alternative investment vehicles including structured funds. The firm launches equity, fixed income, balanced, and real estate mutual funds. It also launches equity, fixed income, balanced, currency, commodity, and multi-asset exchange traded funds. The firm also launches and manages hedge funds. It invests in the public equity, fixed income, real estate, currency, commodity, and alternative markets across the globe. The firm primarily invests in growth and value stocks of small-cap, mid-cap, SMID-cap, large-cap, and multi-cap companies. It also invests in dividend-paying equity securities. The firm invests in investment grade municipal securities, government securities including securities issued or guaranteed by a government or a government agency or instrumentality, corporate bonds, and asset-backed and mortgage-backed securities. It employs fundamental and quantitative analysis with a focus on bottom-up and top-down approach to make its investments. The firm employs liquidity, asset allocation, balanced, real estate, and alternative strategies to make its investments. In real estate sector, it seeks to invest in Poland and Germany. The firm benchmarks the performance of its portfolios against various S&P, Russell, Barclays, MSCI, Citigroup, and Merrill Lynch indices. BlackRock, Inc. was founded in 1988 and is based in New York City with additional offices in Boston, Massachusetts; London, United Kingdom; Gurgaon, India; Hong Kong; Greenwich, Connecticut; Princeton, New Jersey; Edinburgh, United Kingdom; Sydney, Australia; Taipei, Taiwan; Singapore; Sao Paulo, Brazil; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Washington, District of Columbia; Toronto, Canada; Wilmington, Delaware; and San Francisco, California.

BlackRock, Inc.

Key Points
Core AI funds hold platform companies building and deploying AI, while spillover funds target semiconductors, data centers, cybersecurity, and power infrastructure.
Expense ratios for thematic AI ETFs range from 0.35% to 0.75%, with passive index funds typically cheaper than actively managed alternatives.
Building exposure beyond core AI requires considering concentration risk in semiconductor funds and rate sensitivity in data center REITs.
Artificial intelligence (AI) creates investment opportunities across multiple layers, from the software platforms to the chips running them and the data centers housing the hardware. Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) offer diversified exposure to these segments without requiring individual stock selection, but the category spans everything from broad AI platform funds to narrow infrastructure plays in nuclear power and quantum computing.
Two approaches dominate AI ETF construction. Core funds hold the companies directly building and deploying AI – cloud providers, software platforms, and chip designers. Spillover funds target the picks-and-shovels businesses enabling AI deployment: semiconductor manufacturers, data center landlords, cybersecurity providers, and power infrastructure. The right mix depends on whether you want concentrated exposure to AI winners or broader participation in the infrastructure buildout.
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Here is a brief overview of the best ETFs covering this powerful theme.
Core AI ETFs
Global X Artificial Intelligence & Technology ETF (NASDAQ: AIQ) tracks the Indxx AI & Big Data index, providing broad global exposure across software, cloud, and mega-cap AI platforms. The passive fund carries a 0.68% expense ratio with approximately $6 billion in assets, offering diversified core exposure without overemphasizing any single AI category.
iShares Future AI & Tech ETF (NYSEMKT: ARTY) delivers similar core AI exposure from BlackRock at a lower 0.47% expense ratio. The passive fund tilts toward established technology names with fundamental screening, providing cost-conscious access to the same opportunity set as the Global X Artificial Intelligence & Technology ETF.
Roundhill Generative AI & Technology ETF (NYSEMKT: CHAT) takes an active management approach with concentrated positions in generative AI names. Launched in May 2023 with a 0.75% expense ratio, it offers options trading and suits investors wanting narrative-driven stock selection over index construction.
Semiconductor infrastructure
iShares Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ: SOXX) and VanEck Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ: SMH) both provide liquid exposure to chipmakers and equipment manufacturers. The iShares Semiconductor fund carries a 0.34% expense ratio while VanEck charges 0.35%.
The VanEck Semiconductor ETF concentrates heavily in its top 10 holdings – typically exceeding 70% of assets--with significant weights in Nvidia, TSMC, Broadcom, and ASML. The iShares Semiconductor ETF offers slightly broader diversification. Both are passive index funds capturing the profit engine of AI training and inference cycles.
Cybersecurity exposure
First Trust NASDAQ Cybersecurity ETF (NASDAQ: CIBR) applies rules-based screening to cyber names at a 0.59% expense ratio, while Amplify Cybersecurity ETF (NYSEMKT: HACK) tracks the NASDAQ ISE Cyber Security Select Index at a 0.60% expense ratio. Both are passive funds addressing the structural budget increases for AI-era attack surfaces and automated defense. The holdings overlap significantly but construction differences create modest performance divergence.
Data center infrastructure
Pacer Data & Infrastructure Real Estate ETF (NYSEMKT: SRVR) holds data center REITs and digital infrastructure operators through a rules-based Solactive index. Global X Data Center & Digital Infrastructure ETF (NASDAQ: DTCR) provides more direct data center and interconnect exposure at a 0.50% expense ratio. Both are passive funds targeting the landlord layer--racks, fiber, and powered shells. As REIT-focused funds, these ETFs carry rate sensitivity that can pressure valuations when yields rise even as fundamentals improve.
Nuclear and uranium
VanEck Uranium and Nuclear ETF (NYSEMKT: NLR) diversifies across nuclear operators, equipment manufacturers, and uranium exposure at a 0.56% expense ratio. Sprott Uranium Miners ETF (NYSEMKT: URNM), as the name implies, invests mainly in uranium miners, with a 0.75% expense ratio. Both are passive funds capturing the power infrastructure thesis.
Quantum computing
Defiance Quantum ETF (NASDAQ: QTUM) indexes quantum-adjacent computing and machine learning names at a 0.40% expense ratio. The passive fund captures exposure to companies working on quantum hardware, software, and enabling technologies as the field moves from research labs toward commercial applications. Quantum computing remains highly speculative with long development timelines, but recent advances in error correction and qubit stability suggest the technology may be approaching practical utility for specific AI and optimization problems.
The portfolio construction trade-off
One fund keeps it simple. Choose Global X Artificial Intelligence & Technology ETF for breadth or iShares Future AI & Tech ETF for lower fees. Pick the Roundhill Generative AI & Technology ETF if you prefer active concentration over indexing.
To own the full infrastructure stack supporting advanced compute, add satellites around a core holding: iShares Semiconductor ETF or VanEck Semiconductor ETF for chips, First Trust NASDAQ Cybersecurity ETF or Amplify Cybersecurity ETF for defense, Pacer Data & Infrastructure Real Estate ETF or Global X Data Center & Digital Infrastructure ETF for racks and interconnect, and VanEck Uranium and Nuclear Energy ETF or Sprott Uranium Miners ETF for power. If you want a small speculative sleeve, add Defiance Quantum ETF.
This structure captures AI's buildout across chips, racks, fiber, and kilowatts while the core holds the model builders and platforms.
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George Budwell has positions in BlackRock, Nvidia, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends ASML, Nvidia, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, and iShares Trust-iShares Semiconductor ETF. The Motley Fool recommends BlackRock and Broadcom. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

The Best ETFs for Artificial Intelligence (AI) Exposure

Among the underlying components of the Russell 3000 index, we saw noteworthy options trading volume today in Blackrock Inc (Symbol: BLK), where a total of 3,013 contracts have traded so far, representing approximately 301,300 underlying shares. That amounts to about 43.8% of BLK's average daily trading volume over the past month of 687,600 shares. Particularly high volume was seen for the $1140 strike put option expiring October 31, 2025, with 515 contracts trading so far today, representing approximately 51,500 underlying shares of BLK. Below is a chart showing BLK's trailing twelve month trading history, with the $1140 strike highlighted in orange:
DoorDash Inc (Symbol: DASH) options are showing a volume of 12,220 contracts thus far today. That number of contracts represents approximately 1.2 million underlying shares, working out to a sizeable 43.7% of DASH's average daily trading volume over the past month, of 2.8 million shares. Particularly high volume was seen for the $252.50 strike call option expiring October 24, 2025, with 3,023 contracts trading so far today, representing approximately 302,300 underlying shares of DASH. Below is a chart showing DASH's trailing twelve month trading history, with the $252.50 strike highlighted in orange:
And ServiceNow Inc (Symbol: NOW) options are showing a volume of 5,014 contracts thus far today. That number of contracts represents approximately 501,400 underlying shares, working out to a sizeable 43.6% of NOW's average daily trading volume over the past month, of 1.1 million shares. Particularly high volume was seen for the $1330 strike call option expiring October 31, 2025, with 219 contracts trading so far today, representing approximately 21,900 underlying shares of NOW. Below is a chart showing NOW's trailing twelve month trading history, with the $1330 strike highlighted in orange:
For the various different available expirations for BLK options, DASH options, or NOW options, visit StockOptionsChannel.com.
Also see:
Market Cap History
KREF YTD Return
XM Insider Buying
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

Notable Friday Option Activity: BLK, DASH, NOW

Lazard Inc.’s LAZ third-quarter 2025 adjusted earnings per share of 56 cents beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 41 cents. This compared favorably with earnings of 38 cents per share in the year-ago quarter.
Lazard’s results were positively impacted by increases in revenues in the financial advisory and asset management, and corporate sectors. A rise in the assets under management (“AUM”) balances was another positive. However, elevated operating expenses acted as a spoilsport.
The results include certain non-recurring items. After considering those, Lazard’s net income (GAAP) was $71.2 million, which fell 34% from the prior-year quarter's reported level.
Lazard’s Revenues Increase
Quarterly adjusted net revenues were $724.6 million, which rose 12.4% year over year. Further, the top line surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 3.9%.
Lazard’s Expenses Increase
Operating expenses were $702.9 million, up 12.2% year over year. The performance was driven by strength in both Financial Advisory and Asset Management, reflecting improving market sentiment and Lazard’s diversified business model.
The ratio of adjusted compensation expenses to operating revenues was 65.5%, down from the year-earlier quarter’s 66%. The ratio of adjusted non-compensation expenses to operating revenues was 20.5%, down from the year-ago quarter’s 21.4%.
Lazard’s Segmental Performance
Financial Advisory: The segment’s adjusted operating revenues were $422.3 million, up 14% from the year-earlier quarter. Our estimate for the metric was $420.6 million.
Asset Management: Segmental adjusted operating revenues of $294.2 million increased 8% from the prior-year quarter. Our estimate for the metric was $256.6 million.
Corporate: Adjusted operating revenues from this segment were $8.1 million, up 46% from the year-earlier quarter. Our estimate for the metric was $9.9 million.
LAZ’s AUM Rises
As of Sept. 30, 2025, the total AUM was $264.5 billion, which increased 16.9% from the prior-year quarter. The company achieved in the quarter. We projected total AUM to be $259.6 billion.
LAZ’s third quarter witnessed a record inflow of $4.6 billion, and market and foreign exchange appreciation of $11.6 billion.
The average AUM in the reported quarter was $257.4 billion, up 4.6% year over year.
Lazard’s Balance Sheet Position Strong
The company’s cash and cash equivalents totaled $1.2 billion as of Sept. 30, 2025, up 19.8% from the prior quarter. Stockholders’ equity was $878.6 million, up 11.7% sequentially. Our estimate for cash and cash equivalents was $1.1 billion, while stockholders' equity was $732.2 million.
LAZ’s Share Repurchase Update
In the third quarter of 2025, Lazard repurchased $1 million of the common stock. As of Sept. 30, 2025, roughly $159 million of authorization remained available for repurchase.
Our View on LAZ
Lazard is focused on growing organically, as evidenced by an increase in revenues in the financial advisory and asset management segments. A strong liquidity position, along with higher AUM, will also aid its financials in the upcoming period. However, rising expenses are concerning.
Lazard, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Currently, Lazard carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Performance of Other Asset Managers
Blackstone’s BX third-quarter 2025 distributable earnings of $1.52 per share surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.22. The figure soared 50% from the prior-year quarter.
BX’s results benefited from higher segment revenues and a rise in assets under management. Further, a decrease in GAAP expenses was a positive.
BlackRock’s BLK third-quarter 2025 adjusted earnings of $11.55 per share handily surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $11.25. The figure reflects a marginal rise from the year-ago quarter.
BLK’s results benefited from a rise in revenues. The AUM balance witnessed robust growth, reaching a record high of $13.46 trillion, driven by net inflows. However, higher expenses acted as a headwind.
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

Lazard Q3 Earnings Beat Estimates, Advisory Revenues & AUM Rise Y/Y

SEI Investments Co.’s SEIC third-quarter 2025 earnings per share (EPS) of $1.30 beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.25. Moreover, the bottom line reflected a rise of 9.2% from the prior-year quarter.
Results were aided by higher revenues and a rise in assets under management (AUM). However, higher expenses acted as a spoilsport. As a result, shares of SEI Investments declined 2.4% in yesterday’s after-market trading hours.
Net income attributable to SEI Investments was $164.2 million, up 6% from the year-ago quarter. Our estimate for the metric was $148.2 million.
SEIC’s Revenues & AUM Improve, Expenses Rise
Total revenues were $578.5 million, up 7.7% year over year. The rise was driven by higher asset management, administration and distribution fees, as well as information processing and software servicing fees. However, the top line missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $579.5 million.
Total expenses were $418.6 million, up 6.3% year over year. The increase was driven by a rise in almost all cost components, except for facilities, supplies and other costs and depreciation charges. Our estimate for the metric was $429.4 million.
Operating income increased 11.2% year over year to $160 million. Our estimate for the metric was $139.2 million.
As of Sept. 30, 2025, AUM was $541.5 billion, reflecting a rise of 9.8% from the prior-year quarter. Client assets under administration (AUA) were $1.21 trillion, up 16% year over year. Client AUA did not include $11.5 billion related to Funds of Funds assets reported as of Sept. 30, 2025.
SEI Investments’ Share Repurchase Update
In the reported quarter, SEIC bought back 1.6 million shares for $141.6 million at an average price of $90.02 per share.
Our View on SEIC
SEI Investments’ global presence, diverse product offerings, solid balance sheet, strategic acquisitions and a robust AUM balance are expected to keep supporting the top line. However, elevated operating expenses, led by technological upgrades alongside concentrated fee-based revenues, are concerning.
SEI Investments Company Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Currently, SEI Investments carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Performance of Another Asset Manager
BlackRock’s BLK third-quarter 2025 adjusted earnings of $11.55 per share handily surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $11.25. The figure reflects a marginal rise from the year-ago quarter.
BlackRock’s results benefited from a rise in revenues. The AUM balance witnessed robust growth, reaching a record high of $13.46 trillion, driven by net inflows. However, higher expenses acted as a headwind.
Earnings Release Date of Another Asset Manager
Invesco IVZ is scheduled to announce third-quarter 2025 numbers on Oct. 28.
Over the past seven days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for IVZ’s quarterly earnings has been revised 2.2% lower to 45 cents. The figure implies a rise of 2.3% from the prior-year quarter.
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

SEIC Q3 Earnings Beat Estimates as Revenues & AUM Rise Y/Y, Stock Down

In this podcast, Motley Fool contributors Tyler Crowe, Matt Frankel, and Jon Quast discuss:
Earnings, outlooks, and conference call commentary from the big banks' third quarter.
Private assets' role in an investor's portfolio.
Stocks on their radar.
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A full transcript is below.
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This podcast was recorded on Oct. 16, 2025.
Tyler Crowe: Private markets are becoming the public markets. This Motley Fool Money. Welcome to Motley Fool Money on Tyler Crowe, joined by longtime Fool contributors, Jon Quast and Matt Frankel. Now, we're going to cover the market buzz around private assets that are looking to make their way into retirement accounts and cover stocks on our radar, like we do every Thursday. But first, earning season is heating up. Yesterday, our colleagues discussed ASML's results, and we were tempted to also discuss Taiwan Semiconductor's strong earnings report and outlook. But I feel like we've discussed AI and the picks and shovels plays a lot lately on our episode of Motley Fool Money. We wanted to look at some of the non AI parts of the markets, and what better way to do that than with the big banks. The results from JPMorgan, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and several others came out earlier this week. I don't want to rehash the numbers too much. Instead, I want to really focus on some of the big takeaways from either the outlooks or commentary that we saw in the market. Matt, what stood out to you on this most recent round of updates?
Matt Frankel: First of all, all the big banks, including all the ones you mentioned and others, beat expectations for earnings. Strong numbers so far, but there are some big winners among the group. I'd say, in order, my biggest winners of earnings season so far among the banks are Wells Fargo, Morgan Stanley, and Bank of America. With the latter two, Bank of America and Morgan Stanley, they both benefited from a robust IPO and M&A market, which I think Jon's going to talk about more in a second. This led to investment banking fee growth of 43 and 44% year year respectively for those two. Equities trading revenue was really strong at beat expectations. Not only that, Bank of America reported a surprise decline in their credit loss provision, which is going to come into play a little later in our conversation. But in general, investment banking was really strong, and Wells Fargo is particularly interesting because they don't depend as much on investment banking, and we're a big winner. Their stocks up 10% since earnings. One major thing is that management is now expecting 17-18% returns on tangible common equity over the medium term, up from the previous estimates, after the Federal Reserve lifted their asset cap finally after seven years. The bank is now going on offense. Charlie Sharf, the CEO, said that Wells Fargo aims to be the number one consumer bank, a lofty goal, and a top five investment bank, which they're not I don't even think they're a top 10 investment bank right now. Plus, like Bank of America, Wells Fargo decreased their loan loss provision significantly, so some really big surprises so far.
Jon Quast: As Matt points out here, the investment banking market right now is just red hot. Accounting firm Ernst & Young, they just released a report that showed that merger and acquisition deal values in September up over 110% year over year. Those are some big deals in there. Volume was a little bit lower, but even still the activity in September up 41%. I capped off a third quarter here, where value for M&A was up 239% from the third quarter of 2024, and volume was up 164%, so nearly tripling. Things are clearly heating up in this space. That was reflected in the banking numbers that Matt was just talking about. Just to drill down into these things a little bit further, JP Morgan CFO Jeremy Barnum said that there have been some IPO deals sitting in the pipes ready to go, and they've just been waiting for better valuation and lower volatility, and the third quarter delivered on that. The same applies to merger and acquisition activity. You also look at some of the comments from Bank of America, CFO Alastair Borthwick said that the fourth quarter is shaping up nicely, and then Morgan Stanley comes out and says, they're actually building their business with expectations that the next 3-5 years are going to show positive trends in this investment banking market, and so all this is really positive.
Tyler Crowe: I guess it goes to show what personality I have because I focused in a little bit on the one negative market commentary that I think we saw in all of the banking stuff. It was during the JP Morgan conference call, Jamie Dimon made some, we can say comments on the state of private credit and lending to private credit. This comes on the heels of Auto Parts manufacturer First Brands Group and used auto dealer Tricolor both filing for bankruptcy. These are both private companies. Those companies had loans with private creditors who also just had those private creditors had loans with big banks. Jamie Dimon hinted that he thinks the private credit and other these non bank financial institutions, lenders to private equity and things like that. A lot of his commentary pointed to being a little bit of a weak point in the market. I'm trying to sparse between his commentary being like, we don't know how good these folks underwriting is, which it's either a commentary on the market or just Dimon trying to talk up JP Morgan's book, which that's obviously his job a little bit. It certainly gives me something to follow up in the coming quarters as to whether or not it was, again, just Jamie Dimon talking it up or, if there's actually really something here. Let me pass this back to you. What were the questions that you were left with on this most recentearnings call What do you want to follow up on?
Jon Quast: I would say that the investment banking commentary says that the economy is really in a healthy place or at least it's on the right track. My question is, what changes that and how secure is that? Investing is a lot to do with risk management. If I was to rewind the clock, go back to 2019, I just remember that economy feeling like a freight train in late 2019 and just asking, what would possibly change that? A once in a century pandemic. But this time it doesn't quite feel like a a freight train to me. It does feel a little bit more fragile, and maybe that's reflected in some of the comments you just brought out from Jamie Dimon. It feels like we're just a social media post away from changing some investor sentiment dramatically. I'm just looking at this. I'm saying, OK, the numbers are saying that the economy is very healthy or at least going in the right direction. What would it take to change that?
Matt Frankel: Look, I have mixed thoughts just like Tyler does, mainly because the sharp declines in the loss reserves from both Bank of America and Wells Fargo, really seem to contradict Jamie Dimon's statement on credit quality. I agree. I've been saying for a long time that the auto lending industry, especially the subprime market, could be a bit of a house of cards. It is far too easy to borrow, say, $50,000 to buy a depreciating asset, right now. It's harder to get a mortgage, which is a safer form of a loan. But that doesn't mean that all private credit is necessarily set for a collapse. It could just be specific to the auto lending industry. It's definitely worth monitoring over the next few quarters. But over the past few years, since 2022 when the bear market happened, pretty much every fear about deteriorating credit hasn't materialized as much as we thought it would.
Tyler Crowe: Coming up, private assets want to be in your retirement, and it could really affect the way we invest.
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Tyler Crowe: Admittedly, discussing first brands and Tricolors bankruptcy in the last segment isn't really exactly the best lead in for this next discussion, but not every transition could be perfect. The drumbeat around private assets has become becoming more available to the investing public is getting louder and louder. More and more asset managers are exploring ways to package private assets either as private equity or private credit into taxed advantage accounts like 401(k)s. Now, I myself have a lot of conflicting thoughts about this. On the one hand, making private assets available to individuals gives us a lot more investing choices, which most of the time more choices is better. Conversely, I can see asset managers that own these assets and trying to get them to individuals as a way of charging high fees for the privilege and access to private funds that they don't have anymore because low cost index funds and ETFs eroded a lot of fees that former mutual funds and asset managers used to enjoy. I'm going to put it both to you because there's a lot of stories out there of companies like Blackstone, BlackRock. All of these companies that are looking to find a new way to package private investments into 401(k)s or other types of retirement accounts. How do you see private assets fitting into your investment strategy?
Jon Quast: Personally, I'm a big fan of few regulations from Uncle Sam. On principle, I like the idea of being able to add private assets to my retirement account. There are some companies that I would have loved to in recent years, and one that comes to mind is Neuralink from Elon Musk. That's just a fascinating company to me, and I would love to be able to invest in my retirement account. I find it extremely interesting. That said, as I look about this from a broad perspective, opportunity without education is like giving a small child a box of matches. They can get hurt, and they can break things. I think there's a smart way to open this up, and I think that there's a bad way to open this up. Hopefully, we do it the smart way and not the way that creates a lot of problems, especially financially for people just getting involved in something that they don't really understand.
Matt Frankel: Tyler, you're right that so far, all of the deregulation around any type of private assets have allowed managers and investment platforms to charge high fees to investors. We've talked about this privately before. But there are funds out there that give investors private exposure to private companies like SpaceX and Open AI, and charge, let's say, ridiculous fees. But like you, I'm conflicted. It's both an opportunity and a threat to the retirement security of people in these 401(k) plans. The statement from the executive order that the president signed allowing this is misleading that the standard products like S&P 500 index funds are, "Are not letting people achieve secure retirements." The S&P 500 has been a great wealth builder over the long term. The problem is that the average person doesn't save enough for retirement. It's not that they haven't had opportunities to build wealth. I have conflicted feelings about this. Like Jon said, there is a right way and a wrong way to do it.
Tyler Crowe: There's been a lot of deregulation of access to things like this. It started with the 2012 Jobs Act is something I can think of. I think, ultimately, and this is I give my concluding thoughts, I guess, and moves like this feel like an appeal to the inattentive investor, the ones that sign up for whatever plans your company's 401(k) signs up for. To that, the good marketing of private equity isn't subject to the whims of the market or something like that for long term investments. You can see the marketing. It writes itself. But individual investors like us who put the time and effort into finding individual stocks to buy and hold over the long term. I don't know if we'll see as many benefits from this because we want to do our due diligence. We'll see how this shakes out, but I think that's where I'm going to end up landing unless somebody really blows me away with a really interesting offer in private capital. After that, we'll do stocks on our radar.
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Tyler Crowe: Guys, unfortunately, none of us were the recipients of that $300 trillion stablecoin fat finger that happened at PayPal either yesterday or today. I think we're just going to have to keep on building wealth, the old fashioned way, with some buy and hold stocks. With that in mind, what's actually on your radar this week? Jon, we're going to start with you.
Jon Quast: On my radar this week is company called TripAdvisor, symbol TRIP. At Hidden Gems, we value misunderstood companies, has something that the market's not appreciating, and TripAdvisor certainly has that, in my opinion. It's not just the TripAdvisor brand that you get here. You also get another brand, which is called Viator. Now, I want to just talk about Viator because I believe that the real value here, and this goes along with our discussion regarding investment banking. I think that TripAdvisor has something more valuable in Viator than what TripAdvisor is itself, and spinning it out or IPOing it in some way may unlock that value. You just look at Viator by itself for a moment. It's generated 882 million in trailing 12 month revenue. It's growing at 11%, which is double digits, high gross margin. It is profitable on a stand-alone basis. You look at something like Airbnb, a price to sales ratio of seven. Let's give Viator half that valuation at 3.5 times sales. Viator would have a $3 billion market cap on a stand alone basis. You look at TripAdvisor right now, it has a $1.8 billion market cap. Potentially more value in Viator as a stand-alone business than what it is right now under TripAdvisor. I think this is an underappreciated thing and why it's on my radar.
Matt Frankel: I'm going to talk about one of my longtime favorite real estate companies to follow Empire State Realty Trust, ESRT. They own the Empire State Building and a portfolio of about two dozen other primarily office buildings in Manhattan. Not only is the stock about 35% below its 52 week high, despite pretty strong performance from its business and the observatory on the Empire State Building, but I'm seeing signs that the New York City office market could be stronger than most experts think. Just consider that competitor SL Green just agreed to buy a 36 story office tower right near Park Avenue for $730 million. It's a big bet that the New York City office market will strengthen in the years to come. If it turns out they're paying the right price, the Empire State Building alone could be worth more than the current market cap of the company. Forget the other two dozen properties. Talk about a Hidden Gem. I think if the New York City office market does what SL Green thinks it's going to do, the Empire State could be a bargain.
Tyler Crowe: On the deregulatory thing, there's been another story about the Trump administration looking to privatize its portfolio of student loans, which I don't know if it's going to happen or not, but it gives me a pretty lame excuse to talk about SLM Corp. Ticker is SLM. This people might also know it as Sallie Mae, which is basically the bank similar to Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac, but it's focused on student loans. It is actually a publicly traded company. One of the things that makes it so appealing to me is if you actually look at the credit quality that it has, you think of student loans, they tend to be a relatively secure loan in the sense of paybacks. Our default rates are relatively low. They actually can't even be discharged in bankruptcy. They also get things like high rates of cosigned with parents and things like that, and a lot of what they actually have on their books is for masters in business or premed or law or something like that. It tends to have very high amounts with also good credit quality for future payments. It's just a business to me that looks incredibly well. If you look at things like net interest spreads, which is the difference between the interest rate on the loans and how much its depositors get, it's quite high compared to most other banks. You get a secure payment at a high net interest rate. This is a business right now that's trading for about 11 or 12 times earnings. I think people are worried about credit quality, but I think that might be a little overblown for a business that if we talk about hidden, it really is quite hidden out there and a very quality business for something. Matt, Jon, that's all the time we have for today. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
As always, people on the program may have interests in the stock they talk about, and the Motley Fool may have formal recommendations for or against, so don't buy or sell stocks based solely on what you hear. All personal finance content follows Motley Fool editorial standards and is not approved by advertisers. Advertisements are sponsored content and provided for informational purposes only. To see our full advertising disclosure, please check out our shows. Thanks again to our producer Dan Boyd, for keeping us on schedule for Matt, Jon and myself. Thanks for listening, and we'll chat again soon.
Wells Fargo is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. SLM is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. JPMorgan Chase is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. Bank of America is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. Jon Quast has positions in Airbnb. Matt Frankel has positions in Bank of America, Empire State Realty Trust, and PayPal. Tyler Crowe has positions in SLM and has the following options: short December 2025 $32 puts on SLM. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends ASML, Airbnb, Blackstone, JPMorgan Chase, PayPal, and Tripadvisor. The Motley Fool recommends BlackRock and Empire State Realty Trust and recommends the following options: long January 2027 $42.50 calls on PayPal and short December 2025 $75 calls on PayPal. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

Private Assets Meet Public Markets

Blackstone’s BX third-quarter 2025 distributable earnings of $1.52 per share surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.22. The figure soared 50% from the prior-year quarter.
Results benefited from higher segment revenues and a rise in assets under management (AUM) balance. Further, a decrease in GAAP expenses was a positive.
Net income attributable to Blackstone was $624.7 million, down 20% from the year-ago quarter.
BX’s Segment Revenues Increase, GAAP Expenses Fall
Total segment revenues for the reported quarter were $3.3 billion, which jumped 36% year over year. The top line beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.11 billion. On a GAAP basis, revenues were $3.09 billion, falling 16%.
Total expenses (GAAP basis) were $1.75 billion, which declined 8% year over year.
As of Sept. 30, 2025, Blackstone had $11.1 billion in total cash, cash equivalents and corporate treasury investments, and $20.9 billion in cash and net investments. The company has a $3.8-billion undrawn credit revolver.
Blackstone’s AUM Balance Rises
Fee-earning AUM grew 10% year over year to $906.2 billion as of Sept. 30, 2025.
The total AUM amounted to $1.24 trillion, up 12%. The rise in total AUM was primarily driven by $54.2 billion in inflows in the reported quarter.
As of Sept. 30, 2025, the undrawn capital available for investment was $188.1 billion.
BX’s Share Repurchase Update
During the reported quarter, Blackstone repurchased 0.2 million shares.
As of Sept. 30, 2025, $1.7 billion worth of buyback authorization remained available.
Our Take on Blackstone
Blackstone is well-positioned for top-line growth, supported by a continuous rise in AUM. The company is expected to keep gaining from its fundraising ability. However, high expenses and a challenging operating backdrop are likely to hurt the bottom line in the near term.
Blackstone Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Currently, Blackstone carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Stong Buy) stocks here.
Performance & Earnings Release Date of Blackstone’s Peers
BlackRock’s BLK third-quarter 2025 adjusted earnings of $11.55 per share handily surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $11.25. The figure reflects a marginal rise from the year-ago quarter.
BLK’s results benefited from a rise in revenues. The AUM balance witnessed robust growth, reaching a record high of $13.46 trillion, driven by net inflows. However, higher expenses acted as a headwind.
Invesco IVZ is scheduled to announce third-quarter 2025 numbers on Oct. 28.
Over the past 30 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for IVZ’s quarterly earnings has been revised 2.3% higher to 45 cents. The figure implies a rise of 2.3% from the prior-year quarter.
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

BX's Q3 Earnings Beat as AUM Touches Record High on Solid Inflows

Investors interested in stocks from the Financial - Investment Management sector have probably already heard of Franklin Resources (BEN) and BlackRock (BLK). But which of these two companies is the best option for those looking for undervalued stocks? Let's take a closer look.
The best way to find great value stocks is to pair a strong Zacks Rank with an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system. The Zacks Rank is a proven strategy that targets companies with positive earnings estimate revision trends, while our Style Scores work to grade companies based on specific traits.
Right now, Franklin Resources is sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while BlackRock has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that BEN has an improving earnings outlook. But this is just one factor that value investors are interested in.
Value investors are also interested in a number of tried-and-true valuation metrics that help show when a company is undervalued at its current share price levels.
Our Value category grades stocks based on a number of key metrics, including the tried-and-true P/E ratio, the P/S ratio, earnings yield, and cash flow per share, as well as a variety of other fundamentals that value investors frequently use.
BEN currently has a forward P/E ratio of 8.96, while BLK has a forward P/E of 23.74. We also note that BEN has a PEG ratio of 1.63. This figure is similar to the commonly-used P/E ratio, with the PEG ratio also factoring in a company's expected earnings growth rate. BLK currently has a PEG ratio of 1.95.
Another notable valuation metric for BEN is its P/B ratio of 0.9. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. For comparison, BLK has a P/B of 3.55.
These are just a few of the metrics contributing to BEN's Value grade of A and BLK's Value grade of D.
BEN sticks out from BLK in both our Zacks Rank and Style Scores models, so value investors will likely feel that BEN is the better option right now.
Beyond Nvidia: AI's Second Wave Is Here
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BlackRock (BLK) : Free Stock Analysis Report
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

BEN or BLK: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

The following are the top rated Financial stocks according to Validea's Patient Investor model based on the published strategy of Warren Buffett. This strategy seeks out firms with long-term, predictable profitability and low debt that trade at reasonable valuations.
BLACKROCK INC (BLK) is a large-cap growth stock in the Misc. Financial Services industry. The rating according to our strategy based on Warren Buffett is 70% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.
Company Description: BlackRock, Inc. is an investment management company. The Company provides a range of investment management and technology services to institutional and retail clients. Its diverse platform of alpha-seeking active, private markets, index and cash management investment strategies across asset classes enables the Company to tailor investment outcomes and asset allocation solutions for clients. Its product offerings include single- and multi-asset portfolios investing in equities, fixed income, alternatives, and money market instruments. Its products are offered directly and through intermediaries in a range of vehicles, including open-end and closed-end mutual funds, iShares exchange-traded funds, separate accounts, collective investment funds and other pooled investment vehicles. It also offers technology services, including the investment and risk management technology platform, Aladdin, Aladdin Wealth, eFront, and Cachematrix, as well as advisory services and solutions.
The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.
Detailed Analysis of BLACKROCK INC
FEDERAL AGRICULTURAL MORTGAGE CORP (AGM) is a small-cap value stock in the Consumer Financial Services industry. The rating according to our strategy based on Warren Buffett is 63% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.
Company Description: Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation is a stockholder-owned, federally chartered corporation that combines private capital and public sponsorship to serve a public purpose. The Companys secondary market provides liquidity to its agricultural and infrastructure businesses, supporting rural America. The Companys segments include Farm & Ranch, Corporate AgFinance, Power & Utilities, Broadband Infrastructure, Renewable Energy, Funding, and Investments. The Farm & Ranch segment includes the USDA securities portfolio, Farm & Ranch loans, and AgVantage securities. The Corporate AgFinance segment includes loans and AgVantage securities to larger and more complex farming operations, agribusinesses focused on food and fiber processing, and other supply chain production. The Power & Utilities segment includes loans to rural electric generation and transmission cooperatives and distribution cooperatives, as well as AgVantage securities secured by those types of loans.
The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.
Detailed Analysis of FEDERAL AGRICULTURAL MORTGAGE CORP
About Warren Buffett: Warren Buffett is considered by many to be the greatest investor of all time. As the chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, Buffett has consistently outperformed the S&P 500 for decades, and in the process has become one of the world's richest men. (Forbes puts his net worth at $37 billion.) Despite his fortune, Buffett is known for living a modest lifestyle, by billionaire standards. His primary residence remains the gray stucco Nebraska home he purchased for $31,500 nearly 50 years ago, according to Forbes, and his folksy Midwestern manner and penchant for simple pleasures -- a cherry Coke, a good burger, and a good book are all near the top of the list -- have been well-documented.
About Validea: Validea is aninvestment researchservice that follows the published strategies of investment legends. Validea offers both stock analysis and model portfolios based on gurus who have outperformed the market over the long-term, including Warren Buffett, Benjamin Graham, Peter Lynch and Martin Zweig. For more information about Validea, click here
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

Validea's Top Financial Stocks Based On Warren Buffett - 10/22/2025

Looking today at week-over-week shares outstanding changes among the universe of ETFs covered at ETF Channel, one standout is the Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares (Symbol: FAS) where we have detected an approximate $131.9 million dollar outflow -- that's a 4.9% decrease week over week (from 16,199,289 to 15,399,289). Among the largest underlying components of FAS, in trading today Blackrock Inc (Symbol: BLK) is off about 0.3%, The Charles Schwab Corporation (Symbol: SCHW) is off about 0.4%, and Standard and Poors Global Inc (Symbol: SPGI) is up by about 0.2%. For a complete list of holdings, visit the FAS Holdings page » The chart below shows the one year price performance of FAS, versus its 200 day moving average:
Looking at the chart above, FAS's low point in its 52 week range is $92.66 per share, with $189.23 as the 52 week high point — that compares with a last trade of $163.10. Comparing the most recent share price to the 200 day moving average can also be a useful technical analysis technique -- learn more about the 200 day moving average ».
Free Report: Top 8%+ Dividends (paid monthly)
Exchange traded funds (ETFs) trade just like stocks, but instead of ''shares'' investors are actually buying and selling ''units''. These ''units'' can be traded back and forth just like stocks, but can also be created or destroyed to accommodate investor demand. Each week we monitor the week-over-week change in shares outstanding data, to keep a lookout for those ETFs experiencing notable inflows (many new units created) or outflows (many old units destroyed). Creation of new units will mean the underlying holdings of the ETF need to be purchased, while destruction of units involves selling underlying holdings, so large flows can also impact the individual components held within ETFs.
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VMO Historical Stock Prices
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

Noteworthy ETF Outflows: FAS, BLK, SCHW, SPGI

Looking at the underlying holdings of the ETFs in our coverage universe at ETF Channel, we have compared the trading price of each holding against the average analyst 12-month forward target price, and computed the weighted average implied analyst target price for the ETF itself. For the Pacer Metaurus US Large Cap Dividend Multiplier 400 ETF (Symbol: QDPL), we found that the implied analyst target price for the ETF based upon its underlying holdings is $46.47 per unit.
With QDPL trading at a recent price near $42.19 per unit, that means that analysts see 10.14% upside for this ETF looking through to the average analyst targets of the underlying holdings. Three of QDPL's underlying holdings with notable upside to their analyst target prices are BlackRock Inc (Symbol: BLK), Applovin Corp (Symbol: APP), and Ulta Beauty Inc (Symbol: ULTA). Although BLK has traded at a recent price of $1160.00/share, the average analyst target is 12.81% higher at $1308.65/share. Similarly, APP has 12.66% upside from the recent share price of $565.94 if the average analyst target price of $637.57/share is reached, and analysts on average are expecting ULTA to reach a target price of $589.48/share, which is 12.56% above the recent price of $523.72. Below is a twelve month price history chart comparing the stock performance of BLK, APP, and ULTA:
Below is a summary table of the current analyst target prices discussed above:
Name
Symbol
Recent Price
Avg. Analyst 12-Mo. Target
% Upside to Target
Pacer Metaurus US Large Cap Dividend Multiplier 400 ETF
QDPL
$42.19
$46.47
10.14%
BlackRock Inc
BLK
$1160.00
$1308.65
12.81%
Applovin Corp
APP
$565.94
$637.57
12.66%
Ulta Beauty Inc
ULTA
$523.72
$589.48
12.56%
Are analysts justified in these targets, or overly optimistic about where these stocks will be trading 12 months from now? Do the analysts have a valid justification for their targets, or are they behind the curve on recent company and industry developments? A high price target relative to a stock's trading price can reflect optimism about the future, but can also be a precursor to target price downgrades if the targets were a relic of the past. These are questions that require further investor research.
Also see:
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

BlackRock, Inc.

Price history and volume

Shares 360

Investment risk — high

Investment potential — medium

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