BlackRock, Inc.

BlackRock, Inc. (BLK - Snapshot Report) reported solid second-quarter results on July 21 that marked a nice improvement from just last quarter. The company is also working on closing a deal to acquire Barclay's lucrative iSHares ETF business for $13.5 billion.

Company Description

BlackRock is an investment management company that specializes in risk management and advisory services. The company manages to institutional and individual clients and has a market cap of $24 billion.

BlackRock reported second-quarter results on July 21 that were ahead of estimates and a big improvement from the first quarter.

Second-Quarter Results

Revenue was down 26% from last year to $1.03 billion, but earnings bested expectations, coming in at $1.75 when removing one-time items, 24 cents ahead of the consensus.

The drop in revenue was related to BlackRock's investment and advisory fees, which were down 27% to $850 million. Earnings however showed a nice improvement from last quarter's 81 cents, a reflection of the improving fundamentals of the financial industry.

BlackRock Acquires ETF Business

BlackRock has also recently expanded its business, announcing on June 16 that Barclays had accepted its bid to acquire the company's lucrative and market-leading ETF business for $13.5 billion. The deal has yet to officially close, but Barclays is recommending its shareholders approve.

Estimates Up

Estimates have been steadily rising with the company's share price over the last few months, with the current year adding 50 cents and climbing to $5.64 per share. The next-year estimate is bullish, projecting 38% earnings growth.

Valuation

Based upon the current-year estimate, this stock has a P/E multiple of 31X, a steep premium to the overall market.

The Chart

As previously mentioned, shares of BLK are up big after bottoming just above $90 in early March. Since then, shares have more than doubled in value, topping off above $180. Take a look below.

Read the full analyst report on BLK