BlackRock Jumping On Strong Earnings (BLK)

Shares of BlackRock, Inc. BLK are up strongly today, gaining more than 2% on the back of a strong earnings report. Excluding items, BlackRock reported earnings of $3.42 per share. Wall Street had expected earnings of $2.90 per share. Revenue rose 61% from last year to $2.49 billion, thanks in large part to BlackRock's hedge funds. It finally looks like the purchase of Barclays's BCS investment unit for $15 billion just over a year ago is starting to pay off for CEO Larry Fink and shareholders as well. BlackRock attracted a net inflow of $23.9 billion from clients in the quarter, and its iShares exchange-traded fund unit grabbed $13.4 billion. Withdrawals related to the merger totaled $38.7 billion. Nomura analyst Glenn Schorr said was positive on the quarter. "The net new business pipeline is strong and BlackRock showed progress in the retail, defined contribution, and multi-asset spaces," Schorr said. Larry Fink has said that margins for 2011 will likely be lower than 40%, as the company continues to spend money on the firm, specifically the dark pool operation set to commence later this year. Assets under management totaled $3.56 trillion at the end of the fourth quarter, up 6 percent from a year ago, and 3% higher than last quarter. "People can see that they've been able to execute and integrate all these platforms now," Elizabeth Bramwell, manager of the Sentinel Growth Leaders fund, which owns BlackRock shares. "They have the ability to offer a diversity of products and geographic diversity that's just unparalleled." At last check, shares were up $4.35 to $197.73, a gain of 2.25%.