Franklin Templeton tops Q4 profit estimates, in line on revenue

Franklin Templeton (BEN) beat fiscal fourth-quarter profit estimates and matched revenue expectations. Preliminary.

Shares rose 1.5% at 9:56 a.m. ET, from a $32.21 close.

For the fiscal year, net income attributable to the company was $1,075.3 million, or $1.97 per diluted share, up from $524.9 million, or 91 cents, in fiscal 2025. Adjusted diluted earnings per share were $3.07, against $2.22 in the prior year.

Here's how the company did:

• Adjusted diluted EPS: 94 cents vs. 67 cents a year earlier, against 78 cents expected
• Adjusted operating revenues: $1,884.5 million vs. $1,815.0 million a year earlier, against $1.88 billion expected
• Net income attributable to the company: $380.1 million, or 72 cents per diluted share, vs. $117.6 million, or 21 cents, a year earlier
• Adjusted operating income: $598.6 million vs. $472.4 million a year earlier

Adjusted operating margin reached 31.8%, up from 26.0% a year earlier. Chief Executive Officer Jenny Johnson said, "We remain disciplined in managing expenses while continuing to invest in the future."

Assets and flows

Assets under management reached $1,795.1 billion at Sept. 30, up 8% from $1,661.2 billion a year earlier. Long-term net inflows were $20.8 billion in the quarter, compared with net outflows of $11.9 billion a year earlier.

For the fiscal year, long-term net inflows totaled $84.1 billion, against net outflows of $97.4 billion in fiscal 2025. Alternative assets reached $304.6 billion.

ETF assets rose 73% to $84.6 billion, retail SMA assets grew 19% to $196.3 billion and Canvas assets doubled to $32.6 billion. The institutional pipeline of won-but-unfunded mandates stood at $22.0 billion.

Costs and shareholder returns

Total operating expenses were $2,079.1 million, down from $2,258.3 million a year earlier, which included a $202.2 million impairment of intangible assets. No impairment was recorded this quarter.

Amortization of intangible assets was $42.0 million, down from $69.2 million a year earlier.

The company declared a quarterly dividend of 33 cents per share, up from 32 cents a year earlier. It repurchased 2.5 million shares for $86.1 million during the quarter, and returned $1.2 billion to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases over the fiscal year.

At Sept. 30, cash, cash equivalents and investments were $6.0 billion, or $7.4 billion including direct investments in consolidated investment products. Total stockholders' equity was $13.2 billion.