KKR tops Q3 profit and revenue estimates on record fee earnings

KKR & Co. Inc. topped third-quarter profit and revenue estimates, reporting record fee related earnings for the second consecutive quarter.

Shares were little changed at 9:39 a.m. ET, from a $96.48 close.

Adjusted net income was $1.65 billion, or $1.78 per adjusted share, against a $1.60 consensus estimate.

Here's how the company did:

• Adjusted EPS: $1.78 vs. $1.41 a year earlier; $1.60 expected
• Revenue: $4.56 billion vs. $5.53 billion a year earlier; $2.62 billion expected
• Fee related earnings: $1.32 billion, up 27% from a year earlier
• Total operating earnings: $1.74 billion, up 25% from a year earlier

Assets under management reached $804 billion, up 11% from a year earlier.

Segment results

Fee related earnings rose on higher management fees and fee related performance revenues. Management fees were $1.20 billion.

Insurance operating earnings were $230 million, including a $26 million charge tied to the annual actuarial assumption review of Global Atlantic and related items.

Global Atlantic assets under management totaled $223 billion, of which $170 billion was credit assets.

Capital returns and the USI sale

KKR approved a $500 million increase to its share repurchase program on Nov. 6. Before that, $33 million remained available as of Nov. 4.

KKR expects to return more than $40 billion to clients in 2026, exceeding its previous annual record by more than 50%.

KKR announced the Aug. 31 sale of USI Insurance Services, its Core Private Equity investment. The sale is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026, and subject to closing it expects to generate about $2.00 billion of adjusted net income, or more than $2.00 per adjusted share, in its fourth-quarter results.