BLK, Blackrock, Inc.
Read top to bottom, the owner's questions in the order an owner asks them: what the business is, whether the record holds, whether it survives and is any good, and what you would be paying. New to the questions? Start with the Method.
The business in brief
read the 10-K →What this business is and what moves its needle, read from the numbers in its filings. The quantitative detail is in the sections below; the verdict is left to you.
- What it is
- A balance-sheet business, read on book value, net interest margin and credit losses rather than an earnings multiple.
- What moves the needle
- Net interest margin, loan losses, and book value. A lender is read on the quality of its balance sheet, not on an earnings multiple.
- Is it a good business?
- Return on equity has hovered around the cost of equity (median 13%, above 12% in 3 of 4 years). A bank that earns above its cost of equity through the cycle compounds book value; whether this one did it by underwriting discipline or by reaching for risk is what the 10-K, and the worst years in the record, will tell you.
Every line here is arithmetic from the company's own filings, not a model's opinion, and each figure appears in full in the sections below.
Where the money comes from
read the 10-K →Americas is 66% of revenue, so this is largely a single-region business.
- Americas66%$16.0B
- Europe30%$7.2B
- Asia Pacific5%$1.1B
From the segment footnote of the company's own 10-K. Shares are of total revenue; the profit bar shows each segment's share of segment operating profit, before unallocated corporate costs.
The record, 2022–2025
realized figures from each filing, no estimates| 2022’22 | 2023’23 | 2024’24 | 2025’25 | TTMTTMMar 2026 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RevenueRevenue | $17.9B | $17.9B | $20.4B | $24.2B | $25.6B |
| Net incomeNet inc. | $5.2B | $5.5B | $6.4B | $5.6B | $6.3B |
| EPS (diluted)EPS | $33.97 | $36.51 | $42.01 | $34.52 | $37.91 |
| Return on equityROE | 14% | 14% | 13% | 10% | 11% |
| Return on tangible equityROTCE | 23% | 99% | 793% | — | — |
| Book value / shareBVPS | $248.46 | $261.08 | $313.26 | $347.42 | $343.56 |
| Tangible book / shareTBVPS | $147.83 | $36.93 | $5.30 | $-45.77 | $-38.18 |
| Dividends / shareDiv/sh | $19.61 | $20.14 | $20.45 | — | — |
Owner’s Scorecard
Is it a good business?
- Return on equity 10%Below the cost of equityNet income $5.6B ÷ equity $55.9B
The bank's north star, what it earns on shareholders' capital. Cost of equity is roughly 10%, so a return durably above that builds value and below it destroys it. One year is noisy; the durability across a full credit cycle is what counts.
- Not enough data
Equity, goodwill or intangibles missing.
- Not enough data
Noninterest expense or revenue missing.
Is it sound?
- Capital (equity / assets) 32.9%Well capitalizedEquity $55.9B ÷ assets $170.0B
A plain-English leverage read: how much of the balance sheet is the owners' own money. This is a rough proxy; the regulatory figure is the CET1 ratio, which is risk-weighted and reported in the filing. The point is the same, how much loss the bank can absorb before depositors are at risk.
- Funding —Not enough data
Deposits or total assets missing.
- Credit cost —Not enough data
Provision or net interest income missing.
Solvent is not the same as cheap; growing is not the same as good. These are vital signs, not a verdict, the judgment is yours, and the filing is one click away.
Management & pay
read the proxy →Two questions Buffett actually asks about pay: is stock compensation, a real expense, whatever the income statement pretends, quietly large, and is the top wildly out of line with the floor. He's no populist about it; he just wants pay that's rational and earned, and comp committees that aren't lapdogs.
- CEO pay ratio245:1
What the chief earns for every dollar the median employee makes, per the 2026 proxy. A high ratio isn't proof of anything, some businesses are genuinely top-heavy in scarce skill, but a runaway figure is where Buffett starts asking whether the board is doing its job or just keeping the chair company.
- Stock-based compensation$1.3B
The slice of the business handed to employees in shares this year, 5% of revenue, equal to 19% of operating profit. Buffett's oldest accounting fight: this is compensation, compensation is an expense, real whether or not the headline earnings admit it. And note the trap, the cash-flow statement adds SBC back, so the operating cash, and the owner earnings drawn from it, are flattered by exactly this amount; counted as the cost it is, what an owner keeps is lower.
What the price implies
reverse-DCFA bank / financial isn't read on an owner-earnings DCF, its economics live on the balance sheet (book value, the return earned on it, and the cash the assets throw off). We don't force this lens where it doesn't belong.
What the filing emphasizes, FY2025
read the 10-K →Each year a 10-K must name what could go wrong, in the company's own words. Here are the ones Graham and Buffett would stop on, each set against the figure from the same filings that bears on it, anchored to a period you can find in the record above. We point; the judgment is yours.
- Pricing power & competitionMD&A
Whether the company sets its price or takes it. Durable pricing power is the surest mark of a moat; price competition is the surest mark there isn't one.
“The global market for qualified fund managers, investment analysts, technology and risk specialists and other professionals is highly competitive.”
From the recordOperating margin31.8% now (TTM), off a 37.1% peak (FY2024) - Debt terms & refinancingBusiness
The fine print behind the debt. Covenants and near-term maturities decide who is really in control when a year goes badly.
“BlackRock Investment Management (UK) Limited ("BIM UK"), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company, maintains a revolving credit facility (the "Subsidiary Credit Facility") in the amount of 25 million (or approximately $34 million based on the GBP/USD foreign exchange rate at December 31, 2025) with …”
From the recordBalance sheet (TTM)$1.3B modest net debt · interest covered 11.5× - Litigation & contingenciesBusiness
Claims an owner inherits. Most disclosure is boilerplate; this fires only on an actual matter, a named suit, a settlement, a contingency, a number.
“BlackRock is currently defending a lawsuit filed by thirteen state Attorneys General in Federal Court in the Eastern District of Texas against BlackRock, State Street, and Vanguard, alleging antitrust violations on the theory that the three companies conspired to artificially suppress coal supply.”
A judgment, not a number, weigh it against the filing yourself. - Regulation & policyBusiness
Rules that can rewrite the economics, tariffs, antitrust, data, export controls.
“Net proceeds are being used for general corporate purposes, which included the repayment of the 700 million (or approximately $822 million based on the EUR/USD foreign exchange rate at December 31, 2025) 1.25% Notes in May 2025 at maturity.”
A judgment, not a number, weigh it against the filing yourself.
Peers, Capital markets
The same industry, side by side on the bank lens, compare, don't rank by a single number.● marks best in the group.
| Company | Revenue | ROE | ROTCE | Efficiency | Net int. margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MSMorgan Stanley | $34.3B | 15% | 19% | 68% | 0.7% |
| BLKBlackrock, Inc. | $24.2B | 10% | — | — | — |
| SCHWSchwab Charles Corp | $23.9B | 18% | 29% | 106% | 2.4% |
| RJFRaymond James Financial Inc | $15.9B | 17% | 20% | 81% | 2.4% |
| HOODRobinhood Markets, Inc. | $4.5B | 21% | 22% | — | 4.0% |
| GSThe Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. | — | 14% | 15% | 64% | 0.7% |