Franklin Q1 Earnings Coming Up: Here's What to Expect From the Stock

Franklin Resources Inc. BEN is scheduled to report first-quarter fiscal 2026 results (ended Dec. 31, 2025) on Jan. 30, 2026, before market open. BEN’s quarterly earnings and revenues are anticipated to have declined from the year-ago reported levels.

In the last reported quarter, Franklin’s earnings surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate. The company’s results benefited from higher revenues and an improved assets under management (AUM) balance. Further, lower expenses were also encouraging.

BEN’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the trailing four quarters and matched on one occasion, the average earnings surprise being 7.74%.

Franklin Resources, Inc. Price and EPS Surprise

Franklin Resources, Inc. price-eps-surprise | Franklin Resources, Inc. Quote

Franklin’s Q1 Earnings & Sales Estimates

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for BEN’s earnings of 56 cents per share has remained unchanged over the past seven days. The figure indicates a decline of 5.1% from the year-ago quarter’s actual.

The consensus estimate for sales is pegged at $2.15 billion, suggesting a year-over-year decline of 4.5%.

Major Developments for Franklin

In November 2025, Franklin partnered with Wand AI to deploy agentic AI across its global platform. The multi-year collaboration moves AI from pilot programs to enterprise-scale workflows, enhancing investment research, operational efficiency and digital transformation under strong governance.

Earlier, in October 2025, the company also completed its acquisition of Apera Asset Management, a pan-European private credit firm. The move expands BEN’s alternative credit assets under management by more than $90 billion, broadening its global alternative platform and strengthening its direct lending capabilities across Europe’s growing lower middle market.

Key Factors & Estimates for BEN in Q1

In the October-December quarter, the S&P 500 Index gained nearly 3.1%, signaling moderate market performance. The fixed-income market continued to witness positive flow trends, supported by stable returns across funds. Also, equity markets' performance showed improvement during the quarter, aided by increased market activity and investor participation. As a result, Franklin’s performance for the December-end quarter is likely to have benefited from healthy equity returns along with steady fixed-income inflows.

Despite favorable market conditions, BEN is likely to have continued to record net outflows in the fiscal first quarter. Per the monthly metrics data published by Franklin, its preliminary total AUM as of Dec. 31, 2025, was $1.68 trillion compared with the $1.67 trillion reported as of Nov. 30, 2025. The December-end AUM reflected the positive impacts of markets, partially offset by long-term net outflows of $1 billion. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the fiscal first-quarter AUM is pegged at $1.67 trillion, indicating a marginal rise from the prior quarter’s actual.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for investment management fees is pegged at $1.7 billion, indicating a sequential decline of 8.7%.

The consensus estimate for sales and distribution fees of $371 million indicates a 2.9% decline from the prior-quarter reported figure.

The consensus estimate for shareholder servicing fees of $62.8 million suggests a 20.7% decline from the prior-quarter actual.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for other revenues is pegged at $12.7 million, implying a 9.1% sequential decline.

What Our Model Predicts for BEN

Per our proven model, the chances of BEN beating estimates this time are low. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat. This is not the case here, as you can see below.

You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they are reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Earnings ESP: Franklin has an Earnings ESP of -2.21%.

Zacks Rank: BEN currently has a Zacks Rank of 3. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Performance of BEN’s Peers

Invesco’s IVZ fourth-quarter 2025 adjusted earnings of 62 cents per share surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 57 cents. The bottom line increased 19.2% from the prior-year quarter.

The results of IVZ have been primarily aided by an increase in adjusted revenues. Moreover, growth in the assets under management reached record levels, supporting the results to an extent. However, an increase in adjusted operating expenses was a headwind.

BlackRock’s BLK fourth-quarter 2025 adjusted earnings of $13.16 per share handily surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $12.39. The figure reflects a 10.3% rise from the year-ago quarter.

Results benefited from a rise in revenues. The assets under management balance witnessed robust year-over-year growth, reaching a record high of $14.04 trillion, driven by net inflows. However, higher expenses created a headwind for BLK.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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