The market looked for roughly $0.50 of ANI per share, and StepStone delivered $0.48. That is a narrow miss against the published consensus, even as fee revenues and assets continued to expand.
| Metric | Q1 FY27 | Prior quarter / expectation | Read |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fee revenues | $270.9 million (Financial Highlights) | $260.3 million prior quarter (Financial Highlights) | +4% sequentially |
| Fee-related earnings | $105.6 million (Financial Highlights) | $105.3 million prior quarter (Financial Highlights) | Essentially flat |
| FRE margin | 39% (Financial Highlights) | 40% prior quarter (Financial Highlights) | Slight compression |
| Adjusted net income | $60.3 million (Financial Highlights) | $69.5 million prior quarter (Financial Highlights) | Down 13% |
| ANI per share | $0.48 (Financial Highlights) | ~$0.50 published consensus | Narrow miss |
| Total performance fees | $109.7 million (Financial Highlights) | $328.7 million prior quarter (Financial Highlights) | Down 67% |
| Fee-earning AUM | $153.6 billion (Financial Highlights) | $144.0 billion prior quarter (Financial Highlights) | Up 7% |
The recurring engine was solid but not accelerating. Fee revenues rose 4% sequentially to $270.9 million, while FRE was virtually unchanged at $105.6 million and the margin slipped to 39% from 40% (Financial Highlights). That combination says the core fee base is growing, but incremental revenue is not currently dropping through at a higher rate.
The main weakness was performance-fee monetization. Total performance fees fell to $109.7 million from $328.7 million, with gross realized performance fees down to $29.7 million from $45.6 million and PRE down to $15.8 million from $17.9 million (Performance Fees reconciliation). This is the clearest reason adjusted revenue fell to $300.6 million from $305.8 million and ANI declined to $60.3 million from $69.5 million (Adjusted revenues and ANI reconciliation).
The growth pipeline remains constructive, but it did not offset the quarter’s earnings mix. AUM increased to $245.4 billion, FEAUM to $153.6 billion, and total capital responsibility to $913.2 billion (Key Business Drivers/Operating Metrics). Focused commingled fund FEAUM rose 13% sequentially, while undeployed fee-earning capital remained elevated at $39.3 billion, supporting future fee growth; however, those assets do not immediately replace weaker carried-interest realizations.
The dividend increase is a positive capital-return signal, but the net read is still slightly below expectations. The board declared a quarterly dividend of $0.33 per share, up from the prior $0.28 rate, alongside a $0.55 supplemental dividend (Dividend announcement and Financial Highlights). That helps offset the narrow ANI miss, but the quarter’s lower realized performance earnings and modest margin pressure leave the overall result slightly negative versus the market’s standing expectation.
Read the original 8-K on SEC EDGAR ↗