AUM Growth Likely to Aid Ameriprise's Q1 Earnings Despite Cost Woes

Ameriprise Financial, Inc.AMP is slated to announce first-quarter 2026 results on April 23, after market close. Its quarterly revenues and earnings are expected to have risen year over year.

In the last reported quarter, AMP’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate. An increase in revenues, and higher assets under management (AUM) and assets under administration (AUA) balances acted as tailwinds. Conversely, an increase in expenses was a headwind. 

Ameriprise has an impressive earnings surprise history. Its earnings surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, the average beat being 3.5%.

Q1 Estimates & Key Factors to Note for Ameriprise

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AMP’s management and financial advice fees (constituting more than 60% of total net revenues) is pegged at $2.88 billion, suggesting a 10.6% rise from the prior-year quarter’s reported number.

The consensus estimate for distribution fees of $562 million indicates a year-over-year increase of 7.7%. The consensus mark for other revenues of $138 million indicates 7% growth.

The consensus estimate for premiums, policy and contract charges is pegged at $388 million, indicating a rise of 7.8%.

Alternatively, the consensus estimate for net investment income of $815 million suggests a year-over-year decline of 6.1%. 

Decent inflows are expected to have driven the company’s total AUM and AUA balance. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for total AUM and AUA is pegged at $1.64 trillion, indicating a rise of 9.4% from the year-ago quarter’s actual.

While Ameriprise’s initiatives to focus on cost management have led to controlled general and administration expenses, overall costs are anticipated to have been elevated in the to-be-reported quarter due to those related to technology upgrades and hirings.

Earnings Whispers for Ameriprise

Per our quantitative model, the chances of Ameriprise beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings this time are high. This is because it has the right combination of the two key ingredients — a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) or better.

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

Earnings ESP: Ameriprise has an Earnings ESP of +0.54%.

Zacks Rank: The company currently carries a Zacks Rank #3.

Ameriprise’s Q1 Earnings & Sales Estimates

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the company’s quarterly earnings is pegged at $10.20 per share, which indicates a rise of 7.4% from the prior-year quarter’s actual. The consensus estimate has been revised marginally lower over the past seven days.

The consensus estimate for total quarterly sales is pegged at $4.67 billion, which suggests an 8.3% year-over-year increase.

Other Finance Stocks Worth a Look

Here are a couple of other finance stocks that you may want to consider, as our model shows that these, too, have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat this time:

The Earnings ESP for Moody's CorporationMCO is +0.37% and it carries a Zacks Rank #3. The company is slated to report quarterly results on April 22. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Over the past seven days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for Moody’s quarterly earnings has been revised lower to $4.25.

Blackstone BX is scheduled to report quarterly results on April 23. The company has an Earnings ESP of +1.39% and a Zacks Rank #3.

Over the past seven days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for Blackstone’s quarterly earnings has been unchanged at $1.33.

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

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