Ares Management Corporation RBC Capital Conference: The Alternative Operating System Targeting $239

Wiltone Asuncion7 minute read
Reviewed by: David Hanson
Last updated Mar 24, 2026

Key Stats for Ares Management Corporation Stock

  • Current Price: $106
  • Target Price: $239
  • Street Target: $165
  • Potential Total Return: +126%
  • Annualized IRR: 18.6%

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What Happened?

Ares Management Corporation (ARES) is systematically proving that the private markets are not just surviving economic turbulence, they are flourishing. 

Speaking at the RBC Capital Markets Global Financial Institutions Conference on March 11, 2026, CEO Michael Arougheti detailed the architectural design of a firm that has grown its Assets Under Management (AUM) to an astounding $625 billion.

While Ares built its legacy in middle-market direct lending, the firm has evolved into a holistic “solutions provider.”

A key driver of this evolution is a highly disciplined M&A strategy, which has accounted for roughly 25% of historical growth.

A prime example is Landmark Partners. 

Ares acquired the legacy secondary-market pioneer four years ago via a largely all-stock transaction at a discount. 

By injecting Ares’ capital network and shifting the business from traditional LP stake purchases toward highly complex GP-led solutions, Ares doubled the size of Landmark in four years.

This secondary market expansion directly feeds Ares’ most explosive growth vector: the democratization of alternatives for the individual retail wealth channel. 

By structuring highly diversified pools of private credit and secondaries, Ares is successfully distributing institutional-grade assets to everyday investors. 

Arougheti highlighted the sheer fortress quality of their non-traded Business Development Company (BDC) designed for these retail investors: it currently holds 900 borrowers, a conservative 40% loan-to-value ratio, 2.2 to 2.3x interest coverage, underlying borrower EBITDA growing 10% to 12%, and exactly 0% nonaccruals.

“For the 30-plus years I’ve been investing in credit, there’s nothing in those numbers that screens credit crisis is coming,” Arougheti stated, pushing back against the media’s recession anxiety. 

“There are definitely narratives that are being put into the market that are just fundamentally not looking at the data.”

Beyond credit, Ares is capitalizing on major societal shifts. 

To service the massive energy demands of Artificial Intelligence, Ares is rapidly scaling its digital infrastructure, lending, and data center development pipelines. 

Simultaneously, the firm is dominating the institutionalization of sports. 

Having pivoted in March 2020 to provide rescue liquidity across the capital stack to shuttered live entertainment venues, Ares now offers comprehensive solutions, from stadium real estate development to media rights securitization, capitalizing on the fact that unscripted live sports have become the most premium content in the world.

Ares Management Corporation Stock Price Target (TIKR)

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Is Ares Management Corporation Undervalued Today?

Ares currently trades at $105.87, having suffered an extreme 49.94% max drawdown in early 2026 that rattled the broader asset management space. 

However, the market forcefully validated Ares’ operational execution with a powerful +7.05% earnings reaction on February 5, 2026, proving the underlying cash engine is firing on all cylinders.

Ares Management Corporation Stock Price Target (TIKR)

Despite this operational dominance, Wall Street maintains a conservative Street Target of $165.29, likely reflecting systemic PTSD regarding potential regulatory crackdowns on the burgeoning retail Alts market.

The bear case assumes that if individual investors panic during a sudden economic contraction and rush for the exit doors, the redemption queues at non-traded BDCs will freeze, triggering severe reputational damage and halting AUM growth. 

Furthermore, as bank syndicates fight to win back the leveraged buyout market from private credit, yield compression could erode Ares’ gross returns.

However, Ares possesses a massive structural moat: $160 billion in uninvested dry powder. 

If the economy falters, Ares is heavily capitalized to step in as the lender of last resort, dictating premium terms and capturing distressed assets just as they did in the sports sector during 2020. 

Culturally, the firm is also building unmatched loyalty.

Arougheti highlighted their “Promote Giving” initiative, where the firm matches portfolio managers who donate 5% of their promote (carried interest) to philanthropic causes, and has since extended an open invitation to other asset managers to take a pledge of as little as 1% of their promote, embedding a long-term, community-focused retention mechanism across their top talent.

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TIKR Advanced Model Analysis

The TIKR Advanced Model calculates the financial output of Ares successfully executing its cross-platform solutions strategy and monopolizing the retail wealth migration.

  • Current Price: $106
  • Target Price: $239
  • Potential Total Return: +126%
  • Annualized IRR: 18.6%
Ares Management Corporation Stock Price Target (TIKR)

Build a 4-year Valuation Model for ARES for yourself (It’s free) >>>

The Mid Case model projects a highly aggressive $239.22 target price, driven by a 16.1% Revenue CAGR through the 2030 forecast period. This assumes that the secular shift of capital from public equities into private markets continues unabated, fueling relentless AUM scaling across their credit, secondaries, and sports franchises.

The primary valuation lever is the expansion of its highly lucrative Net Income Margins to a projected 29.2% (climbing from historical levels that tracked between 15% and 24%). To achieve this, Ares must successfully execute its “operating system” design: allowing its newly acquired business units (like Landmark and SSG) to operate autonomously, while ruthlessly centralizing middle-office expenses like compliance, IT, and institutional sales. As these scaled efficiencies compound against steady 16% top-line growth, it yields a highly attractive 18.6% annualized IRR, signaling that the recent 49% drawdown has created a generational entry point for long-term investors.

Conclusion: Ares Management is no longer just a direct lender; it is a diversified financial ecosystem perfectly positioned to capture the global migration of retail wealth into private markets. While the Street’s $165 target reflects lingering anxieties regarding redemption queues and bank competition, the underlying fundamentals, 0% BDC nonaccruals and $160 billion in dry powder, tell a story of impenetrable strength. Watch the upcoming Q1 2026 fundraising metrics closely; if the retail channel continues to absorb new secondary and digital infrastructure products, the mathematical path toward the $239 model target becomes highly secure.

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Should You Invest in Ares Management Corporation?

The only way to really know is to look at the numbers yourself. TIKR gives you free access to the same institutional-quality financial data that professional analysts use to answer exactly that question.

Pull up Ares Management Corporation, and you’ll see years of historical financials, what Wall Street analysts expect for revenue and earnings in the quarters ahead, how valuation multiples have moved over time, and whether price targets are trending up or down.

You can build a free watchlist to track Ares Management Corporation alongside every other stock on your radar. No credit card required. Just the data you need to decide for yourself.

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Disclaimer:

Please note that the articles on TIKR are not intended to serve as investment or financial advice from TIKR or our content team, nor are they recommendations to buy or sell any stocks. We create our content based on TIKR Terminal’s investment data and analysts’ estimates. Our analysis might not include recent company news or important updates. TIKR has no position in any stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading, and happy investing!

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