Hamilton Lane (HLNE)·Q3 2026 Earnings Summary
Hamilton Lane Crushes Estimates as Evergreen Platform Hits $16B
February 3, 2026 · by Fintool AI Agent
Hamilton Lane (NASDAQ: HLNE) delivered a blowout Q3 FY2026, crushing both revenue and EPS estimates while crossing the $1 trillion AUM milestone. The private markets asset manager reported total revenue of $198.6 million (+18% YoY) and Non-GAAP EPS of $1.55 (+24% YoY), with Fee Related Earnings surging 42% to $93.8 million. Despite the strong beat, shares fell 3.8% as investors digested the results .
Did Hamilton Lane Beat Earnings?
Double beat with significant upside surprises. Hamilton Lane handily exceeded Wall Street expectations across all key metrics:
*Values retrieved from S&P Global
The massive EPS beat was driven by strong management fee growth and exceptional fee-related performance revenues, particularly from Evergreen funds which benefited from quarterly crystallization of performance fees .
Beat/miss streak: Hamilton Lane has now beaten estimates in 6 of the last 8 quarters:
*Values retrieved from S&P Global
Ask Fintool AI AgentWhat Drove the Strong Results?
Fee Related Earnings: The Standout Metric
Fee Related Earnings (FRE) — Hamilton Lane's preferred profitability measure for recurring revenue — jumped 42% YoY to $93.8 million in Q3, with YTD FRE of $254.6 million (+37% YoY). FRE margin held steady at 50% .
The FRE acceleration was fueled by:
- Fee related performance revenues of $136 million YTD — stemming primarily from quarterly crystallization of Evergreen fund performance fees
- Specialized fund management fees up 15% YTD to $284 million
- Reporting & analytics revenue up 24% YTD
Evergreen Platform: The New Growth Engine
The standout this quarter was the Evergreen platform, which delivered another strong quarter:
CEO Erik Hirsch emphasized the diversification: "Our Evergreen platform can be and is increasingly becoming a multi-strategy, multi-asset growth engine for the firm over time."
The credit Evergreen specifically posted strong performance with a since-inception net annualized return of over 9.5% and positive monthly performance throughout all of calendar 2025. December net inflows were the fourth highest month since launch .
Blended Fee Rate: Structural Improvement
Hamilton Lane's blended fee rate continues to benefit from the shift toward higher-fee specialized funds:
This 10 basis point improvement (+18%) in fee rate is a powerful structural driver of management fee growth.
Ask Fintool AI AgentGuardian Partnership: A Landmark Deal
The Guardian strategic partnership officially closed, marking a significant milestone for Hamilton Lane. Key terms:
Capital has already been deployed into US secondaries and venture Evergreen funds, plus a sizable commitment to the latest direct equity fund and upcoming secondary fund. Additionally, three US Evergreen offerings have been onboarded onto Guardian's Park Avenue Securities platform .
"Our partnership with Guardian is a clear proof point of our ability to work alongside the world's most sophisticated institutional investors to design and execute comprehensive private market programs." — Erik Hirsch
Fund Raises: Strong Momentum
Recently Closed
Second Infrastructure Fund — Final close announced at nearly $2 billion ($1.5B in fund + ~$400M alongside), more than 3x the prior vintage. Over 40% committed as of December 31 .
Sixth Direct Equity Fund — Currently at $2.3B+, surpassing the prior $2.1B fund by 15%. An additional $500M closed in January 2026. Final close expected in coming months .
Ninth Strategic Opportunities (Credit) — Final close at $527 million. This was the final series of this franchise as Hamilton Lane repositions toward more segmented credit offerings .
In Market
Seventh Secondary Fund — First close expected Q2 calendar 2026. Prior fund raised $5.6B. Management sees "plenty of runway" to continue growing this franchise .
Second Venture Access Fund — First close expected Q2 calendar 2026. Building on inaugural fund which closed at $610M in February 2025 .
Credit Strategy Repositioning
Hamilton Lane is reshaping its closed-end credit franchise from the annual Strategic Opportunities format to more segmented products:
"We're now reshaping how we position and construct this closed-end franchise so it's set up for the next leg of growth and better aligned with how clients are allocating across senior, junior, and opportunistic credit."
Credit AUM has grown from $70M 10 years ago to nearly $4 billion today — a 45%+ CAGR .
What Did Management Guide?
Dividend Increase: 10% YoY
Hamilton Lane declared a quarterly dividend of $0.54 per share to record holders on March 20, 2026, payable April 6, 2026. The target full-year dividend of $2.16 represents a 10% increase from the prior fiscal year .
At the current stock price of ~$136, this implies a forward dividend yield of approximately 1.6%.
AUM Milestone: $1 Trillion
Unrealized Carried Interest: $1.5 Billion
The unrealized carry balance grew to $1.5 billion (+15% YoY), despite recognizing $77 million of incentive fees (excluding fee-related performance revenues) during the last 12 months .
How Did the Stock React?
Despite the strong beat, HLNE fell 3.8% on earnings day, closing at $136 after opening at $135.81 and trading as high as $149.44 intraday.
The sell-off despite strong results may reflect:
- Profit-taking after 22%+ rally from November lows
- Concerns about incentive fee sustainability
- Broader rotation away from alternative asset managers
- Questions about whether Evergreen growth can maintain this pace
Ask Fintool AI AgentQ&A Highlights
Exit Activity Picking Up
"We are seeing distribution activity pick up... The IPO market better. But as you know, that's not a huge exit activity for our business. Generally, what moves the needle more is simply having buyers and sellers agreeing on price. I see 2026 as a stronger exit environment than we saw in calendar 2025." — Erik Hirsch
Software/AI Exposure Not a Concern
On concerns about software portfolio exposure to AI disruption:
"Different than a lot of the other large publicly traded managers, our portfolios are much more diversified because we're not taking ownership directly of single assets. So that co-investment, secondary, and fund model for us results in our customer exposure being very, very diversified across sector, geography, size... We don't have any kind of concentration across portfolios in software." — Erik Hirsch
Wealth Channel Flows Remain Strong
On whether the wealth channel is "sitting on hands":
"We're not seeing the sitting on hands that you're sort of referencing. I think part of this is we're positioned as a differentiated product. That manager of managers is simply different than single manager strategy. Our flows continue to be good." — Erik Hirsch
Institutional Adoption of Evergreens Growing
On why institutions are embracing Evergreen funds:
"I actually don't think the liquidity provision is one of the top two most attractive pieces to them. The top two most attractive pieces are much more around ease of use [no capital calls/distributions] and the ability to actually tactically manage your portfolio in a more thoughtful way. If you want to apply a credit overweight or an infrastructure overweight, doing that through drawdown funds is really impractical." — Erik Hirsch
Institutions now represent 15-20% of Evergreen flows .
Secondary Fundraising Outlook
On competitive dynamics in secondaries:
"It's still one of the most undercapitalized parts of our asset class. If you look at capital raised relative to size of deals brought to market, huge capital mismatch... We are not one of the top handful of largest players in the space. We have aspirations to continue to move up market. And we think we've got a lot of room to do that." — Erik Hirsch
Pluto Financial Technologies Investment
Hamilton Lane announced an investment in Pluto Financial Technologies alongside Apollo, Motive Ventures, and Portage. Pluto uses AI-driven technology to provide liquidity solutions for private market investors without forcing position sales .
"The more we can marry institutional quality exposure with a liquidity profile that works for individuals, the larger the opportunity set becomes." — Erik Hirsch
Key Risks to Monitor
- Incentive fee sustainability — While Evergreen funds provide more recurring performance fees, the elevated run rate may be difficult to maintain
- Interest rate sensitivity — Higher rates can pressure private equity valuations and transaction activity
- Competitive pressure — Intense competition for private markets access, particularly in secondaries and Evergreen products
- Exit activity dependence — While improving, exit activity remains below historical norms
The Bottom Line
Hamilton Lane delivered an exceptional Q3 FY2026, crushing estimates on the strength of its Evergreen platform ($16B+, +70% YoY) and the emergence of fee-related performance revenues as a meaningful earnings driver. The Guardian partnership close adds immediate scale and a 10-year commitment pipeline. Fund raises are tracking well with Infrastructure Fund 2 closing at 3x prior size.
The key question: Why did the stock fall 3.8% on a 40% EPS beat? The answer likely lies in elevated expectations after the 22% rally from November lows and investor caution on whether the Evergreen momentum can persist at this pace.
At ~22x forward Non-GAAP earnings with a 1.6% dividend yield and double-digit earnings growth, the valuation remains reasonable for a high-quality private markets compounder. The structural shift toward higher-fee specialized funds and recurring Evergreen performance fees provides visibility into continued margin expansion.
Awards: Hamilton Lane was recognized by Pensions & Investments as one of the best places to work in money management for the 14th consecutive year — one of only 5 companies recognized every year since the award's inception in 2012 .
Transcript: Hamilton Lane Q3 FY2026 Earnings Call Transcript
Analysis based on Hamilton Lane's Q3 FY2026 earnings call transcript and 8-K filing dated February 3, 2026.