Fee-related earnings at Blue Owl Capital came in at $393.6 million for the first quarter, up 14% year-over-year and ahead of what analysts had projected, Bloomberg reported. The firm's real assets division was the primary engine behind a rise in total assets under management to $315 billion as of March 31, 2026.

A drag on the quarter came from direct lending, where spread widening pushed returns into negative territory — a net loss of 1.1% — a stark reversal from the 5% net return recorded over the preceding twelve months, according to Bloomberg.

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Co-CEOs Doug Ostrover and Marc Lipschultz said in a statement that the results "reflect stability, stemming from our durable capital base, and growth, driven by fundraising and ongoing capital deployment."

Blue Owl declared a quarterly dividend of $0.23 per Class A Share, payable on May 27, 2026, to shareholders of record as of May 13, 2026, the company said.

The earnings report comes against a difficult backdrop for the firm. Withdrawal pressure materialized earlier in April, when $5.6 billion in redemption requests prompted the firm to place limits on exits from Blue Owl Credit Income Corp. and Blue Owl Technology Income Corp., two of its private credit funds, according to Bloomberg. Shares of Blue Owl have shed more than 40% of their value so far this year.

A planned combination of two funds was abandoned in November after investors pushed back hard against the prospect of incurring losses from the transaction, according to Bloomberg. More broadly, the firm has emerged as a symbol of the unease spreading through the private credit industry, where questions about how assets are valued and how AI-driven disruption might affect software-company borrowers have rattled investors.

Blue Owl is not alone in facing redemption pressure. Elsewhere in the industry, Blackstone faced a record retail redemption request that required roughly $150 million in contributions from its own managers to help satisfy, and BlackRock $BLK was compelled to restrict outflows from one of its largest private credit vehicles after client withdrawal demand spiked, according to Bloomberg.

When management addressed investors back in February, Lipschultz characterized the software lending book as healthy, telling them: "We actually have largely green flags," according to Bloomberg.

Blue Owl Capital posted a 14% earnings gain as real assets offset a direct lending slump

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