Is Ares Management Corporation (ARES) A Good Stock To Buy Now?

Is ARES a good stock to buy? We came across a bullish thesis on Ares Management Corporation on Valueinvestorsclub.com by tim321. In this article, we will summarize the bulls’ thesis on ARES. Ares Management Corporation's share was trading at $110.86 as of April 29th. ARES’s trailing and forward P/E were 66.09 and 18.18 respectively according to Yahoo Finance.

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ARES Management Corporation (ARES) is positioned as an attractive way to express a bullish view on alternative asset managers while benefiting from recent AI-driven sentiment headwinds that have pressured private credit stocks. Despite concerns about software disruption impacting credit portfolios, ARES’ exposure to software-related loans is limited at roughly 6% of AUM and primarily short-duration, allowing rapid natural runoff if underwriting shifts.

Market fears have driven ARES shares down meaningfully alongside peers like KKR, BX, APO and OWL, despite the company’s resilient fee streams, diversified credit platform, and strong underwriting track record across cycles. Fee-related earnings margins of 41.7% are well below peers at 55–69%, providing a clear runway for expansion as strategies mature, deployment scales, and new products reach operating leverage.

With approximately $156bn of available capital and $78bn of dry powder, ARES is well positioned to accelerate growth into widening credit spreads and deploy capital countercyclically. European waterfall structures are transitioning into a rapid monetization phase, with carry expected to rise from $150m in 2025 to roughly $350m in 2026 and potentially exceed $1bn by 2030 as $172bn of eligible AUM matures.

Aspida insurance platform adds long-duration, permanent capital optionality, with liability growth already exceeding $8.8bn of annual originations and a potential IPO within 18–24 months acting as an additional value unlock. Additionally, ARES is indirectly positioned to benefit from AI infrastructure investment through lending exposure to data centers, power, and transmission assets, partially offsetting potential weakness in software-related credits. Trading at 16x earnings, 75%+ upside base-case scenario.

Previously, we covered a bullish thesis on BlackRock, Inc. (BLK) by Kroker Equity Research in February 2025, which highlighted diversified asset management scale, ETF leadership, and Aladdin platform strength. BLK's stock price has appreciated by approximately 4.77% since our coverage. tim321 shares a similar view but emphasizes Ares Management’s private credit cycle leverage, dry powder deployment, and European carry expansion.

Ares Management Corporation is not on our list of the 40 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 51 hedge fund portfolios held ARES at the end of the fourth quarter which was 50 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the risk and potential of ARES as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than ARES and that has 10,000% upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.