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Ares Management Corp (ARES) Deepening Exposure to the AI Space

Ares Management Corp (NYSE:ARES) is one of the best NYSE stocks to buy for the long term. On February 10, 2026, Ares Management Corp (NYSE:ARES) CEO Michael Arougheti outlined the firm’s growth priorities at the Bank of America Financial Services Conference, highlighting record Q4 capital deployment of $46 billion, a 20% dividend increase, and assets under management rising to $600 billion in five years.

He emphasized expansion in private credit, digital infrastructure, and real estate, alongside AI integration to boost efficiency, while setting ambitious targets of 16%–20% annual FRE growth and over 20% RI growth. With $150 billion in dry powder and a strong deal pipeline, Arougheti expressed confidence in capturing opportunities amid favorable market conditions.

On February 5, Ares Management Corp reported Q4 2025 EPS of $1.45 and revenue of $1.5 billion. These figures fell short of analyst forecasts for EPS of $1.70 and revenue of $1.52 billion.

The company reported strong growth in management fees, which jumped 27% YoY. It also crossed $100 billion in fundraising for the year, sending its assets under management above $600 billion. For 2026, Ares Management Corp expects its fundraising to match or exceed the 2025 level.

In light of this, Raymond James upgraded ARES stock to a Strong Buy from Market Perform on February 9. It set a $157 price target for the stock. The firm based the upgrade on Ares Management’s robust outlook, which shows the company’s fee-related earnings are expected to grow 16-20% through 2028.

According to Raymond James, Ares Management has a predictable growth considering that over $100 billion of its assets under management is not earning fees yet. The firm further noted that Ares Management’s 4.1% common dividend yield further supports the investment case for ARES stock.

Ares Management Corp (NYSE:ARES) is a global alternative investment manager with nearly $623 billion of assets under management. It operates in private equity, credit, and real-estate markets, and this allows it to offer clients a wide range of primary and secondary investment solutions.

While we acknowledge the potential of Ares Management Corp (NYSE:ARES) as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than ARES and that has 100x upside potential, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.

READ NEXT: 10 Best Medical Technology Stocks to Invest In and 12 Best Foreign Stocks to Buy Right Now.

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.

The $250 Trillion AI Hype is Real. A few years from now, you’ll probably wish you’d bought this stock.

When Jeff Bezos said that one breakthrough technology would shape Amazon’s destiny, even Wall Street’s biggest analysts were caught off guard.

Fast forward a year and Amazon’s new CEO Andy Jassy described generative AI as a “once-in-a-lifetime” technology that is already being used across Amazon to reinvent customer experiences.

At the 8th Future Investment Initiative conference, Elon Musk predicted that by 2040 there would be at least 10 billion humanoid robots, with each priced between $20,000 and $25,000.

Do the math. According to Musk, this technology could be worth $250 trillion by 2040.

Put another way, that’s roughly equal to:

  • 175 Teslas
  • 107 Amazons
  • 140 Metas
  • 84 Googles
  • 65 Microsofts
  • And 55 Nvidias

And here’s the wild part — this $250 trillion wave isn’t tied to one company, but to an entire ecosystem of AI innovators set to reshape the global economy.

It’s a leap so massive, it could reshape how businesses, governments, and consumers operate worldwide.

Even if that $250 trillion figure sounds ambitious, major firms like PwC and McKinsey still see AI unlocking multi-trillion-dollar potential.

How could anything be worth that much?

The answer lies in a breakthrough so powerful it’s redefining how humanity works, learns, and creates.

And this breakthrough has already set off a frenzy among hedge funds and Wall Street’s top investors.

What most investors don’t realize is that one under-owned company holds the key to this $250 trillion revolution.

In fact, Verge argues this company’s supercheap AI technology should concern rivals.

Before I reveal the details, let’s talk about how some of the richest people on the planet are positioning themselves.

  • Bill Gates sees artificial intelligence as the “biggest technological advance in my lifetime,” more transformative than the internet or personal computer, capable of improving healthcare, education, and addressing climate change.
  • Larry Ellison — through Oracle, is spending billions on Nvidia chips and partnering with Cohere to embed generative AI across Oracle’s cloud and apps.
  • Warren Buffett — not known for tech hype — says this breakthrough could have a ‘hugely beneficial social impact.

When billionaires from Silicon Valley to Wall Street line up behind the same idea — you know it’s worth paying attention to.

Even as we admire what Tesla, Nvidia, Alphabet, and Microsoft have built, we believe an even greater opportunity lies elsewhere…

But the real story isn’t Nvidia — it’s a much smaller company quietly improving the critical technology that makes this entire revolution possible.

And judging by what I’m hearing from both Silicon Valley insiders and Wall Street veterans…

This prediction might not be bold at all:

A few years from now, you’ll wish you’d owned this stock.

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