Carlyle reported third-quarter 2026 results, with a GAAP loss before income taxes of $77 million, while highlighting strong distributable earnings per share and substantial capital returned to investors. The firm also declared a quarterly dividend of 35 cents per share.
Management pointed to near-record pending fee-earning assets and what it described as the early stages of a strong fundraising cycle as signs of momentum. Carlyle had $479 billion in assets under management at September 30.
Key details
- GAAP result: Carlyle recorded a $77 million loss before income taxes for the quarter. It also reported a 23.0% margin on that measure.
- Distributable earnings: CEO Harvey Schwartz said the firm delivered one of its strongest quarters on record for distributable earnings per share. The results provided here do not include the per-share figure.
- Capital returned: Schwartz said Carlyle was nearing $100 billion in distributions to investors since the beginning of 2024.
- Fundraising and future fee base: The firm said pending fee-earning assets were near record levels and described fundraising as being in the early stages of a powerful cycle. Pending fee-earning assets are not the same as assets already generating fees.
- Dividend: The board declared a dividend of $0.35 per common share. Shareholders of record on November 16, 2026, are due to be paid on November 23.
- Scale: Carlyle reported $479 billion in assets under management at quarter-end. Its businesses include global private equity, global credit and Carlyle AlpInvest.
What it means
The quarter combined a reported GAAP pre-tax loss with management’s emphasis on distributable earnings, investor distributions and fundraising momentum. Those measures describe different aspects of Carlyle’s performance: the $77 million loss is a GAAP result, while the comments on distributable earnings and pending fee-earning assets point to the firm’s own measures of current performance and potential future fee generation.