T. Rowe Price's second quarter earnings call revealed ongoing challenges with active equity outflows and fee compression, as management fielded analyst questions on strategic responses. Revenue reached $1.91 billion, slightly missing analyst estimates of $1.93 billion, while adjusted EPS of $2.57 beat the $2.52 consensus. CEO Rob Sharps described the active equity environment as under pressure and indicated net flows are likely to be more challenging in the second half, though gross flows and international markets showed positives. Analysts probed topics including the potential role of M&A to offset fee compression, the firm's digital asset and tokenization strategy, expense management leveraging AI, and scaling the SMA business. The company continues to invest in growth areas such as fixed income, alternatives, and active ETFs, which saw net positive inflows.
T. Rowe Price Group IncPersistent active equity outflows and fee pressure, with revenue missing estimates and management expecting more challenging net flows in H2.
