By Andrew Welsch

Ameriprise Financial's first-quarter results amounted to a mixed bag Thursday.

The financial-services company reported quarterly adjusted earnings per share of $9.50, handily topping Wall Street estimates for $9.08. But unadjusted EPS dropped 41% year over year to $5.83, well below analysts' consensus estimate for $9.16. Ameriprise chalked up the decline to "market impacts on the valuation of derivatives and market risk benefits."

Revenue totaled $4.35 billion, falling short of the Wall Street consensus for $4.42 billion. Ameriprise also said it saw money flow out of its asset-management unit.

"While these results showcased management's ability to flex expenses in a tough operating backdrop, given softer top line, we expect tepid share price reaction, and barring any surprises on the call, EPS revisions should also be fairly muted," Steven Chubak, analyst at Wolfe Research, wrote Thursday morning.

Shares of Ameriprise were trading up 0.1% at $471.76 early Thursday afternoon after falling by as much as 2.2% earlier in the session. The stock is down nearly 11% so far this year, are down 11%% so far this year, a period that has been marked by market volatility and declines amid the Trump administration's tariffs. The S&P 500 is down 7.3% year to date but was up 1.2% Thursday.

Ameriprise CEO Jim Cracchiolo began his company's earnings call with an acknowledgment of the challenging market backdrop. "I know that the current operating environment is top of mind for everyone," he said. "Clearly, we've seen elevated and ongoing market volatility due to the lack of clarity around the tariffs and general economic uncertainty. And we heard from Fed Chair Powell last week that the Fed is still trying to navigate what it all means for the economy, inflation and interest rates. With that in mind, Ameriprise remains very well positioned. We know that we can navigate what's ahead because of our diversified business, strong client value proposition, and excellent record for managing economic uncertainty and market volatility."

Client assets for the company's wealth management business rose 7% year over year to $1 trillion. The wealth unit brought in $10.3 billion in client net flows, a 21% increase from the same period last year. Adjusted operating net revenue rose 9% to $2.78 billion.

Ameriprise this quarter stopped reporting advisor head count and retention. When analysts asked him why, Cracchiolo said several of Ameriprise's competitors had ceased reporting their numbers of advisors and retention figures. "So we figured it would be easier to do what they're doing," he said. At the end of the fourth quarter, Ameriprise reported having 10,427 independent and employee advisors. Retention is "quite good," Cracchiolo said.

"Head count is actually up if we did provide it," he said. "So that has / that is not in any way a change. But all the wirehouses removed it. I think you saw a few of the other players remove it. I won't name them. But we follow disclosure and figured it was appropriate"

Cracchiolo added the company's recruiting pipeline is strong despite a competitive hiring environment and that it added 82 experienced advisors in the quarter. "Even in periods of volatility, people want to move to a firm that has strength," he said.

The quarter's market volatility didn't spare the asset-management unit, however. The unit reported net outflows of $18.3 billion in the quarter, reflecting higher redemptions due to market volatility, according to Ameriprise. For the first quarter of 2024, Ameriprise's asset-management unit had net outflows of $5.5 billion. Cracchiolo said it was a "challenging" quarter for flows, but said there was a large institutional client that was repositioning, a development that may continue into the current quarter. The asset-management unit's adjusted operating net revenue decreased 1% year over year to $846 million.

The company's board of directors authorized a new $4.5 billion share repurchase program through June 30, 2027.

Write to Andrew Welsch at andrew.welsch@barrons.com

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April 24, 2025 12:53 ET (16:53 GMT)

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