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Analysts guess that most other asset managers also did well for the quarter, a time when recovering markets lured billions of investor dollars back into higher-profit bond and stock funds from low-margin money market funds

But BlackRock has drawn some of the most attention because it is poised to become the world's largest asset manager once it closes its $13.5 billion purchase of Barclays PLC's () money management division, Barclays Global Investors.

A BlackRock spokesman said the deal is on track to close by year-end.

BlackRock's shares were up 3.5 percent on Monday at $233.40 and have risen some 68 percent this year, more than rivals like Legg Mason Inc () and T Rowe Price Group ().

Investors bet the BlackRock/BGI combination will prove a powerhouse in retail and institutional funds for both domestic and international customers.

"We're very positive on the stock," said Chris Lewis, analyst for Geneva Investment Management in Chicago, which owned 154,426 shares of BlackRock, according to its most recent filings.

He praised leaders. including Chief Executive Laurence Fink, for crafting a deal that will gets BlackRock into the fast growing passively managed funds sector.

Lewis said he hopes Fink will give more color on the overall financial environment during a post-earnings call with analysts early on Tuesday.

Others said they hope to hear more details about flows into BlackRock's funds, a key driver of revenue and profit for all investment managers.

In an October 5 note to investors, KBW analyst Robert Lee said that that while he was raising his price target for BlackRock to $200 from $182 and thinks the BGI deal will be positive, the shares already seemed fully priced.

"We think some near-term uncertainty with regard to the actual financial impact and BlackRock's ability to grow the combined business at a high rate could be a near-term head wind

to the stock," Lee said.

Lee also said nervous investors will likely keep more money in bond funds for some time despite a recovery in markets from the depths of the financial crisis.

That should benefit managers with big fixed-income products including Franklin Resources (), Eaton Vance () and T Rowe Price.

Goldman Sachs analyst Marc Irizarry wrote on October 7 that managers including BlackRock, Franklin and Invesco () may have benefited from flows to credit and non-U.S. equity funds. Irizarry also said stocks of many companies appeared fully priced after their recent brisk run-up.

Analysts expect BlackRock to earn $1.90 per share on revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. For the year analysts expect BlackRock to earn $6.38 per share on revenue of $4.3 billion.

The Barclays deal was announced in June, and Barclays shareholders signed off on the merger in August. European Commission antitrust regulators approved the deal last month, following the lead of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, which give its blessing over the summer.

While EU regulators noted some overlaps between the two companies, "they would be very limited on a split between active and passive management, with BlackRock primarily an active manager and BGI specialized in passive funds," according to a September 23 commission statement.

(Editing by Steve Orlofsky)