Blackstone’s Financial Performance: A Year of Gains and Challenges
New York-based Blackstone Inc. (BX) is a leading alternative fund manager, focusing on private equity, real estate, public debt and equity, among other investment strategies. With a market capitalization of $97.8 billion, Blackstone invests at various stages of a company’s lifecycle, including early-stage, seed, middle market, mature, and late-stage ventures.
Performance Overview
The financial giant has outperformed the broader market over the past year. However, it saw a slight decline in 2025. BX stock has increased by 12.1% over the past 52 weeks, but has decreased by 21% year-to-date (YTD). In comparison, the S&P 500 Index ($SPX) recorded gains of 8.6% over the past year while seeing a 4.3% drop in 2025.
Comparison with Industry Peers
When examining more closely, BX has outperformed the WHITEWOLF Publicly Listed Private Equity ETF (LBO), which only managed a marginal uptick of 33 basis points over the past year. However, BX underperformed LBO’s 12.1% decline on a YTD basis.
Q1 Results and Key Metrics
Blackstone’s stock prices saw a modest increase following the release of its impressive Q1 results on April 17. Strong capital inflows have propelled the company’s assets under management (AUM) to a record $1.2 trillion, representing over a 10% increase from the same quarter last year. Despite a rise in management, advisory fees, and incentive fees, the company experienced a notable decline in performance allocations and other revenue streams. Consequently, overall revenue fell from $3.7 billion in Q1 2024 to $3.3 billion.
On a more positive note, Blackstone reported a year-over-year increase of 11.4% in distributable earnings to $1.4 billion. This translates to distributable earnings of $1.09 per share, which exceeded consensus estimates by 4.8%.
Future Projections
For fiscal 2025, which ends in December, analysts project BX to achieve a 4.1% year-over-year growth in distributable earnings, forecasting $4.83 per share. The company has a mixed history of earning surprises, having missed expectations once in the last four quarters, while beating projections on three occasions.
Analyst Sentiment
The stock holds a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy.” Among the 22 analysts covering BX, the recommendations include eight “Strong Buys,” one “Moderate Buy,” twelve “Holds,” and one “Strong Sell.” This outlook is slightly more optimistic than two months ago, when only six analysts rated it as a “Strong Buy.”
On April 22, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods analyst Michael Brown reaffirmed a “Market Perform” rating for BX but lowered the price target from $141 to $139.
Blackstone’s mean price target stands at $145.86, which indicates a 7.1% premium over current price levels. The highest target, at $175, suggests a significant upside potential of 28.5%.
On the date of publication, Aditya Sarawgi did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information, please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.
The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
