Blackstone Stock Outlook: Is Wall Street Bullish or Bearish?

Core Insights - Blackstone Inc. (BX) is a global alternative asset management firm with a market cap of $105.2 billion, focusing on private equity, real estate, hedge funds, credit, and multi-asset strategies [1] Performance Overview - Over the past 52 weeks, BX shares have decreased by 20.2%, underperforming the S&P 500 Index, which returned 15.5% [2] - Year-to-date, BX shares are down 8.3%, while the S&P 500 has gained 1.9% [2] - Compared to the State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLF), BX shares lagged nearly 5% over the past 52 weeks [3] Financial Results - In Q4 2025, Blackstone reported adjusted EPS of $1.75 and adjusted revenue of $3.94 billion, exceeding expectations; however, shares fell by 2.6% following the announcement [5] - Total expenses rose sharply to $2.12 billion, primarily due to compensation and benefits increasing to $1.54 billion, raising concerns about margin pressure [5] Future Projections - For the fiscal year ending December 2026, analysts project Blackstone's adjusted EPS to grow by 15.4% year-over-year to $6.43 [6] - Blackstone has a strong earnings surprise history, beating consensus estimates in the last four quarters [6] Analyst Ratings - Among 22 analysts covering Blackstone, the consensus rating is a "Moderate Buy," with nine "Strong Buy" ratings, two "Moderate Buys," ten "Holds," and one "Strong Sell" [6] - Piper Sandler recently lowered Blackstone's price target to $158 with a "Neutral" rating, while the mean price target of $178.05 suggests a 26% premium to current price levels [8] - The highest price target of $215 indicates a potential upside of 52.2% [8]