On its third quarter of 2026 earnings call, held on Oct. 22, 2026, Blackstone (BX -0.66%) reported $1.7 billion in distributable earnings, which is net cash available for dividends. Total assets under management, representing the market value of managed investments, reached $1.4 trillion. Three key takeaways from management highlight how the business is positioning for long-term growth.
1. Data Center Growth Relies on Long-Term Counterparty ContractsArtificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure requires massive capital to build computing capacity and power generation. The company mitigates execution risks by securing long-dated commitments from financially stable corporate clients before breaking ground.
At Blackstone, we approach investments in this area with the same rigor and focus on risk-adjusted returns that have defined our investment process for four decades. In AI infrastructure, for example, our data center portfolio is built on durable, long term contracts with highly creditworthy counterparties.
-- Stephen Allen Schwarzman, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer2. Wealth Channel Expansion Drives Steady InflowsIndividual investors are expanding allocations to alternative assets beyond traditional stock and bond portfolios. BXP, the company's flagship private equity vehicle for individual investors, reached $29 billion in net asset value (NAV), or total assets minus liabilities, in less than three years.
Of course, it is all about investment performance, and BXP has delivered, achieving an 18% net annualized return since inception.
-- Jonathan D. Gray, President and Chief Operating Officer3. Investment Grade Credit Captures Insurance DemandInsurance companies are turning to private markets to generate excess yield over public corporate debt. The company's investment grade private credit business, which provides high-quality debt financing, expanded 24% year over year to nearly $150 billion.
We have established the largest non-captive insurance platform in our industry, including 40 clients in our dedicated insurance solutions area representing leading global firms, of which over half expanded their relationship with us in the past 12 months.
-- Jonathan D. Gray, President and Chief Operating OfficerLooking AheadFee revenues and total assets under management are climbing across key investment strategies. Management is tracking the stabilization of real estate values alongside fee growth from new institutional funds amid surging bond yields and higher borrowing costs.
The firm delivered resilient financial results and overall fund performance in the third quarter, and for the first 9 months of the year, generated double-digit year-over-year growth across fee revenues, fee-related earnings, realized performance revenues, and distributable earnings -- all against a backdrop of significant external volatility.
-- Michael S. Chae, Vice Chairman and Chief Financial OfficerMassive scale across credit, infrastructure, and private equity provides structural advantages when originating complex deals. Long-term capital commitments give the firm steady management fees across market cycles.
I have learned the most important thing during these periods is to keep our focus on delivering great results for limited partners, pioneering new markets for investment, and expanding our fundraising channels, all of which are occurring now. Our firm has enormous earnings power, and we expect outstanding results in the years ahead
-- Stephen Allen Schwarzman, Chairman and Chief Executive OfficerThe Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Blackstone. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Blackstone (BX -2.04%), already a behemoth in the alternative asset management sector, keeps getting bigger. However, while its assets under management (AUM) are growing, its earnings aren't necessarily following it higher in a perfectly straight line. That disconnect was on full display during the third quarter.
Here's a look at the alternative investment manager's third-quarter results and whether they're a signal to buy Blackstone stock.
Image source: The Motley Fool.
Blackstone's growth engine remains strongThere was a lot to like in Blackstone's third-quarter earnings report. AUM rose 10% to nearly $1.4 trillion, including nearly $990 billion of fee-earning AUM. Quarterly capital inflows totaled $63.3 billion, reflecting strong demand for its alternative investment products. The company also reported a 6% rise in fee-related earnings to almost $1.6 billion.
Despite strong AUM and fee-related earnings growth, Blackstone's distributable earnings fell 9% to $1.7 billion. Meanwhile, its distributable earnings per share were down 13% to $1.52. As a result, the company's dividend, which varies with earnings, declined to $1.12 per share (from $1.29 per share in the prior quarter and year-ago period). The culprit was a 34% decline in net realizations during the quarter. While the company sold assets during the period, its realized performance revenues from private equity and real estate investments were much lower compared to the third quarter of last year. That's just part of the lumpiness of its business.
The good news is that Blackstone expects that trend to reverse. On its third-quarter conference call, CFO Michael Chea stated, "We anticipate a significant step up in net realizations in the fourth quarter, including the sales of multiple companies." Meanwhile, CEO Steve Schwarzman commented on the call that "the firm's underlying earnings power continues to expand substantially and we are moving toward what we expect will be an outstanding 2027." So, while its earnings vary from period to period, the overall trend is higher.
$116.33-$2.42 (-2.04%)
NYSE · As of 1:45 PM ET 10/23/26
Is Blackstone stock a buy?While Blackstone's stock price rallied after reporting earnings, shares are currently down 28.5% from their 52-week high, trading at around $117 per share. Following the third quarter, the alternative investment giant has generated $5.95 in distributable earnings per share over the last 12 months. That has it trading at less than 20 times earnings. While that's not a screaming bargain, it's a reasonable price to pay for a leading asset manager.
It's not unreasonable to believe that Blackstone could grow its earnings at a double-digit annualized rate over the next five years. Through the first nine months of this year, its distributable earnings per share are up 10% compared to the prior-year period. It expects 2027 to be a strong year. Meanwhile, it's benefiting from multiple long-term growth drivers, like its AI investment strategy and the expansion of its private wealth and private credit platforms. If Blackstone grows its earnings at a 12% compound annual rate and its valuation multiple expands to around 23 times earnings, it could deliver 15% annualized returns over the next five years, before accounting for its dividend (4.4% trailing 12-month yield). Even slower 8% annual growth and no multiple expansion deliver a strong total return when factoring in the dividend. That's why I think Blackstone is a buy after its earnings.
However, there are downside risks to consider. Blackstone is betting heavily on AI infrastructure. If that thesis fails to play out, its returns could suffer. It's also expanding in private credit, which has had some growing pains in recent years.
A compelling investment opportunityBlackstone's latest results reinforce that its long-term growth engine remains healthy, despite near-term earnings volatility. While the stock isn't a screaming bargain, its recurring fee growth, expanding investment platform, and meaningful dividend make it an attractive option for long-term investors comfortable with the risks. If Blackstone's investment strategies deliver anything close to its historical record, the company should create significant value for shareholders over the next several years.
I rated Blackstone a Strong Buy previously. While BX reported some disappointing results in Q3, I believe the buying opportunity just got even better. I detail my latest view on the valuation and why I am more bullish than ever on BX stock.
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Blackstone Digital Infrastructure Trust, Inc. (NYSE: BXDC) (the “Company”) announced today that it will host its third-quarter 2026 investor conference call via public webcast on November 16, 2026 at 9:00 a.m. E.T. The Company will report its third-quarter results prior to the call the morning of November 16, 2026.
To register for the investor call, please use the following link: https://event.webcasts.com/starthere.jsp?ei=1777673&tp_key=3dd09d12c1
For those unable to listen to the live broadcast, there will be a webcast replay on the Shareholders section of Blackstone Digital Infrastructure Trust’s website at https://ir.bxdc.com.
About Blackstone Digital Infrastructure Trust
Blackstone Digital Infrastructure Trust (NYSE: BXDC) is a recently listed company focused on acquiring and owning mission-critical data center assets that power the modern digital economy. BXDC targets newly-constructed, income-generating, stabilized data center properties leased to investment-grade hyperscale tenants on long-term contracts. Our investment strategy is designed to generate stable, long-term cash flows and deliver current income to shareholders, with growth potential through contractual rent escalations and accretive acquisition opportunities. BXDC is externally managed by an affiliate of Blackstone (NYSE: BX), the world’s largest alternative asset manager and the largest financial investor in data center and digital infrastructure assets globally. Further information is available at www.bxdc.com.
About Blackstone
Blackstone is the world’s largest alternative asset manager. Blackstone seeks to deliver compelling returns for institutional and individual investors by strengthening the companies in which the firm invests. Blackstone’s nearly $1.4 trillion in assets under management include global investment strategies focused on real estate, private equity, credit, infrastructure, life sciences, growth equity, secondaries and hedge funds. Further information is available at www.blackstone.com. Follow @blackstone on LinkedIn, X (Twitter), and Instagram.
More News From Blackstone Digital Infrastructure Trust
Alternative-asset manager Blackstone (BX) reported weaker third-quarter distributable earnings Thursday, but shares climbed 5.26% to $115.34 at approximately 11
Blackstone Inc. delivered a good Q3, beating earnings estimates and demonstrating robust fee income and capital inflows. Despite healthy operational performance, BX shares have declined 9% in the past month and 30% over the year. I view the current BX stock valuation as an attractive long-term buying opportunity, given the disconnect between fundamentals and share price.
Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman explains how Jack ma helped him discover the AI revolution "by accident" in 2015. He shares his story on the next "Leaders With Francine Lacqua.
Blackstone just reported falling profits and its stock jumped 4%. That paradox reveals something about how asset managers pay dividends that most income investors never stop to examine.
Blackstone (NYSE:BX | BX Price Prediction) reported this morning that profit fell as rates, inflation, and a choppy market slowed dealmaking and investment exits (Bloomberg, Reuters). Investors still bought the stock, sending shares up 4.04% in early trading. That reaction explains why this group of stocks works for income investors. Asset managers collect fees on the money they manage, so rising markets lift assets, fees, and the cash that pays dividends. Blackstone, Franklin Templeton (NYSE:BEN) and Invesco (NYSE:IVZ) all pay their dividends from that fee engine, but each one sets its payout in a very different way.
How Asset Managers Turn Market Rallies Into Dividend Checks An asset manager charges a small percentage fee on its assets under management (AUM). When stock and bond prices rise, AUM grows even if no new client money comes in, and fee revenue grows with it. At Invesco, the CFO said favorable markets alone added $257 billion to AUM last quarter. Alternative managers like Blackstone also earn performance fees and carried interest when they sell investments at a gain.
That income depends most on the market, because profitable exits need open IPO and M&A windows. It works in reverse too. Falling markets shrink AUM and fees, which is why all three stocks carry betas above 1.5: 1.587 for Blackstone, 1.576 for Franklin and 1.631 for Invesco.
Blackstone: A Payout That Rises and Falls With Earnings Blackstone yields 4.88%, based on $5.23 per share paid over the past year, with shares at $114. The company has no fixed quarterly dividend. Blackstone pays out about 85% of its distributable earnings each quarter, so the check changes every time. The last three payments were $1.49, $1.16, and $1.29.
Dividend safety: The second-quarter dividend of $1.29 came from distributable earnings of $1.52 per share, a payout of about 84.9%. On GAAP earnings of $4.45 per share, the trailing payout comes to about 117.5%. The policy is based on distributable earnings, and management says it plans to return 100% of cash earnings over time through dividends. The balance sheet holds $7.5 billion of embedded realization potential, or $6 per share, the highest level in four years. Blackstone has paid a distribution every quarter since its first payment of $0.30 in late 2007, but the amounts have swung widely, down to $0.37 in mid-2020.
Bull case: The fee base keeps growing under the payout. AUM reached a record $1.35 trillion, up 11% year over year, with inflows of more than $260 billion over the last 12 months. Fee-related earnings rose 22% to $1.8 billion, and the CFO expects about double-digit growth in base management fees in 2027. The stock is down 23.77% this year and trades at 16 times forward earnings, compared with 25 times trailing. The current yield shows a share price well below the $160.11 52-week high.
Risk: Your income fluctuates with realizations. Last quarter, management had noted a sequential deceleration in net realizations, and this morning’s results showed profit falling as exits slowed. Blackstone’s dividend has no floor, so the recent $1.29 payment could be followed by a smaller one.
Franklin Templeton: A Steadily Rising Payout Backed by Record AUM Franklin Templeton yields 4.19% on an annual dividend of $1.31, with shares at $31.39. The stock is up 35.94% this year. Of the three names here, it pays the most predictable income.
Dividend safety: The regular quarterly dividend went from $0.27 in 2020 to $0.33 now, rising every calendar year with no cuts along the way. Going back further, it was $0.12 in 2014. On trailing GAAP earnings of $1.47 per share, the payout ratio is a tight 89.1%. One-time items weighed on that figure, including a $100M regulatory settlement, a $33M impairment, and $77.2M of special termination benefits. Adjusted earnings of $0.72 per share last quarter covered the $0.33 dividend with a payout of about 45.8%. Franklin also has $3 billion of its own balance sheet invested in funds, and it returned $521.5M to shareholders in the quarter. The CFO said: “We are always focused on ensuring we are in a position to continue to increase our dividend. That’s a high priority.”
Bull case: AUM climbed to a new high of $1.79 trillion, and long-term net inflows reached $18.4B, compared with outflows a year earlier. The adjusted operating margin rose to 28.0% from 23.7%. Management expects a fiscal fourth-quarter margin very close to, or at, 30% and about 29%–30% for 2027, assuming markets stay flat. The stock trades at 10 times forward earnings versus 22 times trailing, suggesting analysts expect earnings to rise sharply.
Risk: Western Asset Management keeps losing assets. It had another $1.1B in outflows this quarter, and until those outflows stop, GAAP coverage will stay below what the adjusted numbers suggest.
Invesco: QQQ Fees and a Shrinking Debt Load Power Dividend Growth Invesco yields 3% on an annual dividend of $0.85, with shares at $28.71. It has the lowest yield of the three, but its dividend is covered best by adjusted earnings.
Dividend safety: Adjusted earnings of $0.71 per share last quarter covered the $0.215 dividend with a payout of about 30.3%. Trailing GAAP EPS is negative at -$0.68, so a GAAP payout ratio is not meaningful. The CFO is aiming for a total payout near 60%, including buybacks. Financials are improving quickly: total debt fell to $1.62B from $1.97B, and the revolver shrank to $136 million from $1.1 billion. Leverage excluding preferred stock is 0.54x, or 1.9x including it.
Bull case: The Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ:QQQ) conversion to an open-end fund lets Invesco collect management fees on QQQ for the first time. That produced $130 million of additional net revenue in the first half. Net long-term inflows climbed to a record $45.1B last quarter, and the adjusted operating margin rose to 37.5% from 31.2%. At 10 times forward earnings, investors are paying a modest price for a manager that benefits directly from a Nasdaq rally.
Risk: Invesco cut its quarterly dividend to $0.155 from $0.31 in 2020, and the steady increases since then have not yet restored the old rate. Fundamental Equities also lost another $7.7B in the quarter.
Ranking the Three on Dividend Safety Franklin Templeton ranks first for dividend safety: its quarterly payout has risen every year since 2020, adjusted coverage is comfortable, and management calls dividend growth a high priority. Invesco ranks second, with the strongest adjusted coverage and a fast-shrinking debt load, held back only by its 2020 cut. Blackstone ranks third for safety despite the highest yield, because its payout follows distributable earnings and today’s profit decline shows how quickly that income can shrink. All three get paid when markets rise, but only Franklin and Invesco promise you a set quarterly amount.
Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.
Key Takeaways Blackstone's Q3 earnings beat estimates at $1.32 per share but declined 13% y/y.BX's total AUM rose 10% to a record $1.37T, supported by $63.3B in quarterly inflows.Blackstone's fee-related earnings grew 6% to $1.57B, while segment revenues declined 3% y/y.
Blackstone’s (BX - Free Report) third-quarter 2026 distributable earnings of $1.32 per share outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.26. However, the bottom line declined 13% from the prior-year quarter.
Results benefited from a rise in the assets under management (AUM) balance to record levels and higher fee-related earnings. However, a decline in segment revenues was the undermining factor.
Net income attributable to Blackstone was $662.4 million, rising 6% from the year-ago quarter.
BX’s Segment Revenues Decline, GAAP Expenses FallTotal segment revenues for the reported quarter were $3.22 billion, declining 3% year over year. On a GAAP basis, revenues were $3.06 billion, which declined 1%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenues was $3.12 billion.
Total expenses (GAAP basis) were $1.63 billion, down 7% year over year.
Fee-related earnings were $1.57 billion, up 6% year over year. Management and advisory fees, net, increased 6% to $2.16 billion, while fee-related performance revenues rose 19% to $540.1 million.
As of Sept. 30, 2026, Blackstone had $13.2 billion in total cash, cash equivalents, corporate treasury and other investments, and $23.5 billion in cash and net investments. The company has a $4.3-billion credit revolver, of which $3.6 billion was undrawn.
Blackstone’s AUM Balance Rises to Record LevelsFee-earning AUM grew 9% year over year to $989.7 billion as of Sept. 30, 2026.
The total AUM amounted to $1.37 trillion, up 10%. The rise in total AUM was supported by $63.3 billion in inflows in the reported quarter.
As of Sept. 30, 2026, the total dry powder available for future investments was $228.9 billion.
BX’s Share Repurchase UpdateDuring the reported quarter, Blackstone repurchased 0.2 million shares. The remaining share repurchase authorization was $1.6 billion as of Sept. 30, 2026.
Our Take on BlackstoneBX’s AUM growth and continued inflows across its investment strategies support its fee-related earnings. However, lower segment revenues, a decline in distributable earnings and weakness in real estate opportunistic fund performance remain concerning.
Earnings Dates & Expectations of Blackstone’s PeersKKR & Co. Inc. (KKR - Free Report) is set to report third-quarter 2026 results on Nov. 9.
Over the past seven days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for KKR’s quarterly earnings has been revised lower to $1.59. The estimated figure indicates a 12.8% rise from the prior-year quarter.
Ares Management (ARES - Free Report) is scheduled to report third-quarter 2026 results on Oct. 29.
Over the past week, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for Ares Management’s quarterly earnings has been revised lower to $1.25. The estimated figure indicates a 5% rise from the prior-year quarter’s actual.
Broadcom’s Anthropic Bet Gets Bigger as $60 Billion Financing Raises the StakesBlackstone NYSE: BX reported third-quarter distributable earnings of $1.7 billion, or $1.32 per common share, as fundraising momentum and fee-related earnings growth offset a sequential decline in realizations amid volatile markets and higher interest rates.
The alternative asset manager reported GAAP net income of $1.3 billion and declared a dividend of $1.12 per share, payable to shareholders of record as of Nov. 2. Total assets under management rose 10% year over year to approximately $1.4 trillion, while inflows reached $63 billion during the quarter and exceeded $270 billion over the prior 12 months.
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Broadcom’s AI Growth Story Faces a $161 Billion Anthropic TestChairman and Chief Executive Officer Steve Schwarzman said the quarter unfolded against a backdrop of sharply higher global bond yields, geopolitical conflicts, inflation concerns and elevated oil prices. He said artificial intelligence investment continues to support growth in areas including data centers, semiconductors, power generation, construction and engineering services, even as the higher cost of capital has weighed on transaction activity and market sentiment.
Fee earnings rise as realizations decline
Vice Chairman and Chief Financial Officer Michael Chae said total fee revenues increased 8% year over year to $2.7 billion. Base management fees reached a record $2 billion, while transaction and advisory fees rose 34% to $210 million. Fee-related performance revenues increased 19% to $540 million.
Data Centers Got the AI Hype—But Office REITs May Get the Rent HikesFee-related earnings totaled $1.6 billion, up 6% from a year earlier, or $1.26 per share. Distributable earnings were supported by that fee-related earnings growth, Chae said.
Net realizations fell 20% sequentially in the third quarter, as Blackstone had previously expected. However, Chae said the firm expects a “significant step-up” in net realizations during the fourth quarter, including sales of multiple companies and year-end performance-revenue crystallizations across its multi-asset investing and credit strategies.
For the first nine months of 2026, Chae said fee revenues and fee-related earnings each increased 17% year over year, while realized performance revenues and distributable earnings each rose 12%.
Total AUM: approximately $1.4 trillion, up 10% year over year.
Base management fees: $2 billion, a quarterly record.
Net accrued performance-revenue receivable: $7.3 billion, up 12% year over year.
Expected 2027 base-management-fee growth: double-digit year over year, according to management.
AI infrastructure remains central investment theme
Blackstone executives emphasized the firm’s exposure to AI-related infrastructure, including data centers, power, energy equipment and financing. Schwarzman said demand for computing capacity is accelerating while supply constraints have intensified, creating opportunities for capital providers able to finance projects at scale.
He said the firm’s data center portfolio is supported by long-term contracts with highly creditworthy counterparties. During the call, executives said data center leases generally have terms of 15 to 20 years, while the tenants in those arrangements have average market capitalizations of about $2.5 trillion.
Blackstone has announced partnerships including Crux with Google to address compute shortages and Ode with Anthropic to support enterprise AI adoption. Schwarzman also noted that Nvidia named Blackstone among a group of managers intended to help deploy $500 billion of large-scale GPU financing.
President and Chief Operating Officer Jon Gray said the company’s AI-related investments account for about 7% of its $1.4 trillion asset base across debt and equity. He said the firm is concentrating primarily on physical infrastructure and contracted assets rather than speculative investments, while also investing in the energy systems required to support data center demand.
Chae said Blackstone’s dedicated infrastructure platform appreciated 6.4% in the third quarter and 29% over the past 12 months, compared with a 4% return for the Global Infrastructure Index over the same 12-month period. Corporate private equity funds appreciated 2.8% in the quarter and 15% over the past year, led during the quarter by holdings in power and electrification.
Private wealth and insurance channels expand
Gray said private-wealth AUM increased 15% year over year to a record $330 billion, with nearly $9 billion of sales during the quarter. BXPE, the firm’s private-equity offering for wealth investors, recorded $2.9 billion of sales and reached $29 billion of net asset value in less than three years. Gray said BXPE has produced an 18% net annualized return since inception.
BREIT, Blackstone’s perpetual real estate strategy, grew 9% year over year to $58 billion and posted its best regular-way net flows in four years. BXINFRA reported $1.1 billion of quarterly sales and more than $7 billion of NAV.
BCRED, the firm’s private-credit vehicle for individual investors, experienced $1.4 billion in net outflows as investor redemption requests exceeded its quarterly limit. Gray said the fund fulfilled about half of requested redemptions, with investors requesting redemptions in each of the last two quarters receiving 75% of their capital back in roughly 90 days.
The firm also introduced BXHF, a perpetual hedge fund product that raised roughly $400 million including Oct. 1 subscriptions, and launched Blackstone Private Markets Funds outside the U.S. The latter vehicle invests across Blackstone wealth strategies and is part of an alliance with Wellington and Vanguard.
Insurance-channel AUM increased 14% year over year to more than $300 billion. Blackstone’s investment-grade private-credit platform grew 24% to nearly $150 billion, supported largely by insurance capital. Gray said the company has 40 dedicated insurance clients, with more than half expanding their relationships over the prior 12 months.
Real estate faces rate pressure but leasing demand strengthens
Higher interest rates led Blackstone to increase valuation cap rates on real estate holdings, contributing to depreciation in its opportunistic real estate funds. Core Plus funds gained 1.6% in the third quarter, while BREP opportunistic funds declined 3.2%.
Gray said demand is strengthening in data centers and logistics, which together account for 54% of Blackstone’s global real estate portfolio. He said the firm expects data center leasing across its global platform to triple this year, while its U.S. logistics holdings recorded their highest leasing activity in the third quarter.
Management expects real estate base management fees to remain broadly stable through year-end and into 2027. Chae said the segment is benefiting from improving BREIT flows and performance, although it remains between major drawdown fundraises and continues to face pressure from certain Core Plus institutional strategies.
About Blackstone (NYSE:BX)Blackstone Inc NYSE: BX is a global alternative asset management firm that provides investment and advisory services to institutional investors, companies, and qualified individual investors. The company manages capital across private equity, real estate, credit and insurance, infrastructure, hedge fund solutions, secondaries, and growth-oriented investments.
Blackstone invests in and manages portfolios of businesses, properties, infrastructure assets, and credit instruments across a range of industries.
This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected].
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Blackstone Inc. (BX - Free Report) came out with quarterly earnings of $1.32 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.26 per share. This compares to earnings of $1.52 per share a year ago. These figures are adjusted for non-recurring items.
This quarterly report represents an earnings surprise of +4.76%. A quarter ago, it was expected that this investment manager would post earnings of $1.33 per share when it actually produced earnings of $1.52, delivering a surprise of +14.29%.
Over the last four quarters, the company has surpassed consensus EPS estimates four times.
Blackstone Inc., which belongs to the Zacks Financial - Miscellaneous Services industry, posted revenues of $3.22 billion for the quarter ended September 2026, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 3.03%. This compares to year-ago revenues of $3.3 billion. The company has topped consensus revenue estimates four times over the last four quarters.
The sustainability of the stock's immediate price movement based on the recently-released numbers and future earnings expectations will mostly depend on management's commentary on the earnings call.
Blackstone Inc. shares have lost about 28.9% since the beginning of the year versus the S&P 500's gain of 13.3%.
What's Next for Blackstone Inc.?While Blackstone Inc. has underperformed the market so far this year, the question that comes to investors' minds is: what's next for the stock?
There are no easy answers to this key question, but one reliable measure that can help investors address this is the company's earnings outlook. Not only does this include current consensus earnings expectations for the coming quarter(s), but also how these expectations have changed lately.
Empirical research shows a strong correlation between near-term stock movements and trends in earnings estimate revisions. Investors can track such revisions by themselves or rely on a tried-and-tested rating tool like the Zacks Rank, which has an impressive track record of harnessing the power of earnings estimate revisions.
Ahead of this earnings release, the estimate revisions trend for Blackstone Inc. was unfavorable. While the magnitude and direction of estimate revisions could change following the company's just-released earnings report, the current status translates into a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell) for the stock. So, the shares are expected to underperform the market in the near future. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
It will be interesting to see how estimates for the coming quarters and the current fiscal year change in the days ahead. The current consensus EPS estimate is $1.72 on $4.26 billion in revenues for the coming quarter and $5.85 on $14.63 billion in revenues for the current fiscal year.
Investors should be mindful of the fact that the outlook for the industry can have a material impact on the performance of the stock as well. In terms of the Zacks Industry Rank, Financial - Miscellaneous Services is currently in the bottom 31% of the 250 plus Zacks industries. Our research shows that the top 50% of the Zacks-ranked industries outperform the bottom 50% by a factor of more than 2 to 1.
Another stock from the same industry, Community Financial System (CBU - Free Report) , has yet to report results for the quarter ended September 2026. The results are expected to be released on October 27.
This bank holding company is expected to post quarterly earnings of $1.19 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +14.4%. The consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has been revised 1% higher over the last 30 days to the current level.
Community Financial System's revenues are expected to be $227.32 million, up 9.3% from the year-ago quarter.
CoreWeave has been battered over concerns about its massive debt, but Blackstone chief operating officer Jon Gray believes the so-called neocloud company will weather the storm.
Right now, CoreWeave and its neocloud peers are facing challenges over the capital needed to deliver on their promises, he said in an interview with CNBC's "Squawk Box" Thursday.
"Some of these companies have very talented CEOs. CoreWeave is a good example of this," Gray said. "They'll find a way through it, but that's the challenge they face. The underlying business is actually quite strong."
CoreWeave has seen its stock sink, bond yields rise and spreads on its credit default swaps widen over the past week as investors became nervous about how the company will continue to finance its data centers, and at what cost. The company has roughly $51.6 billion in total debt, including about $35 billion in notes, bonds and loans.
Coreweave's one-month performance
Demand for computing power, however, is strong, said Gray. He is seeing that across the board in the private companies the firm holds. At the same time, there is a constraint in delivering supply, he said.
"For the neo clouds, if they can get to the other side, the pricing of compute is up 50%," he said. "Their legacy chips are worth much more than people thought. Their data centers are leased below market."
Shares of CoreWeave sank 3.55% on Thursday, and are down 14% over the past week.
Blackstone earningsGray spoke with CNBC after Blackstone reported its third-quarter results, which came in mixed. Its stock was up 4% on Thursday.
Blackstone saw quarterly revenue of $3.22 billion, short of the $3.28 billion expected from analysts polled by LSEG. Its adjusted earnings of $1.32 per share, however, topped the $1.26 consensus estimate.
It was a "challenging quarter with markets" thanks to high energy prices and the rise in Treasury yields, Gray said. However, the firm delivered for its clients, he noted.
"Across the board, our flagship strategies beat comparable public market indices and that's what we care most about," he said.
Blackstone year to date
He anticipates a strong fourth quarter and 2027, despite some cross-currents like the rising cost of capital, government deficits and some crowding out of capital due to the AI infrastructure build. However, good news is there is underlying economic and earnings strength, he said.
Gray also expects initial public offerings to resume once the market and geopolitical situation calms a bit. He said investors just need to have some patience.
"We have a long-term approach, and we feel very good about where we position capital for our investors, the growth of those companies, the growth of those assets, and that's what gives us confidence," he said.
"At some point, the wider window will open, and when that happens, we and others will sell even more."
Blackstone Inc. (BX - Free Report) reported $3.22 billion in revenue for the quarter ended September 2026, representing a year-over-year decline of 2.6%. EPS of $1.32 for the same period compares to $1.52 a year ago.
The reported revenue represents a surprise of +3.03% over the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.12 billion. With the consensus EPS estimate being $1.26, the EPS surprise was +4.76%.
While investors scrutinize revenue and earnings changes year-over-year and how they compare with Wall Street expectations to determine their next move, some key metrics always offer a more accurate picture of a company's financial health.
As these metrics influence top- and bottom-line performance, comparing them to the year-ago numbers and what analysts estimated helps investors project a stock's price performance more accurately.
Here is how Blackstone Inc. performed in the just reported quarter in terms of the metrics most widely monitored and projected by Wall Street analysts:
Fee-Earning Assets Under Management Rollforward - Private Equity: $286.31 billion versus the four-analyst average estimate of $275.29 billion.Fee-Earning Assets Under Management Rollforward - Real Estate: $277.82 billion compared to the $278.84 billion average estimate based on four analysts.Fee-Earning Assets Under Management Rollforward - Hedge Fund Solutions (Multi-Asset Investing): $103.42 billion versus the four-analyst average estimate of $101.26 billion.Fee-Earning Assets Under Management Rollforward - Credit & Insurance: $322.11 billion versus the four-analyst average estimate of $325.91 billion.Segment Revenues- Realized Principal Investment Income: $52.6 million compared to the $40.58 million average estimate based on four analysts. The reported number represents a change of -15.9% year over year.Segment Revenues- Multi-Asset Investing- Realized Principal Investment Income (Loss): $0.89 million compared to the $1.88 million average estimate based on four analysts. The reported number represents a change of +28.8% year over year.Segment Revenues- Fee Related Performance Revenues: $540.13 million versus the four-analyst average estimate of $514.04 million. The reported number represents a year-over-year change of +19.2%.Segment Revenues- Realized Performance Revenues: $464.39 million versus the four-analyst average estimate of $581.03 million. The reported number represents a year-over-year change of -37.7%.Segment Revenues- Private Equity- Realized Performance Revenues: $285.5 million versus the four-analyst average estimate of $421.92 million. The reported number represents a year-over-year change of -49%.Segment Revenues- Real Estate- Realized Performance Revenues: $99.92 million versus $102.24 million estimated by four analysts on average. Compared to the year-ago quarter, this number represents a -24.8% change.Segment Revenues- Total Management and Advisory Fees, Net: $2.18 billion versus the four-analyst average estimate of $2.15 billion. The reported number represents a year-over-year change of +6.7%.Segment Revenues- Credit & Insurance- Realized Performance Revenues: $58.47 million compared to the $38.32 million average estimate based on four analysts. The reported number represents a change of +45.7% year over year.View all Key Company Metrics for Blackstone Inc. here>>>
Shares of Blackstone Inc. have returned -8.1% over the past month versus the Zacks S&P 500 composite's no change. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell), indicating that it could underperform the broader market in the near term.
Private equity giant Blackstone is putting itself at the center of the AI boom, firm veteran Jas Khaira discussed last week on stage at TechCrunch Disrupt.
It is writing checks via various strategies, ranging from offering massive loans to data centers to investing in frontier AI models and applications.
Earlier this year, the firm launched Blackstone N1 (BXN1), a San Francisco-based central hub for its AI initiatives. The group is led by Khaira, who relocated from New York to be at the epicenter of AI.
Unlike earlier tech cycles such as mobile or SaaS, which allowed companies to reach significant scale with moderate capital, the transition to AI requires staggering amounts of investment. That need for capital is precisely why Blackstone, with its $1.3 trillion in assets under management, could play such a critical role in this tech shift.
Khaira emphasized that Blackstone sets itself apart from traditional venture capitalists through its focus on compute financing and its ability to offer flexible capital structures, ranging from debt to equity. And it has been investing aggressively.
“We’re the largest owner of compute outside of the hyperscalers today, whether it’s investments in neo clouds, investments in data centers, and being able to use that compute strategically to support companies,” Khaira said.
For instance, BXN1 played a key role in several compute-related deals, among them Crux AI, a neocloud launched in partnership with Google to commercialize its custom TPUs, to which Blackstone committed $5 billion as an investor. It also backed four-year-old Etched, a chip startup whose rapid development has caught investor attention. Neoclouds are cloud providers that rent out AI GPU infrastructure.
Blackstone pioneered a financing structure that allowed it to lend massive sums to venture-backed cloud neoclouds by analyzing both committed customer contracts and using GPUs pledged as collateral.
Blackstone’s first such deal came in 2023 with CoreWeave, shortly after that neocloud saw demand explode following the launch of ChatGPT. Despite having only “30 million of revenue and minimal profitability” at that time, according to Khaira, CoreWeave approached Blackstone for a $2.3 billion loan.
CoreWeave was borrowing against the considerable value of its large collection of Nvidia GPUs, with Nvidia also an investor. Blackstone also grew more comfortable with the loan because CoreWeave had contracts with blue-chip customers like Microsoft.
That transaction quickly became the financing model for how Blackstone and other credit institutions provided billions in follow-on debt to CoreWeave and rival neoclouds.
“One of the primary things that we’re looking to is the nature of the customer. And if the customer is an investment-grade customer — let’s say it’s Microsoft or let’s say it’s Meta — the risk gets priced relative to that customer,” Khaira said.
Building on its success with CoreWeave, Blackstone struck other neocloud financing deals, including co-leading alongside Coatue a $10 billion credit facility for Australian GPU provider Firmus earlier this year.
Khaira acknowledged that in recent weeks, the large debt burdens accumulated by these companies and other neocloud operators have begun to raise red flags. Coreweave’s debt alone has since ballooned to about $50 billion, causing Altimeter Capital founder Brad Gerstner to note in a recent CNBC interview, “The collateral that CoreWeave is putting up which is really only GPUs is not good enough anymore. They used that in the past to get cheap debt.”
Khaira said that on the credit side, the market jitters stem from a combination of factors. Interest rates ticked up in September, and hotter-than-expected inflation signals that borrowing costs may keep climbing. The flood of AI infrastructure debt offerings isn’t helping either.
“We’re also seeing higher credit spreads,” Khaira said, explaining that lenders are charging higher premiums on top of already higher base interest rates to finance the AI buildout. “The cost of capital to price in debt for a Meta or a Microsoft has widened out,” he added, pointing out that even tech giants with massive balance sheets and solid earnings are paying more to borrow.
Concerns about the rising cost of debt have spilled into the stock market. Shares of CoreWeave dropped over 20% in recent days, while Firmus scrapped its planned IPO on the Australian Securities Exchange at a target valuation of roughly $30 billion.
“Ultimately, the market wasn’t there at that valuation, and so I think as a result, that deal didn’t get done,” Khaira said about Firmus’ cancelled listing.
“The market is thinking what is the right price for neoclouds, what is the right price for these businesses in this moment when interest rates are moving up,” he said.
Despite those pressures on some infrastructure providers, AI companies simply can’t get enough compute to power their models. Their appetite continues to drive data center buildout.
Khaira downplayed worries of doom-mongers that the massive accumulation of AI infrastructure debt could lead to a widespread credit crisis, or worse, crash the economy altogether. “This doesn’t feel like something where you’ve got 2008 banks that are shaky credits,” he said.
Instead, he pointed out that because the vast majority of data centers are built for hyperscalers, the debt financing them is ultimately backed “by the most creditworthy companies in the world.”
Beyond funding data centers, Blackstone is helping companies adopt AI through a $1.5 billion joint venture called “Ode with Anthropic,” formed alongside Anthropic and Hellman & Friedman this year. Ode supplies forward-deployed engineers to help companies adopt AI and integrate it into their operations, starting with Blackstone’s 280 portfolio companies.
When asked if Blackstone-owned companies are seeing tangible gains from AI, Khaira conceded that “there is definitely ROI, but it is uneven.” He described technology adoption as something that could move in a “sawtooth-type pattern,” which, to skeptics, can look like an oversupply of compute before adoption catches up.
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NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Blackstone (NYSE: BX) today announced the final close of Blackstone Energy Transition Partners V (“BETP V”) at $8.7 billion – more than 50% larger than its predecessor vehicle. The significantly oversubscribed fund reached its hard cap and builds on the strong performance of the strategy’s prior vintages.
Blackstone Energy Transition Partners (“BETP”) seeks to build energy companies at scale that deliver cleaner, more reliable and more affordable energy to meet growing global needs. BETP’s energy transition investments have generated, as of June 30, a 34% net IRR since 1997, reflecting the strength of its differentiated strategy. In 2025, BETP was named IJ Investor’s “Fund Manager of the Year – Equity” for North America, recognizing its leadership in delivering investment performance at scale.
David Foley, Global Head of Blackstone Energy Transition Partners, said: “We believe there is a generational opportunity for experienced investors in the energy transition to provide solutions to the challenges posed by growing demand for electricity. By backing exceptional management teams with flexible, patient equity capital to increase manufacturing capacity, recruit and train skilled labor and construct new critical energy infrastructure assets, BETP is delivering those solutions and in the process building these companies to scale, creating jobs and generating lasting value for our investors. We are deeply grateful for the trust of our investors and look forward to deploying BETP V in investments that advance the transition to a more affordable, reliable and cleaner energy future.”
BETP V began its investment period in June and has already funded three distinct platform companies (Kindle, Fisterra and Viridon) backing proven management teams to develop and operate new power generation and electric transmission lines, and has also made three acquisitions focused on energy efficiency and resiliency, including:
Flow Control Holdings – a rapidly growing, leading U.S. provider of highly engineered flow control solutions and components for data center liquid cooling, a more energy efficient alternative to air cooling Dresser Utility Solutions – the leading North American provider of measurement (meters), control (regulators, pressure relief valves) and infrastructure repair products for gas and water utilities DarkVision – a provider of innovative, technology-enabled asset inspection services that enhance the safety, reliability and productivity of critical energy infrastructure Since January 2025, BETP has committed over $11 billion in new equity investments across the energy transition ecosystem. This includes transactions in critical energy equipment manufacturers (Maclean Power Systems, Delta Star, Power Grid Components, Arlington Industries, Advanced Cooling Technologies), essential services (Alliance Technical Group, Shermco), energy data analytics (Enverus) and highly-efficient natural gas-fired power infrastructure (Hill Top Energy Center, Wolf Summit Energy, and Potomac Energy Center).
In addition, BETP has successfully monetized several of its mature investments in predecessor funds over the same period, including:
Reaching an agreement to sell Aypa Power, a leading North American battery storage platform with a 6.0 GW portfolio of storage assets Selling a majority interest in Sabre Industries, a leading manufacturer of highly-engineered critical infrastructure for power utilities, telecom and data centers Completing the IPO of Legence (NASDAQ: LGN), a premier provider of specialty mechanical contracting and engineering services for mission critical data center, healthcare and high-specification C&I end markets About Blackstone Energy Transition Partners:
Blackstone Energy Transition Partners is Blackstone’s strategy for control-oriented equity investments in energy-related businesses, a leading energy investor with a successful long-term record, having committed over $34 billion of equity globally across a broad range of sectors within the energy industry. The strategy generally excludes investments in the ownership of hydrocarbon reserves and the extraction thereof. (The returns shown above similarly exclude such upstream investments despite the fact that earlier fund vintages were not managed to exclude such investments.) Blackstone Energy Transition Partners’ investment philosophy is based on backing exceptional management teams with flexible capital to provide solutions that help energy companies grow and improve performance, thereby delivering more reliable, affordable and cleaner energy to meet the needs of the global community. In the process, Blackstone Energy Transition Partners builds stronger, larger scale enterprises, creates jobs and generates lasting value for its investors, employees and all stakeholders. Further information is available at https://www.blackstone.com/our-businesses/blackstone-energy-transition-partners/.
About Blackstone:
Blackstone is the world’s largest alternative asset manager. Blackstone seeks to deliver compelling returns for institutional and individual investors by strengthening the companies in which the firm invests. Blackstone’s over $1.3 trillion in assets under management include global investment strategies focused on real estate, private equity, credit, infrastructure, life sciences, growth equity, secondaries and hedge funds. Further information is available at www.blackstone.com. Follow @blackstone on LinkedIn, X (Twitter), and Instagram.
In its upcoming report, Blackstone Inc. (BX - Free Report) is predicted by Wall Street analysts to post quarterly earnings of $1.30 per share, reflecting a decline of 14.5% compared to the same period last year. Revenues are forecasted to be $3.34 billion, representing a year-over-year increase of 1.3%.
Over the last 30 days, there has been a downward revision of 0.7% in the consensus EPS estimate for the quarter, leading to its current level. This signifies the covering analysts' collective reconsideration of their initial forecasts over the course of this timeframe.
Before a company announces its earnings, it is essential to take into account any changes made to earnings estimates. This is a valuable factor in predicting the potential reactions of investors toward the stock. Empirical research has consistently shown a strong correlation between trends in earnings estimate revisions and the short-term price performance of a stock.
While investors usually depend on consensus earnings and revenue estimates to assess the business performance for the quarter, delving into analysts' forecasts for certain key metrics often provides a more comprehensive understanding.
Bearing this in mind, let's now explore the average estimates of specific Blackstone Inc. metrics that are commonly monitored and projected by Wall Street analysts.
According to the collective judgment of analysts, 'Segment Revenues- Realized Principal Investment Income' should come in at $47.40 million. The estimate suggests a change of -24.2% year over year.
The combined assessment of analysts suggests that 'Segment Revenues- Credit & Insurance- Total Management Fees, Net' will likely reach $516.91 million. The estimate indicates a year-over-year change of +4%.
Analysts expect 'Segment Revenues- Private Equity- Base Management Fees' to come in at $707.23 million. The estimate suggests a change of +12.5% year over year.
It is projected by analysts that the 'Segment Revenues- Multi-Asset Investing- Total Management Fees, Net' will reach $165.20 million. The estimate points to a change of +19.3% from the year-ago quarter.
The collective assessment of analysts points to an estimated 'Fee-Earning Assets Under Management Rollforward - Private Equity' of $276.19 billion. Compared to the current estimate, the company reported $235.00 billion in the same quarter of the previous year.
Based on the collective assessment of analysts, 'Fee-Earning Assets Under Management Rollforward - Real Estate' should arrive at $278.52 billion. Compared to the present estimate, the company reported $282.58 billion in the same quarter last year.
Analysts' assessment points toward 'Fee-Earning Assets Under Management Rollforward - Hedge Fund Solutions (Multi-Asset Investing)' reaching $100.97 billion. Compared to the present estimate, the company reported $83.45 billion in the same quarter last year.
The average prediction of analysts places 'Fee-Earning Assets Under Management Rollforward - Credit & Insurance' at $326.02 billion. Compared to the current estimate, the company reported $305.19 billion in the same quarter of the previous year.
Analysts predict that the 'Fee-Earning Assets Under Management' will reach $981.70 billion. The estimate compares to the year-ago value of $906.22 billion.
The consensus among analysts is that 'Total Assets Under Management - Hedge Fund Solutions (Multi-Asset Investing)' will reach $111.25 billion. Compared to the current estimate, the company reported $93.32 billion in the same quarter of the previous year.
The consensus estimate for 'Total Assets Under Management - Credit & Insurance' stands at $481.30 billion. The estimate compares to the year-ago value of $432.32 billion.
Analysts forecast 'Total Assets Under Management - Real Estate' to reach $317.99 billion. The estimate compares to the year-ago value of $320.49 billion.
View all Key Company Metrics for Blackstone Inc. here>>>
Over the past month, shares of Blackstone Inc. have returned -14.7% versus the Zacks S&P 500 composite's +1.5% change. Currently, BX carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell), suggesting that it may underperform the overall market in the near future. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks here >>>> .
Anthropic is offering Blackstone (BX.N) a yield of more than 10% to finance its latest chip deal, the Financial Times reported on Friday.
Blackstone funds would invest $9 billion in the debt backed by Anthropic's five-year lease payments on the chips, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter.
Reuters could not immediately verify the report.
Key Takeaways Blackstone's Q3 earnings are expected to fall 13.8%, while revenues are projected to rise just 1.9%.BX's total AUM is expected to grow 11.1% to $1.38 trillion, supported by higher inflows and client activity.BX expects subdued deal-exit profits, rising expenses and weaker realized performance revenues.
Blackstone (BX - Free Report) is scheduled to announce third-quarter 2026 results on Oct. 22, before the opening bell. As a leading global alternative asset manager, the company’s results are expected to draw significant attention, offering insights into its capital deployment strategies and those of its peers amid macroeconomic volatility.
In the second quarter, BX reported a solid performance, with assets under management (AUM) and revenue growth. This time, the company is less likely to have recorded a similar performance. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenues is pegged at $3.36 billion, implying only a 1.9% year-over-year improvement.
In the past seven days, the consensus estimate for the company’s earnings has been revised 1.5% lower to $1.31. This indicates a 13.8% decline.
Estimate Revision Trend
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
BX has an impressive earnings surprise history. The company’s earnings outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, with the average beat being 13.95%.
Earnings Surprise History
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Major Factors to Influence BX’s Q3 EarningsBlackstone has been witnessing an increase in fee-earning AUM and total AUM driven by its diversified product and revenue mix, superior position in the alternative investments space and net inflows. Given the high market volatility and increased client activity in the third quarter, the company is expected to have recorded a rise in AUM as inflows grew. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for total AUM of $1.38 trillion indicates growth of 11.1% from the prior-year quarter. The consensus estimate for total fee-earning AUM of $981.7 billion suggests an increase of 8.3%.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for total management and advisory fees (segment revenues) is pegged at $2.17 billion, which indicates a 6.3% increase. The consensus estimate for fee-related performance revenues (segment revenues) of $529.1 suggests a jump of 16.8% because of solid market performance in the third quarter.
Additionally, Blackstone expects profits from deal exits to have been subdued in the to-be-reported quarter. Per the company’s preliminary estimate, revenues from realization activities were more than $350 million between July 1 and Sept. 22, 2026.
The consensus estimate for realized performance revenues and realized principal investment income is pegged at $682.2 million and $47.4 million, respectively. In the third quarter of 2025, Blackstone generated $745 million of realized performance revenues and $62.5 million of principal investment income.
Blackstone’s expenses have been increasing over the past few years, mainly because of higher general, administrative and other expenses. As the company has continued to invest in franchises, expenses are expected to have risen to some extent in the third quarter.
What Our Model Unveils for BlackstonePer our proven model, the chances of Blackstone beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings this time are low. This is because it doesn’t have the combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold), which is required to be confident of an earnings beat.
BX has an Earnings ESP of -2.65%. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.
Blackstone carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell) at present.
BX’s Price PerformanceBlackstone shares have lost 12.5% in the third quarter compared with the industry’s fall of 3.8%. The stock has also underperformed Apollo Global (APO - Free Report) and KKR & Co. (KKR - Free Report) .
3Q26 Price Performance
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Apollo Global is slated to report quarterly results on Nov. 3, before the opening bell, while KKR & Co. is scheduled to report results on Nov. 9.
Over the past seven days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for Apollo Global’s third-quarter 2026 earnings has been unchanged at $2.24. The consensus estimate for KKR & Co.’s third-quarter 2026 earnings has been revised upward to $1.61 over the past week. At present, both APO and KKR carry a Zacks Rank #3. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
AI startups are scaling faster, and demanding more capital, than any generation before them. Jas Khaira, Global Head of Blackstone N1, shares what separates enduring companies from early momentum, how founders should think about capital as they scale, and what Blackstone looks for when backing category-defining businesses.
Blackstone has built one of Wall Street's broadest bets on AI, investing across the ecosystem from data centers, power and cooling to chip financing and companies including OpenAI, Anthropic and SpaceX. Bloomberg's Preeti Singh explains how President and COO Jon Gray spotted the infrastructure opportunity early and why he sees AI as a generational economic shift that investors can't afford to ignore.
The market expects Blackstone Inc. (BX - Free Report) to deliver a year-over-year decline in earnings on higher revenues when it reports results for the quarter ended September 2026. This widely-known consensus outlook is important in assessing the company's earnings picture, but a powerful factor that might influence its near-term stock price is how the actual results compare to these estimates.
The stock might move higher if these key numbers top expectations in the upcoming earnings report, which is expected to be released on October 22. On the other hand, if they miss, the stock may move lower.
While the sustainability of the immediate price change and future earnings expectations will mostly depend on management's discussion of business conditions on the earnings call, it's worth handicapping the probability of a positive EPS surprise.
Zacks Consensus EstimateThis investment manager is expected to post quarterly earnings of $1.31 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of -13.8%.
Revenues are expected to be $3.36 billion, up 1.9% from the year-ago quarter.
Estimate Revisions TrendThe consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has been revised 0.69% lower over the last 30 days to the current level. This is essentially a reflection of how the covering analysts have collectively reassessed their initial estimates over this period.
Investors should keep in mind that an aggregate change may not always reflect the direction of estimate revisions by each of the covering analysts.
Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Earnings WhisperEstimate revisions ahead of a company's earnings release offer clues to the business conditions for the period whose results are coming out. This insight is at the core of our proprietary surprise prediction model -- the Zacks Earnings ESP (Expected Surprise Prediction).
The Zacks Earnings ESP compares the Most Accurate Estimate to the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the quarter; the Most Accurate Estimate is a more recent version of the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate. The idea here is that analysts revising their estimates right before an earnings release have the latest information, which could potentially be more accurate than what they and others contributing to the consensus had predicted earlier.
Thus, a positive or negative Earnings ESP reading theoretically indicates the likely deviation of the actual earnings from the consensus estimate. However, the model's predictive power is significant for positive ESP readings only.
A positive Earnings ESP is a strong predictor of an earnings beat, particularly when combined with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold). Our research shows that stocks with this combination produce a positive surprise nearly 70% of the time, and a solid Zacks Rank actually increases the predictive power of Earnings ESP.
Please note that a negative Earnings ESP reading is not indicative of an earnings miss. Our research shows that it is difficult to predict an earnings beat with any degree of confidence for stocks with negative Earnings ESP readings and/or Zacks Rank of 4 (Sell) or 5 (Strong Sell).
How Have the Numbers Shaped Up for Blackstone Inc.?For Blackstone Inc., the Most Accurate Estimate is lower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate, suggesting that analysts have recently become bearish on the company's earnings prospects. This has resulted in an Earnings ESP of -2.65%.
On the other hand, the stock currently carries a Zacks Rank of #3.
So, this combination makes it difficult to conclusively predict that Blackstone Inc. will beat the consensus EPS estimate.
Does Earnings Surprise History Hold Any Clue?While calculating estimates for a company's future earnings, analysts often consider to what extent it has been able to match past consensus estimates. So, it's worth taking a look at the surprise history for gauging its influence on the upcoming number.
For the last reported quarter, it was expected that Blackstone Inc. would post earnings of $1.33 per share when it actually produced earnings of $1.52, delivering a surprise of +14.29%.
Over the last four quarters, the company has beaten consensus EPS estimates four times.
Bottom LineAn earnings beat or miss may not be the sole basis for a stock moving higher or lower. Many stocks end up losing ground despite an earnings beat due to other factors that disappoint investors. Similarly, unforeseen catalysts help a number of stocks gain despite an earnings miss.
That said, betting on stocks that are expected to beat earnings expectations does increase the odds of success. This is why it's worth checking a company's Earnings ESP and Zacks Rank ahead of its quarterly release. Make sure to utilize our Earnings ESP Filter to uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they've reported.
Blackstone Inc. doesn't appear a compelling earnings-beat candidate. However, investors should pay attention to other factors too for betting on this stock or staying away from it ahead of its earnings release.
An Industry Player's Expected ResultsAmong the stocks in the Zacks Financial - Miscellaneous Services industry, Triumph Financial (TFIN - Free Report) , is soon expected to post earnings of $0.6 per share for the quarter ended September 2026. This estimate indicates a year-over-year change of +215.8%. This quarter's revenue is expected to be $122.22 million, up 11.8% from the year-ago quarter.
The consensus EPS estimate for Triumph Financial has been revised 4.9% lower over the last 30 days to the current level. However, a higher Most Accurate Estimate has resulted in an Earnings ESP of +2.93%.
This Earnings ESP, combined with its Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), suggests that Triumph Financial will most likely beat the consensus EPS estimate. Over the last four quarters, the company surpassed consensus EPS estimates three times.
Stay on top of upcoming earnings announcements with the Zacks Earnings Calendar.
Blackstone President Jonathan Gray discusses the firm's investments in India, his views on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and why he's confident about the artificial intelligence infrastructure buildout. "We think focusing on the AI infrastructure here in India and around the world is the right place to be," Gray says in an interview with Yvonne Man on the sidelines of the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in New Delhi.
SummaryThe AI boom could transform the global economy.However, a massive, overlooked problem threatens to undermine the investment returns of some of the market's most popular stocks.I believe there is a much safer way to profit from the AI boom, and detail why I think that leading AI stocks may underperform moving forward.Looking for a portfolio of ideas like this one? Members of High Yield Investor get exclusive access to our subscriber-only portfolios. Learn More » sompoch sivakosit/iStock via Getty Images
With trillions of dollars projected to be poured into AI-related spending and leading AI-related stocks like Nvidia (NVDA) and Palantir (PLTR) soaring in value, the AI boom has become one of the
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Seeking Alpha's Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.
Investors looking for stocks in the Financial - Miscellaneous Services sector might want to consider either Intercorp Financial Services Inc. (IFS - Free Report) or Blackstone Inc. (BX - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks is more attractive to value investors? We'll need to take a closer look to find out.
We have found that the best way to discover great value opportunities is to pair a strong Zacks Rank with a great grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system. The Zacks Rank favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.
Intercorp Financial Services Inc. and Blackstone Inc. are sporting Zacks Ranks of #2 (Buy) and #3 (Hold), respectively, right now. Investors should feel comfortable knowing that IFS likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than BX has recently. However, value investors will care about much more than just this.
Value investors also try to analyze a wide range of traditional figures and metrics to help determine whether a company is undervalued at its current share price levels.
The Value category of the Style Scores system identifies undervalued companies by looking at a number of key metrics. These include the long-favored P/E ratio, P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a variety of other fundamentals that help us determine a company's fair value.
IFS currently has a forward P/E ratio of 8.67, while BX has a forward P/E of 18.97. We also note that IFS has a PEG ratio of 0.69. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. BX currently has a PEG ratio of 1.35.
Another notable valuation metric for IFS is its P/B ratio of 1.56. The P/B ratio is used to compare a stock's market value with its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. For comparison, BX has a P/B of 3.97.
These metrics, and several others, help IFS earn a Value grade of A, while BX has been given a Value grade of D.
IFS sticks out from BX in both our Zacks Rank and Style Scores models, so value investors will likely feel that IFS is the better option right now.
Waymo, the autonomous vehicle technology company under Google parent Alphabet, closed a $5 billion loan from a series of high-profile lenders, including PIMCO, Blackstone, and Sixth Street.
The debt financing — Waymo’s first — comes as the company accelerates its commercial expansion within existing cities while pushing into new markets in the United States, Europe, and Japan. Waymo described the debt financing as an important step in its evolution into a “scaling commercial enterprise.”
Other lenders in the $5 billion loan include Capital Group, Loomis Sayles, T. Rowe Price, Apollo, Blue Owl, Diameter Capital Partners, Franklin Templeton, Fidelity Management & Research Company, HPS Investment Partners, and Oaktree, Waymo said on Thursday. Goldman Sachs served as the sole lead bookrunner.
Until now, Waymo has relied on capital from its parent company and outside investors. In February, Waymo raised $16 billion in equity from investors that pushed its valuation to $126 billion. Dragoneer Investment Group, DST Global, and Sequoia Capital led the funding round. Alphabet, which supported the round, has maintained its position as majority investor. The company raised $5.6 billion in a Series C funding round in 2024, $2.5 billion in 2021, and $3.2 billion in 2020.
A Waymo spokesperson said in an email that the debt financing will give the company financial flexibility to strengthen its balance sheet and position it to “capitalize on the significant opportunities ahead, especially as a scaling business with proven commercial demand and improved road safety outcomes in the communities in which we operate.”
Formerly a self-driving project within Google, Waymo spent years testing its autonomous vehicle tech on public roads in Silicon Valley and the Bay Area and providing the occasional public or media demo. The company expanded in 2016 to Phoenix, which would become its first robotaxi market.
In August 2023, Waymo received the final necessary permit to operate a robotaxi service and charge for rides in California, a milestone that would kick off a more aggressive commercial playbook. Since then, Waymo has launched in multiple California cities, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, and more recently San Diego. It has also brought its robotaxi service to numerous other U.S. markets, including Austin, Dallas, and Houston in Texas and Miami, Orlando, and Tampa in Florida. Waymo now offers robotaxi services in 15 markets.
Waymo is keen to take its robotaxi services global, too. The company is testing in London and Tokyo and plans to launch in those cities.
The company’s growth has also spurred criticism and increased attention from regulators.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Office of Defects Investigation opened an investigation into the illegal behavior of Waymo robotaxis around school buses. The federal safety regulator also launched an investigation after a Waymo robotaxi hit a child near a school. The child, who sustained minor injuries, was struck at about 6 mph. Earlier this year, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) opened its own investigation into Waymo after its robotaxis were spotted illegally passing stopped school buses numerous times in at least two states.
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Kirsten Korosec is a reporter and editor who has covered the future of transportation from EVs and autonomous vehicles to urban air mobility and in-car tech for more than a decade. She is currently the transportation editor at TechCrunch and co-host of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast. She is also co-founder and co-host of the podcast, “The Autonocast.” She previously wrote for Fortune, The Verge, Bloomberg, MIT Technology Review and CBS Interactive.
You can contact or verify outreach from Kirsten by emailing [email protected] or via encrypted message at kkorosec.07 on Signal.
Broadcom Weighs Eye-Popping Debt Deal to Fund OpenAI's AI Chip Ambitions Summary
Broadcom is in early discussions on more than $50 billion of debt financing tied to OpenAI’s custom AI chip purchases
Broadcom (AVGO) is weighing a financing plan that could raise more than $50 billion for OpenAI's purchase of custom artificial-intelligence chips, according to Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal reports.
The discussions could involve private-credit firms such as Apollo Global Management (APO) and Blackstone (BX). The lenders have been contacted as Broadcom and OpenAI work through how to fund the chip rollout, with talks still subject to change.
For OpenAI, the proposed borrowing could reduce the pressure of paying for computing hardware well before that capacity generates revenue. The structure would resemble a $60 billion facility Broadcom previously put together for Anthropic.
The financing would support a custom-chip program agreed to by the companies in October 2025. Their plan calls for 10 gigawatts of AI accelerators to be deployed by late 2029, with chips tied to OpenAI's internal Nexus effort.
The potential arrangement could give OpenAI another way to finance large infrastructure needs while giving Broadcom a closer role in the economics surrounding those deployments. The companies are also developing chips known internally as Jalapeño and Serrano, according to the reports.
Disclosures I/we have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and have no plans to buy any new positions in the stocks mentioned within the next 72 hours.
A logo of Blackstone is pictured in Manhattan, New York City, U.S. July 29, 2025. REUTERS/Mike Segar Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab
TOKYO, Oct 7 (Reuters) - Blackstone-backed AirTrunk said on Wednesday it was investing an additional $1 billion in its 300-plus-megawatt hyperscale data centre campus in the eastern Japanese city of Inzai to enable AI workloads.
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Investment is for liquid-cooling technology deployment to enable AI workload
Secured $1-billion green loan led by Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp, MUFG Bank, United Overseas Bank, among others
TOK1 likely to be first campus in Japan to have large-scale AI workload deployment, CEO Robin Khuda says
"Due to geopolitical reasons, we are seeing more and more customers looking to Japan from a North Asian perspective," Khuda says
Deploying AI infrastructure will get harder in the US, is already hard in Europe, making Asia a "big beneficiary," Khuda says
Adds green loan details in second text summary point
Reporting by Chang-Ran Kim; Editing by Christian Schmollinger
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Broadcom's Wall Street syndicate is starting to gather $60 billion of fresh AI chip financing to benefit Anthropic PBC and other companies, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Carmen Reinicke has more on "Bloomberg Open Interest.
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Blackstone today announced a significant investment to launch Falcata, a defense technology company formed through the acquisition and combination of TSC and Applied Systems Engineering, Inc. (ASEI) under a unified platform. Falcata brings together complementary technologies across the interceptor guidance chain to strengthen America's industrial capacity and help meet the growing demand for cost-effective national security missions. The formation of Falcata comes as.
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Blackstone (NYSE: BX) today announced the launch of Blackstone Private Markets Fund (BXPM), a new, perpetual flagship strategy providing simplified access to Blackstone's private markets platform in a single allocation. The strategy has access to: Private equity, through Blackstone's $364 billion private equity strategies, including corporate private equity, tactical opportunities, growth, and life sciences, and secondaries business Private infrastructure, through Bla.
Tom Nides, vice chairman of strategy and client relations at Blackstone, talks with Dani Burger on "Bloomberg Deals." They discuss global dealmaking, China, Canada, AI and data center "anxiety.
Investors interested in stocks from the Financial - Miscellaneous Services sector have probably already heard of Intercorp Financial Services Inc. (IFS) and Blackstone Inc. (BX). But which of these two companies is the best option for those looking for undervalued stocks?
IDP Education (IEL.AX) has rejected a roughly A$694.7 million ($493.8 million) takeover proposal from Blackstone (BX.N), arguing the sweetened bid was "highly opportunistic" and substantially undervalued the business.
The rejection underscores a broader standoff between private equity buyers seeking opportunities in beaten-down Australian stocks and company boards that argue short-term industry headwinds are masking the value of their businesses.
On September 9, funds managed by the US private equity giant had offered A$2.50 per share in cash for the co-owner of the IELTS English language exam, representing a premium of about 56% to IDP's close on September 8.
Shares of Melbourne-based IDP settled 20.7% higher at A$2.16 a more than one-month high on Tuesday.
The Australian firm, which had rejected an earlier A$2.3 per-share proposal from Blackstone, cited its ongoing multi-year transformation programme as one of the reasons for the rejection.
"Board also considers that the indicative proposal does not factor in the future earnings potential of the business... and the associated benefits that are yet to be realised," the firm said in a statement.
IDP has come under pressure in recent years as tighter immigration and student visa policies in Australia, Canada and Britain weighed on its earnings, with its shares falling nearly 100% from a 2021 peak.
Last month, the firm flagged weaker 2027 earnings, underscoring the pressures facing the international education sector as government policies shift, resulting in fewer visa approvals and softer demand.
The firm reported a 25% decline in student volumes across its four key destination markets - Australia, the UK, the US and Canada in fiscal year 2026.
Your screener shows Blackstone yielding over 4%, but the actual check that lands in your account follows a completely different logic than that number suggests, and confusing the two has burned plenty of income investors.
An income investor pulling up Blackstone (NYSE:BX | BX Price Prediction) on a screener sees a clean-looking number: a trailing yield of 4.24% on a $5.23 trailing dividend. That figure is real. As a forward expectation, it is misleading. Blackstone does not pay a fixed quarterly dividend, and the payout that actually arrives depends on what the firm earns in cash that quarter.
How the Payout Actually Works Blackstone’s policy is to distribute roughly 85% of Distributable Earnings each quarter. On the Q2 2026 call, management framed it as returning “100% over time of our cash earnings back in the form of our dividend”, alongside “a more moderate but consistent buyback program.” Distributable Earnings move with fee-related earnings, realized performance revenues, and asset sales. Realizations are inherently lumpy. So is the dividend.
The payment record shows it. Recent per-share dividends: $1.29 in August 2026, $1.16 in May 2026, $1.49 in February 2026, $1.29 in November 2025, and $1.03 in August 2025. The early-calendar-year payment has been the largest in every complete year from 2022 through 2025, reflecting Q4 crystallizations flowing through in February. A buyer who annualizes that February check is setting up for disappointment (we cataloged the seven warning signs of a misleading headline yield in a free dividend traps report).
Contrast With Apollo and KKR Compare that pattern with the two closest peers. Apollo Global Management (NYSE:APO) has paid a flat $0.5625 in each of its 2026 quarters, stepping up from $0.51 across 2025. KKR & Co. (NYSE:KKR) runs an even more modest fixed quarterly of $0.195, with an annualized forward of just $0.78. Both prioritize retained earnings. Blackstone chose the opposite lane, paying out more but not promising the amount.
What Drives the Payout Higher The engines are fee-earning AUM and the realization environment. Q2 2026 fee-related earnings rose 22% year-over-year to $1.8 billion, distributable earnings reached $2 billion or $1.52 per share, and total AUM hit $1.35 trillion. Net accrued performance revenue, the firm’s “store of value,” sat at $7.5 billion, or $6 per share. CFO Michael Chae guided to “a sequential deceleration in net realizations in the third quarter” followed by “a robust fourth quarter and 2027.” Translation: expect the November check to be lighter and the February check to be heavier.
Verdict for Income Investors A smaller payment here reflects the formula working as designed, which differs from a dividend cut in the utility-investor sense. Stephen Schwarzman told analysts, “Our stock is on sale today” after shares fell 31.23% over the past year to $124.78. Blackstone suits investors who want participation in private markets earnings and accept that their income line will breathe with the cycle. It does not suit anyone who needs a predictable check to pay bills. The screener yield is a rearview mirror, not a windshield.
Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.
SummaryBlackstone stock has recently pulled back sharply.I detail why the market has been beating the BX stock price down.I also discuss why I think this presents investors with a golden buying opportunity.Looking for a portfolio of ideas like this one? Members of High Yield Investor get exclusive access to our subscriber-only portfolios. Learn More » Getty Images
I last wrote about Blackstone (BX) back in late July and labeled it a golden buying opportunity on the dip, as I felt that BX shares did not properly reflect the strong fundamentals and attractive growth
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Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have no stock, option or similar derivative position in any of the companies mentioned, and no plans to initiate any such positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.
Seeking Alpha's Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.
Blackstone Inc. offers a compelling long-term growth outlook, supported by strong Q2 results and a robust dividend yield above 4%. BX benefits from the current inflationary macro environment, driving investor inflows into real assets and higher-return strategies. Fee-related earnings grew over 20% year-over-year, with AUM inflows of $68 billion in Q2 and expectations for continued strength.
A group of 10 banks is providing a $22 billion chip loan to support Blackstone (BX.N) and Alphabet's (GOOGL.O) new cloud venture Crux AI, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, citing people with knowledge of the matter.
The banks include Goldman Sachs Group (GS.N), Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp, Barclays (BARC.L), BNP Paribas SA and Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO), the report said.
Google and Blackstone announced the venture in May, saying they would form a cloud business aimed at meeting growing demand for AI computing services.
Blackstone would invest an initial $5 billion in equity to help bring 500 megawatts of data center capacity online in 2027, with further expansion planned.
The venture comes as tech companies ramp up spending on data centers, power and specialized chips to support AI applications.
The debt will be used to purchase Google's custom Tensor Processing Units, and will be backed by the value of those chips and Crux AI's customer contracts, according to the report.
Blackstone, Alphabet, Goldman Sachs, BNP, Barclays, Bank of Nova Scotia, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Blackstone (NYSE: BX) today announced the launch of Inside Blackstone, a new podcast that brings listeners inside conversations with leading CEOs, founders, investors and operators about the ideas, technologies and trends reshaping business, markets and the global economy. Drawing on Blackstone's position as the world's largest alternative asset manager, Inside Blackstone combines perspectives from across the firm's portfolio with candid conversations featuring leader.
AI Data Centers Are Splitting Winners From Pretenders in Infrastructure StocksBlackstone NYSE: BX CFO Michael Chae said the firm sees a constructive backdrop for corporate profits, investment deployment and fundraising, citing accelerating earnings growth, expanding margins and demand for capital across infrastructure, private credit and private wealth markets.
Speaking at a financial services conference, Chae described the current environment as a “corporate earnings boom,” pointing to what he said was the fastest S&P earnings growth in five years during the second quarter. He added that 2026 is currently projected to be the strongest year for S&P earnings growth in 25 years, excluding rebound periods following the global financial crisis and COVID-19.
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Jersey Mike's Serves Fresh Gains After IPO StumbleChae said investment in digital and energy infrastructure is driving the expansion, while remaining below the scale of prior investment cycles as a percentage of gross domestic product. He also said companies are only beginning to capture AI-related productivity gains at scale. Blackstone’s portfolio companies have expanded margins by about 700 basis points on average over the past 40 years, reaching the high-30% range, he said.
Deployment and Realizations Chae said scale and a broad investment platform are increasingly important because major global markets need more capital to support growth. He identified AI-related infrastructure, power and electrification, life sciences, private-market liquidity solutions, secondaries, private investment-grade credit and investments in India and Japan as key opportunity areas.
AI Consolidation Begins: Blackstone & Google Forge an AI EmpireAccording to Chae, 70% of Blackstone’s largest investments over the past 12 months were in those areas. He said the firm’s ability to invest across strategies and regions differentiates it from more narrowly focused asset managers.
On exits, Chae acknowledged that traditional private-equity realizations have remained constrained and that sponsor-backed transaction volumes have recovered more gradually than the broader mergers-and-acquisitions market. However, he said Blackstone has benefited from its exposure to larger, higher-quality companies that appeal to public-market investors.
Blackstone completed nine initial public offerings over the past year, including five since May. About one-third of its corporate private-equity net accrued performance receivable, or NAPR, is publicly traded, Chae said. The firm has six IPOs currently on file globally. Its energy private-equity business doubled its NAPR over the past year to more than $1 billion, driven by investments in power and electrical equipment. Fundraising and 2027 Outlook Blackstone raised more than $260 billion of inflows over the past 12 months, representing 24% growth from the prior trailing 12-month period and its strongest fundraising stretch in nearly four years, Chae said. He attributed the results to demand across institutional, insurance and individual-investor channels.
Institutional inflows rose nearly 50% year over year in the second quarter, he said, while multiple Blackstone drawdown funds reached hard caps. Infrastructure assets under management rose 40% year over year to $90 billion as of the second quarter.
In insurance, Blackstone manages $290 billion of assets as the largest non-captive alternative insurance platform, Chae said. That figure has increased nearly fourfold over five years. The firm’s dedicated insurance-solutions business serves 40 clients, a number that has doubled during the past two years.
Assets under management from individual investors reached $324 billion, up nearly 2.5 times over five years. Chae said the firm has flagship wealth products spanning real estate, private equity, infrastructure, credit and hedge funds.
Looking toward 2027, Chae reiterated Blackstone’s expectation for a return to double-digit base management-fee growth. He cited the full-year contribution from new drawdown funds, expansion of perpetual-capital vehicles, momentum in the BXMA hedge-fund solutions business, transaction fees and a constructive outlook for realizations.
AI Investment Strategy and Operations Chae said Blackstone’s AI strategy spans data centers, power, frontier AI companies, credit and partnerships with technology firms. He said the firm invests in data centers supported by committed leases typically lasting 15 to 20 years with highly creditworthy tenants, built-in escalators and attractive yields on cost.
He said Blackstone’s power investments were initially based on the long-term need for electrification and grid modernization, a thesis that has been strengthened by AI-related electricity demand. The firm has also made what Chae called “sensibly sized bets” in frontier AI companies with potential for substantial upside.
Blackstone is partnering with Google to create Crux AI, a neocloud for TPUs; launched Ode with Anthropic in July to support enterprise AI adoption; and has created financing platforms with Broadcom and NVIDIA, Chae said.
Internally, Blackstone is using AI to improve investment decisions, portfolio-company performance and its own operations. The firm has more than 50 data scientists, over 1,000 technology professionals and more than 100 operating executives involved in implementation, he said. Areas of focus include software development, legal and compliance, cybersecurity and valuations.
Credit, BXMA and Private Wealth Chae said Blackstone’s credit platform has $550 billion in assets under management, including direct lending, collateralized loan obligations, real estate private credit, and infrastructure and asset-based credit. The latter business had more than $125 billion in assets and grew 28% year over year in the second quarter.
He said direct-lending spreads have widened by 25 to 50 basis points since the start of the year while loan-to-value ratios have declined. Across BCRED borrowers, EBITDA grew 10% over the previous 12 months, while average interest coverage rose to roughly 2.3 times. Software borrowers continued to generate double-digit EBITDA growth, he said.
BCRED experienced a sharp quarter-over-quarter decline in new repurchase requests, Chae said. Investors submitting redemption requests in the second and third quarters will have received approximately 75% of their capital back. The fund recorded $3.5 billion of repayments and inflows during the quarter, covering repurchased shares by about 160%, according to Chae.
Chae also highlighted BXMA, which had $109 billion in assets under management as of the second quarter. Its largest strategy generated a 12% annualized return over three years and recorded 25 consecutive quarters of positive returns through the second quarter, he said. BXMA’s new private-wealth perpetual product, BXHF, held an initial close of more than $200 million in August.
Chae said the firm believes the market continues to underappreciate its near-term earnings power and long-term position as private-market adoption expands. He added that concerns around private credit, private-wealth flows and capital markets have begun to ease during the year.
About Blackstone (NYSE:BX)Blackstone Inc is a global alternative asset management firm that provides investment management and advisory services to institutions, corporations, and individual investors. The company invests across multiple asset classes, including private equity, real estate, credit, infrastructure, insurance solutions, and hedge fund solutions.
Its investment activities include acquiring and managing businesses, commercial and residential properties, infrastructure assets, and credit investments.
This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected].
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Blackstone Inc. (BX) Barclays 24th Annual Global Financial Services Conference September 15, 2026 2:00 PM EDT
Company Participants
Michael Chae - CFO & Vice Chairman
Conference Call Participants
Benjamin Budish - Barclays Bank PLC, Research Division
Presentation
Benjamin Budish
Barclays Bank PLC, Research Division
Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to day 2 of our Financial Services Conference. If any of you don't know me, I'm Ben Budish. I cover the U.S. brokers, asset managers and exchanges.
And for this next fireside chat, really delighted to have Michael Chae, CFO of Blackstone. Michael, thank you.
Michael Chae
CFO & Vice Chairman
Ben. Great to be here. Nice to see everyone.
Question-and-Answer Session
Benjamin Budish
Barclays Bank PLC, Research Division
Maybe to kick it off, a macro question. Can you talk a bit about your current view of the world? What are you seeing in your portfolio? How do you see the environment shaking out over the next 6 to 12 months? And with the Fed decision tomorrow, what are your thoughts on [indiscernible] will play out?
Michael Chae
CFO & Vice Chairman
Well, I'd first say we're obviously in the midst of a corporate earnings boom, I would say. And there's lots of attention, of course, on stock prices, but maybe not enough on the underlying context, which is this extraordinary earnings environment that we've been in. I think the second quarter saw like the fastest S&P earnings growth in 5 years. And I think 2026 right now is projected to be the best S&P earnings growth year in like 25 years if you exclude sort of the bounce back years after the GFC and COVID.
The massive investment in digital and energy infrastructure that's taking place is, of course, a historically powerful engine, which we're obviously experiencing. That's now -- we see that now diffusing into the -- further
Blackstone Inc. President Jon Gray says Canada has massive opportunities to grow due to its natural resources, looser regulatory policies and access to private capital. “Canada is a sleeping giant economically," he said Tuesday at an investment summit in Toronto.
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Blackstone (NYSE: BX) announced today that private equity funds affiliated with Blackstone Capital Partners and Blackstone Energy Transition Partners (collectively “Blackstone”) have entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Flow Control Holdings (“FCH”), a leading U.S. provider of highly engineered flow control solutions and components for the data center liquid cooling, food, beverage, and pharmaceutical markets, from Audax Private Equity (“Audax”). As part of.
Enbridge (ENB.TO) said on Wednesday it will acquire Blackstone (BX.N)-owned Tallgrass Energy's crude oil business for $2.55 billion in cash, expanding its U.S. liquids pipeline network by buying a majority stake in the Pony Express Pipeline and other assets.
The Canadian pipeline operator said the deal would strengthen its presence in key U.S. crude-producing regions, including the Bakken, Powder River and Denver-Julesburg basins, while creating operational synergies with its existing Express-Platte pipeline system.
Pipeline operators such as Enbridge are benefiting from rising demand for natural gas, utility infrastructure and power supply for data centers, allowing the company to generate steady growth even amid geopolitical tensions and commodity price volatility.
Enbridge will acquire a 75% interest in the Pony Express Pipeline, a 1,050-mile (1,690-km), 460,000-barrel-per-day (bpd) crude system that links production in the Rockies to the Cushing, Oklahoma, storage hub and provides access to about 500,000 bpd of refining capacity.
The acquisition, expected to close later in 2026, subject to regulatory clearance, also includes a 51% stake in the Powder River Gateway pipeline system, nearly 8.4 million barrels of storage across nine crude terminals connected to Pony Express, and the crude marketing business Stanchion Energy.
Enbridge said the acquisition is expected to be accretive to distributable cash flow per share in the first full year of ownership, while leaving its 2026 financial guidance unchanged.
The company added that it plans to partially fund the acquisition through an equity offering, alongside its August 26 purchase of Salt Creek Midstream's crude gathering business.
Enbridge said its C$41 billion($29.70 billion)secured growth backlog will be financed through an average annual growth capital investment capacity of C$10 billion to C$11 billion.
In April, U.S. President Donald Trump issued several pipeline permits, including one for construction of a new pipeline, to facilitate the transportation of crude oil and petroleum products between the U.S. and Canada.
Investment firm Blackstone (BX.N) is looking to sell medical-grade skincare company ZO Skin Health, which could be valued at around $2 billion in any deal, according to people familiar with the matter.
The firm is working with investment bankers at Citigroup (C.N) and Raymond James (RJF.N) on the sale, which is at an early stage, the people said, requesting anonymity because the matter is private.
Blackstone and Citi declined to comment. ZO and Raymond James did not immediately respond to comment requests.
Dermatologist Dr. Zein Obagi founded the brand in 2007. ZO sells skincare products including cleansers, serums, exfoliators, and toners that are distributed by physicians and skincare professionals.
The sale process comes at a time when many strategic buyers are prioritizing clinically backed, physician-distributed skincare brands like ZO, because of their efficacy and steadier demand versus over-the-counter products.
Investors interested in stocks from the Financial - Miscellaneous Services sector have probably already heard of Intercorp Financial Services Inc. (IFS - Free Report) and Blackstone Inc. (BX - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks is more attractive to value investors? We'll need to take a closer look to find out.
The best way to find great value stocks is to pair a strong Zacks Rank with an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system. The proven Zacks Rank puts an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, while our Style Scores work to identify stocks with specific traits.
Intercorp Financial Services Inc. and Blackstone Inc. are sporting Zacks Ranks of #2 (Buy) and #3 (Hold), respectively, right now. Investors should feel comfortable knowing that IFS likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than BX has recently. But this is only part of the picture for value investors.
Value investors are also interested in a number of tried-and-true valuation metrics that help show when a company is undervalued at its current share price levels.
Our Value category highlights undervalued companies by looking at a variety of key metrics, including the popular P/E ratio, as well as the P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a variety of other fundamentals that have been used by value investors for years.
IFS currently has a forward P/E ratio of 9.12, while BX has a forward P/E of 22.74. We also note that IFS has a PEG ratio of 0.73. This popular figure is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also considers a company's expected EPS growth rate. BX currently has a PEG ratio of 1.53.
Another notable valuation metric for IFS is its P/B ratio of 1.64. The P/B ratio is used to compare a stock's market value with its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. For comparison, BX has a P/B of 4.8.
These metrics, and several others, help IFS earn a Value grade of A, while BX has been given a Value grade of D.
IFS sticks out from BX in both our Zacks Rank and Style Scores models, so value investors will likely feel that IFS is the better option right now.
U.S. private-credit portfolio values moved further below reported cost in the first half of 2026 as market spreads widened and stress emerged among some borrowers, particularly in the software sector, a Reuters analysis found.
The analysis of regulatory filings from 44 U.S. business development companies (BDCs), which lend mainly to small- and medium-sized firms, showed their investments had a combined fair value of $92.88 billion on June 30, compared to $95.19 billion of reported cost or amortized cost.
At the end of 2025, fair value was $95.82 billion against a cost of $96.54 billion, showing BDCs were revaluing more loans.
While most broad markdowns occurred in the first quarter, second-quarter losses at several prominent BDCs were concentrated in a relatively small number of borrowers.
"In aggregate the move is still modest, but aggregate averages can hide the real story, which is dispersion. The widening is being driven by a minority of borrowers, such as over-levered horizontal software and services businesses with real AI exposure, while the bulk of the book sits close to par," said Anant Kumar, a global investment strategist at Benefit Street Partners.
"The question for the second half isn't whether the average drifts another 50 basis points, it's whether that tail keeps growing," he said.
REDEMPTION REQUESTS
Meanwhile, Blackstone's (BX.N) flagship private credit fund has received redemption requests equal to about 10% of its outstanding shares so far in the third quarter, roughly unchanged from the previous three months. Analysts said the requests were largely from investors resubmitting orders that had not been fully met earlier.
The $77.2 billion Blackstone Private Credit Fund (BCRED) received about $4.3 billion of repurchase requests, compared with $4.5 billion in the second quarter. The fund said it would repurchase shares equal to 5% of its net asset value, its quarterly limit.
BCRED fulfilled roughly half of the prior quarter's requests, leaving about $2.3 billion unfulfilled. A significant portion of that amount has been resubmitted for redemption in the third quarter, the fund said.
The carry over is complicating efforts to gauge whether redemption pressure is worsening.
TD Cowen estimates that the backlog represents roughly half of third-quarter requests, implying that new requests halved from the second quarter. RBC Capital Markets also said it continued to view the second quarter as the likely peak in redemption demand at non-traded BDCs.
BCRED recorded net outflows of about 3% of NAV so far in the third quarter, as subscriptions equal to roughly 2% of NAV partly offset the 5% repurchase limit. The fund attracted nearly $750 million in new subscriptions.
Outflows from other vehicles have also shown signs of moderating. Cliffwater Corporate Lending Fund said requests edged down to 16% of NAV, from 17%.
The ongoing pressure in wealth-focused vehicles contrasts with a recovery in institutional fundraising. Goldman Sachs said global private credit fundraising rebounded in the second quarter, with institutional funds accounting for more than 85% of private credit assets under management.
Global private credit fundraising totaled $33 billion in the third quarter through August 25, putting the period on track to meet or exceed the $45 billion raised a year earlier, Goldman said.
