What Happened?
Shares of alternative investment manager Blackstone (NYSE: BX) fell 4.1% in the afternoon session after the company reported mixed third-quarter 2025 results, with a significant miss on profit per share overshadowing strong growth in revenue and fee-related earnings.
The company's revenue grew 26.6% year-over-year to $3.09 billion, though this figure fell slightly short of Wall Street's expectations. More concerning for investors was its GAAP profit of $0.80 per share, which missed analyst consensus estimates by nearly 35%. While the results were mixed, the market appeared to focus on the negatives. A bright spot in the report was Blackstone's fee-related earnings, a measure of recurring profits from its core business, which came in at $1.92 billion, beating estimates by a wide 33% margin. However, the substantial miss on the main profitability metric seemed to weigh on investor sentiment, leading to the stock's decline.
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What Is The Market Telling Us
Blackstone’s shares are not very volatile and have only had 9 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful, although it might not be something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.
The previous big move we wrote about was 23 days ago when the stock dropped 4% on the news that the U.S. government hurtled toward a potential shutdown, sparking economic uncertainty and weighing on investor confidence.
Market volatility increased as a partisan standoff pushed the federal government closer to a shutdown. If lawmakers fail to reach a spending agreement, a shutdown would begin, furloughing thousands of federal workers. This prospect has weighed on investor sentiment, creating a 'risk-off' mood in the markets as traders brace for potential economic disruption. The political uncertainty adds a layer of caution for investors heading into the final day of the month.
Adding to the weakness, a key report showed U.S. consumer confidence unexpectedly fell to a five-month low in September. The Conference Board's consumer confidence index slid to 94.2, a steeper drop than analysts had anticipated and its lowest reading since April. This downturn reflects growing pessimism among Americans about inflation and a weakening job market. Consumer confidence is a closely watched economic indicator as it gauges households' willingness to spend. A decline suggests that consumers may pull back on discretionary purchases, such as dining out or shopping for non-essential goods, which could negatively impact the future revenues and profits of companies in these sectors.
Blackstone is down 10.9% since the beginning of the year, and at $154.82 per share, it is trading 22.2% below its 52-week high of $199.05 from November 2024. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Blackstone’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $2,833.
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