Morningstar

Blackstone Earnings: Tariff Turbulence Overshadows Solid First Quarter

Major headwinds have been put up for US-based alternative asset managers.

Financial Services Sector artwork
Securities in This Article
Blackstone Inc
(BX)

Key Morningstar Metrics for Blackstone

What We Thought of Blackstone’s Earnings

Blackstone BX ended March with $860.1 billion in fee-earning assets under management, up 3.5% sequentially and 10.1% year over year. Total first-quarter revenue declined 10.8% year over year to $3.1 billion, with fee-related earnings increasing 8.8% to $1.3 billion.

Why it matters: Blackstone continues to generate positive flows, with its mix of alternative products—real estate, private equity, credit and insurance, and multi-asset investing—benefiting from demand for nontraditional products. This allows the firm to better navigate market headwinds, as we saw during the first quarter.

  • Blackstone picked up $61.6 billion from fundraising efforts during the first quarter, well above its quarterly run rate of $40.0 billion in the previous eight quarters. It also deployed $36.4 billion during the first quarter, above its quarterly run rate of $26.0 billion the past two years.
  • Reported realizations of $25.5 billion were also above the quarterly run rate of $19.1 billion in the previous eight calendar quarters. While all of this points to a better year for fundraising, deployments, and realizations in 2025, concerns about the markets and economy will weigh on near-term results.

The bottom line: With short-term rate cuts likely on pause in the near term and the equity markets baking in an economic slowdown, if not a recession, due to tariffs and cuts to US government spending and jobs, major headwinds have been put up for US-based alternative asset managers.

  • There was little in first-quarter results that would alter our long-term view of Blackstone. The company continues to trade at a hefty premium to the price/earnings multiples of the other US-based asset managers (which we think is warranted).
  • The shares appear modestly undervalued, trading about 20% below our unaltered $155 fair value estimate.

Editor’s Note: This analysis was originally published as a stock note by Morningstar Equity Research.

The author or authors do not own shares in any securities mentioned in this article. Find out about Morningstar’s editorial policies.

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