/Blackstone%20Inc_%2C%20American%20alternative%20investment%20By%20John%20Hanson%20Pye.jpeg)
New York-based Blackstone Inc. (BX) is one of the world's largest alternative asset managers, overseeing investments across private equity, real estate, credit and insurance, infrastructure, and hedge fund solutions. Blackstone has a market cap of $100.1 billion, and manages capital on behalf of pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies, endowments, and individual investors.
Blackstone's shares have been under pressure over the past year, significantly lagging the broader market. BX stock has declined 19.5% over the past 52 weeks and 11% on a YTD basis. In comparison, the S&P 500 Index ($SPX) has returned 22.2% over the past year and risen 13% in 2026.
Narrowing the focus, BX has also underperformed the VanEck Alternative Asset Manager ETF (GPZ), which plunged 11.4% over the past 52 weeks and has decreased 8.3% this year.
Blackstone delivered a strong second quarter earnings report on July 23, topping Wall Street's expectations as robust fundraising, asset sales, and AI-related investments fueled growth. Distributable earnings climbed 25.6% year over year to $1.52 per share, beating analysts' estimates of $1.35, while assets under management reached a record $1.35 trillion following strong client inflows.
The firm also monetized $31.8 billion of assets during the quarter, including stakes in data centers and power infrastructure, underscoring the growing contribution of AI-linked investments. Management highlighted continued momentum in fundraising and deployment, with data centers, power infrastructure, and frontier AI companies expected to remain key long-term growth drivers. Its shares popped 1.4% after the results were announced.
For the current year ending in December, analysts expect BX’s EPS to increase 7.7% year over year to $6. Moreover, the company has surpassed analysts’ consensus estimates in each of the past four quarters.
Among the 23 analysts covering the stock, the consensus rating is a “Moderate Buy.” That’s based on nine “Strong Buy” ratings, three “Moderate Buy,” ten “Holds,” and one “Strong Sell” rating.
On July 30, Argus raised its price target on Blackstone to $150 from $146 while reiterating a "Buy" rating, citing the firm's stronger-than-expected second-quarter results. The brokerage expects sustained investments in AI-related sectors, including data centers, energy infrastructure, power, and frontier AI companies, to continue driving fundraising, capital deployment, and long-term monetization opportunities.
BX’s mean price target of $140.87 indicates a premium of 2.7% from the current market prices. Its Street-high target of $184 suggests a robust 34.1% upside potential from current price levels.
