Blackstone Set to Report Q1 Earnings: What's in the Cards for BX?

One of the largest global alternative asset managers, Blackstone BX, is scheduled to announce first-quarter 2025 results on April 17, before the opening bell. Its quarterly revenues and earnings are likely to have increased on a year-over-year basis.

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Blackstone’s fourth-quarter 2024 distributable earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Results benefited from an increase in segment revenues and higher assets under management (AUM) balance. However, a rise in expenses was an undermining factor. 

Blackstone has a decent earnings surprise history. Its earnings surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in two, met in one and lagged in one of the trailing four quarters, with the average surprise being 5.54%.
 

Blackstone Inc. Price and EPS Surprise

Blackstone Inc. price-eps-surprise | Blackstone Inc. Quote

Blackstone’s Q1 Earnings & Sales Estimates

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Blackstone’s earnings of $1.11 has been revised 6.7% lower over the past seven days. The figure indicates a rise of 13.3% from the prior-year quarter’s reported number.

The consensus estimate for sales is pegged at $2.81 billion, which suggests an increase of 10.1%.

Factors to Note & Q1 Estimates for Blackstone

Blackstone has been recording an increase in fee-earning AUM and total AUM on the back of 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 first quarter, Blackstone is expected to have witnessed a rise in the AUM balance as inflows grew. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for total AUM of $1.15 trillion indicates growth of 9.1% from the prior-year quarter. The consensus estimate for total fee-earning AUM of $857.5 billion suggests a rise of 9.7%.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for total management and advisory fees (segment revenues) is pegged at $1.89 billion, which indicates a 10.5% jump. The consensus estimate for fee-related performance revenues (segment revenues) of $283.4 suggests a fall of 4.1% because of weak markets performance during the first quarter.

Additionally, Blackstone expects profits from deal exits to have been decent in the to-be-reported quarter. Per the company’s preliminary estimate, revenues from realization activities were more than $385 million between Jan. 1 and March 25, 2025. 
 
The consensus estimate for realized performance revenues and realized principal investment income is pegged at $628.1 million and $57.2 million, respectively. In the first quarter of 2024, Blackstone generated $536.4 million of realized performance revenues and $9.9 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 first quarter.

What Our Model Predicts for BX

According to our quantitative model, the chances of Blackstone beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings this time are low. This is because it does not have the right combination of the two key ingredients — a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) or better.

You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Earnings ESP: The Earnings ESP for Blackstone is -6.42%.

Zacks Rank: The company currently carries a Zacks Rank #3.

Finance Stocks Worth Considering

Here are a couple of finance stocks that you may want to consider, as our model shows that these have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat this time:

The Earnings ESP for U.S. Bancorp USB is +0.94% and it carries a Zacks Rank #3 at present. The company is slated to report first-quarter 2025 results on April 16.

Over the past seven days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for U.S. Bancorp’s quarterly earnings has remained unchanged at 99 cents.

First Horizon FHN is also scheduled to announce quarterly numbers on April 16. The company carries a Zacks Rank #3 at present and has an Earnings ESP of +3.80%. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Quarterly earnings estimates for First Horizon have remained unchanged at 40 cents over the past week.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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