Blackstone shares fall on Credit Suisse downgrade to underperform

Blackstone Inc. shares fell 2.5% on Tuesday after Credit Suisse downgraded the alternative investment manager to underperform from neutral and cut its price target to $67.50 a share from $85.50 a share. Credit Suisse analyst Bill Katz said the firm is now the only broker on Wall Street with a negative rating on Blackstone. Katz cited a lower contribution to fee-related earnings from its flagship Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust, with mixed-to-deteriorating lead indicators. Wall Street’s consensus estimates for Blackstone’s 2023-2024 distributable earnings are currently 5% to 12% too high. “Our work also points to relatively undifferentiated relative performance, adding another flow headwind,” Katz said. Shares of Blackstone Group are down 31.8% in 2022, compared to a 16.7% loss by the S&P 500 over the same time period.

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