Blackstone Inc (NYSE:BX) shares are trading higher on Wednesday as confidence slowly returns to the private‑credit space after a sharp pullback earlier this month.
- Blackstone shares are trending higher. Why is BX stock advancing?
Blackstone Leads Major Pharma Financing Deal
Blackstone is leading a $1.3 billion debt deal supporting the merger of Paratek Pharmaceuticals and Radius Health. The financing group includes Blackstone Credit & Insurance alongside Sixth Street Partners, Oaktree Capital Management and Silver Point Capital, Bloomberg mentioned.
The combined company is expected to generate roughly $1 billion in revenue this year, offering a more stable backdrop for lenders.
Private Credit Grapples With Withdrawal Pressures
Blackstone disclosed that its flagship private‑credit fund, BCRED, saw a spike in redemption requests earlier this month. The news followed similar moves by Morgan Stanley and BlackRock, both of which limited withdrawals at their private‑credit funds after investors attempted to pull out unusually large amounts.
The wave of redemption caps raised broader questions about liquidity in the private‑credit ecosystem. The industry has grown rapidly by offering loans that banks stepped away from after 2008, but the mismatch between illiquid assets and investors expecting periodic liquidity has become a point of stress.
Economist Mohamed El‑Erian has cautioned that markets are dealing with two major sources of uncertainty at once: the escalating Middle East conflict and mounting strain in private credit. While they may seem unrelated, he argues the risks can reinforce each other rather than cancel out.
The Technicals
Blackstone is trading about 0.4% above its 20-day SMA, but it remains 18.9% below its 100-day SMA, showing a short-term bounce inside a still-damaged longer-term trend. Shares are down 21.61% over the past 12 months and are positioned much closer to their 52-week lows than highs.
RSI is at 41.39, which sits in neutral territory but still reflects softer demand than you’d see in a sustained uptrend. Meanwhile, MACD is at -7.1052 versus a signal line of -7.7478, a bullish configuration that suggests downside momentum is easing even though the trend is still negative.
RSI in the 30–50 range with bullish MACD indicates momentum leaning bullish.
- Key Resistance: $136.50
- Key Support: $105.00
Analyst Consensus & Recent Actions: The stock carries a Buy Rating with an average price target of $169.40. Recent analyst moves include:
- JP Morgan: Neutral (Lowers Target to $122.00) (Mar. 3)
- Barclays: Equal-Weight (Lowers Target to $126.00) (Mar. 2)
- RBC Capital: Initiated with Outperform (Target $179.00) (Feb. 24)
Benzinga Edge Rankings: The Benzinga Edge scorecard for Blackstone highlights its strengths and weaknesses compared to the broader market:
- Momentum: Weak (Score: 7.39) — The stock’s trend strength is poor versus the broader market, consistent with its position well below longer-term moving averages.
- Quality: Neutral (Score: 65.38) — Fundamentals screen as steady, suggesting the main debate is price/trend rather than balance-sheet stress.
The Verdict: Blackstone’s Benzinga Edge signal reveals a quality-leaning profile with very weak momentum, which often points to a “wait for confirmation” setup for trend traders. If the bounce is real, improving momentum would likely show up first as sustained trade back above key moving averages and a push toward the mid-$130s resistance zone.
BX Price Action: Blackstone shares were up 2.46% at $114.76 at the time of publication on Wednesday, according to Benzinga Pro.
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