BLSH Stock Tumbles After Pre-Earnings Price Hike – Equiniti Acquisition 'Impressive,' Says Rosenblatt

• Deutsche Bank also recently raised its Bullish price target, citing tokenization opportunities tied to the $4.2 billion Equiniti deal.
• Wall Street expects Bullish to report adjusted earnings per share of $0.17 on revenue of approximately $94 million for the first quarter.
• Rosenblatt remains wary of slowing cryptocurrency trading activity impacting earnings numbers. 

Shares of Bullish (BLSH) fell in midday trade on Wednesday, even after the shares got a price hike from Rosenblatt ahead of the company’s earnings on Thursday.

Rosenblatt analyst Chris Brendler raised the price target on Bullish to $45 from $39 and kept a ‘Neutral’ rating on the shares ahead of the first quarter (Q1) report, as per TheFly. Brendler said that Bullish’s acquisition of Equinti was "impressive" and that the firm agreed with the strategic rationale behind the deal. 

BLSH’s stock fell over 2% in midday trade. Retail sentiment on Stocktwits around the cryptocurrency exchange trended in ‘neutral’ territory over the past day, while chatter dipped to ‘normal’ from ‘high’ levels. The dip came amid weakness in the cryptocurrency market after Bitcoin (BTC) fell below $80,000 on wholesale inflation being markedly higher on a monthly and annual basis. 

Equinti Acquisition Divides Market

Last week, Deutsche Bank also raised its price target on Bullish to $63 from $44, citing that the addition of Equinti to the company’s portfolio changes its business mix and accelerates tokenization. It kept a ‘Buy’ rating on the shares.

However, the market was not too happy about the $4.2 billion deal, which added $1.85 billion in debt to Bullish’s balance sheet, and the rest was paid for by Bullish stock. The shares fell more than 8% on the day the deal was announced.

Rosenblatt’s Brendler also said the firm is “cautious on the shares” into earnings due to lower crypto activity levels. Wall Street expects Bullish to report adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.17 on revenue of $94 million. 

Other firms involved in cryptocurrency trading, including Robinhood (HOOD) and Coinbase (COIN), missed earnings in Q1, with the shares taking a hit in the days that followed. HOOD’s stock and COIN’s stock also saw a slew of price target cuts from Wall Street after the earnings miss. 

BLSH’s stock has gained over 8% this year, but fallen over 50% since its public market debut in August last year.

Read also: Bitcoin Slips Below $80K After PPI Data Triples Forecast, Adding To Inflation Fears

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