Does Blackstone's Fundraising Strength Anchor Its Growth Story?

Blackstone Inc.’s BX growth story is increasingly anchored in its fundraising strength. The firm has consistently attracted capital from a diversified investor base spanning institutional clients, private wealth channels and insurance partners. This broad-based inflow engine not only highlights strong investor confidence but also provides resilience against cyclical slowdowns in any single segment.

Thus, despite a challenging environment for alternatives, BX raised roughly $240 billion in 2025, which helped push total assets under management (AUM) to $1.3 trillion.

This fundraising momentum directly feeds into Blackstone’s fee-earning AUM, which is critical because the metric drives recurring management fees, forming the backbone of stable revenues. Notably, 50% of BX’s fee-earning AUM now comes from perpetual or long-duration vehicles, such as non-traded REITs and private credit strategies, which are not dependent on asset sales for revenue generation. As a result, Blackstone’s earnings mix is increasingly tilted toward fee-related earnings, which are more predictable than performance-based income.

Blackstone’s fundraising strength fuels a powerful investment flywheel, supported by its large capital base. The firm held $198.3 billion in dry powder as of Dec. 31, 2025, giving it ample capacity to invest. It deployed $133.9 billion in 2024 and $138.2 billion in 2025, demonstrating its ability to put capital to work at scale. This allows Blackstone to capitalize on opportunities across high-growth sectors, such as private credit, infrastructure and digital assets. Strong deployment and performance, in turn, attract further inflows, reinforcing the cycle.

Thus, while near-term headwinds (slower realizations amid subdued IPO and M&A activity, higher interest rates and tighter financial conditions, overallocation to private assets due to the denominator effect, tighter credit spreads in private credit, and several geopolitical uncertainties) remain a reality for the alternatives industry, Blackstone’s fundraising dominance acts as a meaningful buffer against these pressures. Its fundraising strength does more than drive growth — it stabilizes the business model.

How Are BX’s Peers Positioned in Terms of Fundraising?

Apollo Global ManagementAPO is strongly positioned on the fundraising front, though its model differs somewhat from Blackstone by being more heavily anchored in credit and insurance-linked capital.

Apollo Global has demonstrated robust fundraising momentum, generating roughly $228 billion in inflows in 2025, reflecting continued investor demand across its platform. This has helped scale its total AUM to about $938 billion as of Dec. 31, 2025, putting it close to the $1-trillion milestone. A key driver of this growth is Apollo Global’s dominance in credit strategies, which represent the bulk of its AUM and attract capital due to their relatively stable yield profile in a higher-rate environment. 

KKR & Co. Inc.KKR is also strongly positioned on the fundraising front and has emerged as one of the fastest-scaling players in the alternatives industry.

KKR delivered its highest-ever fundraising year in 2025, raising about $129 billion, including $28 billion in the fourth quarter alone. This robust capital formation pushed KKR’s total AUM to roughly $740 billion, with fee-paying AUM rising at a faster pace, highlighting strong growth in recurring revenue streams.

Blackstone’s Price Performance, Valuation & Estimates

The company’s shares have lost 27.6% in the past three months compared with the industry’s 20.5% decline.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

From a valuation standpoint, BX trades at a 12-month forward price-to-earnings (P/E) of 16.98X, above the industry average of 8.93X.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Blackstone’s 2026 and 2027 earnings indicates year-over-year growth rates of 14% and 26.8%, respectively. Estimates for both years have been revised lower over the past 30 days.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Currently, BX carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

5 Stocks Set to Double

Each was handpicked by a Zacks expert as the #1 favorite stock to gain +100% or more in the coming year. While not all picks can be winners, previous recommendations have soared +112%, +171%, +209% and +232%.

Most of the stocks in this report are flying under Wall Street radar, which provides a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report

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

Zacks Investment Research