Bullish (BLSH) Shares Fall 8% on Q1 Earnings Miss

TLDR

• Bullish (BLSH) stock experienced a decline of approximately 8% in premarket trading following Q1 earnings that did not meet Wall Street’s expectations for both EPS and revenue.
• The adjusted EPS loss of -$3.85 significantly missed the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $4.01.
• Adjusted revenue for the quarter was reported at $92.8 million, falling short of the analyst estimate of $94.9 million.
• Transaction revenue saw a year-over-year decrease of 9.5%, while revenue from subscriptions and services experienced a substantial increase of 177%.
• Bullish announced a significant $4.2 billion agreement to acquire Equiniti and reiterated its financial guidance for the full year 2026.

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(SeaPRwire) –   Bullish (BLSH) released its first-quarter 2026 financial results on Thursday, which fell below the expectations of Wall Street analysts, leading to a decrease in the stock’s value in premarket trading.

$BLSH Bullish Q1 2026 Earnings
Large IFRS net loss on digital asset volatility…
but underlying adjusted business is firing on all cylinders
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KEY METRICS (Q1 2026)
Adjusted Revenue: $92.8M (+49% YoY)
…

— Emmanuel – Big Tech & AI Investor (@EmmanuelInvest) May 14, 2026

The company’s stock saw a decrease of approximately 8.3% to $38.33 in premarket trading. For perspective, Bullish went public in August at $37 per share, indicating it is still trading slightly above its initial offering price.

The cryptocurrency exchange reported an adjusted EPS loss of -$3.85, which was a significant miss compared to the analyst consensus of $0.16, representing a shortfall of $4.01 per share.

Bullish, BLSH

Adjusted revenue for the quarter reached $92.8 million, marking a 49% increase year over year, but it did not meet the $94.9 million figure anticipated by Wall Street.

The net loss widened to $604.9 million, or -$3.85 per diluted share, an increase from the net loss of $348.6 million, or -$3.04 per share, recorded in the first quarter of 2025.

Sales of digital assets amounted to $51.8 billion during the quarter, a notable decrease from $80.2 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year.

Transaction Revenue Slips, Subscriptions Surge

Adjusted transaction revenue decreased to $38.0 million from $42.0 million in Q1 2025, reflecting a year-over-year decline of 9.5%.

This decrease was partially offset by a substantial 177% surge in revenue from subscriptions and services. This category encompasses various offerings, including revenue from CoinDesk events and margin loans.

Bullish also owns the cryptocurrency news outlet CoinDesk, which contributed to the non-transaction revenue segment of the business.

Adjusted EBITDA was reported at $35.1 million, an improvement from $13.2 million in the prior year, but it fell short of Wall Street’s expectation of $38.6 million.

Adjusted net income showed an improvement, rising to $20.3 million from $2.1 million in Q1 2025, representing a positive aspect within an otherwise mixed financial report.

$4.2 Billion Equiniti Deal and BTC Options Push

CEO Tom Farley highlighted the proposed acquisition of Equiniti for $4.2 billion as a crucial element in the company’s long-term strategic direction.

The objective of this acquisition is to establish what Bullish describes as the first fully integrated issuer services provider powered by blockchain technology.

In April 2026, Bullish secured the second position among exchanges for BTC options trading, with a trading volume of $11.6 billion and capturing 14% of the market share in open interest.

The company reaffirmed its financial projections for the full year 2026, forecasting revenue from subscriptions, services, and other sources to be between $220 million and $250 million.

Adjusted operating expenses for the entire year are anticipated to range from $210 million to $230 million.