Bullish stock dropped 7.3% in Thursday premarket trading after Q1 earnings and revenue fell short of Wall Street consensus estimates as its operating expenses rose. The company also highlighted its upcoming $4.2B acquisition of Equiniti, which will unify a regulated transfer agent with end-to-end tokenization infrastructure.
The investing platform reaffirmed its 2026 guidance for subscription, services & other revenue (non-IFRS) of $220.0M-$250.0M, adjusted operating expenses (non-IFRS) of $210.0M-$230.0M, and finance expense of $52.0M-$60.0M.
Combined with Equiniti, the company projects 2026 combined revenue of ~$1.3B, adjusted EBITDA less capex of ~$500M, and adjusted net income of ~$280M.
On the bottom line, its loss per share continued to widen. Q1 GAAP EPS of -$3.85, vs. the average analyst estimate of -$2.23, compared with -$3.73 in Q4 2025 and -$3.04 in last year’s Q1.
Q1 adjusted net income of $20.3M, vs. the Visible Alpha consensus of $24.5M, decreased from $28.9M in the previous quarter and jumped from $2.1M in the year-ago quarter.
Adjusted revenue of $92.8M, trailing the $94.2M consensus, increased from $92.5M in Q4 and $62.4M in Q1 2025.
Bullish’s (BLSH) total trading volume was $197B, exceeding the $188.5B Visible Alpha estimate and falling from $222B in the prior quarter. The Q1 2026 total included $176B in spot trading and $12B in options trading.
Adjusted transaction revenue of $38M, topping the $36M Visible Alpha estimate, was flat with Q4 and declined from $42M in last year’s Q1.
Adjusted operating expenses of $57.7M, higher than the Visible Alpha consensus of $56.3M, increased from $48.1M in the previous quarter and $49.2M a year ago.
Adjusted EBITDA dropped to $35.1M from $44.5M in Q4 and surged from $13.2M in Q1 2025. The latest quarter missed the $38.5M Visible Alpha consensus.
Digital asset balances as of March 31, 2026, totaled $2.97B, including $1.58B of bitcoin (BTC-USD) and $30M of ethereum.
Since the end of the quarter, total trading volume fell to $46.9B in April from $50.4B in March.