New York, Jan 11, 2026, 16:19 EST — Market closed.
- BX closed Friday up 1.49% at $157.62, outpacing the broader market.
- Barclays lowered its price target to $171 but maintained an Equal Weight rating.
- Housing policy updates and shifts in mortgage rates are back on the radar as Blackstone gears up to report on Jan. 29.
Blackstone Inc. shares jumped 1.49% to close at $157.62 on Friday, beating the broader market gains. The S&P 500 rose 0.65%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.48% that day. Trading volume hit around 2.8 million shares, falling short of the stock’s 50-day average. Despite Friday’s uptick, the shares still sit more than 17% below their September 52-week peak. (MarketWatch)
This shift is significant as investors scramble to factor in rapid changes in U.S. housing policy into real-estate-related assets, all while preparing for earnings from alternative-asset managers. For Blackstone, fluctuations in interest rates and property liquidity can swiftly alter sentiment on asset values, exits, and fee growth.
President Donald Trump has directed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-controlled mortgage finance giants, to purchase $200 billion in mortgage-backed securities—bonds secured by home loan pools—to try to lower mortgage rates. Chen Zhao, Redfin’s head of economics research, said the scale of the purchases would probably deliver only a “fairly small impact,” estimating a move of 10 to 15 basis points, with each basis point equal to one-hundredth of a percentage point. (Reuters)
Barclays cut its price target on Blackstone slightly, down to $171 from $172, while maintaining an Equal Weight rating, according to a report. The bank described market worries about credit performance as “overblown” and anticipates an uptick in “realizations” — the process of selling investments for cash — across the firm. (TipRanks)
Housing-linked stocks jumped following the mortgage-bond initiative, with the Philadelphia Housing index surging 4.8% and the MSCI U.S. REIT index rising 0.6%, Reuters reported. TD Cowen analysts noted this move might tighten the “spread” between 30-year mortgages and the 10-year Treasury yield—a key factor in mortgage pricing—while Annex Wealth’s Brian Jacobsen cautioned that although “every little bit will help push mortgage yields lower,” it could also boost demand and pressure affordability. (Reuters)
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the plan for mortgage-bond buying was to “roughly match” the Federal Reserve’s monthly runoff of mortgage-backed securities, which he estimated at about $15 billion. He added that FHFA Director William Pulte told him the program kicked off with an initial $3 billion purchase. Mortgage rates, Bessent noted, have dropped to around 6.2% from nearly 8% earlier in 2024. (Reuters)
Two Federal Reserve officials cast doubt on whether bond buying alone can fix affordability, emphasizing supply as the main hurdle. Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin insisted, “the answer is on the supply side,” while Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic highlighted a “supply and demand issue” in many key markets. UBS projected the plan might lower mortgage rates by roughly 10 to 25 basis points. LH Meyer analyst Derek Tang suggested it signals a readiness to deploy “crisis-fighting mode” tools even outside a recession. (Reuters)
Blackstone knows these dynamics well. Cheaper borrowing tends to boost real estate values and spur deals, yet policy uncertainties around housing persist. Any factor that tightens liquidity in property markets risks dragging down sales and hitting performance fees.
The risk is straightforward: if bond buys don’t drive rates lower consistently, or if housing rules tighten and dampen activity, the hoped-for bounce in deal-making and exits could falter once more. That would cap realizations and cloud earnings outlooks even further.
Blackstone is set to release its fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 earnings during a webcast scheduled for Jan. 29 at 9 a.m. ET, per the company’s investor-relations calendar. (Blackstone)
U.S. markets reopen Monday, with traders keen to catch any new details on the mortgage-bond program and wider housing initiatives. The next key date for BX is Jan. 29.
