Bullish Shares Dip on Earnings Miss, $605 Million Loss as Value of Crypto Holdings Fell

Crypto exchange Bullish fell short of Wall Street expectations on Thursday, disclosing a first-quarter loss amid disappointing revenue generated beyond customers’ trades.

The company reported adjusted revenue of $92.8 million for the three-month period ended March 31, below analyst expectations of $94.1 million. The miss was driven by revenue from subscriptions and services, which clocked in at $54.8 million compared to $57.6 million.

As depressed digital asset prices continue to weigh on crypto-related firms, Bullish indicated that company losses widened to $604.9 million from $348.6 million a year ago. The performance marked a deterioration from a $563.6 million loss in the previous quarter.

Despite the loss, CEO Tom Farley said in a statement that he was “pleased” with the Cayman Islands-based company’s first-quarter results. He highlighted Bullish’s proposed $4.2 billion acquisition of financial services firm Equiniti, saying it would power the firm’s tokenization push.

Shortly after Thursday’s opening bell, Bullish shares had fallen 8.8% to $38, according to Yahoo Finance—but they’ve recovered most of that ground since, recently trading at $41.32, down more than 1% on the day. When the company debuted on Wall Street in August, shares closed at $69.54 amid heightened demand for crypto-related firms.

In a note published on Thursday, Citi analysts posited that lower revenue from subscriptions and services was driven by seasonality within the business. Crypto news outlet CoinDesk, which was acquired by Bullish in 2023, recently hosted its flagship Consensus crypto conference in Miami.

Analysts at investment bank Compass Point similarly stated in a note that they believe the subscriptions and services miss was driven by seasonality related to crypto conferences. Bullish said conferences in the first and second quarters drew more than 26,000 attendees.

Like most crypto-native firms, fluctuations in the value of Bullish’s crypto holdings weighed on its bottom line, contributing $559 million in unrealized losses. In total, the company indicated that it held around $2.3 billion worth of digital assets.

In a shareholder presentation, Bullish highlighted $11.6 billion in options trading volume. The company said that it had solidified its position as the second-most popular exchange for Bitcoin options behind crypto exchange Deribit.

The overseas company signaled that it’s eyeing the U.S. for an expansion of that segment, noting that it applied for the necessary licenses with the CFTC.