Bullish stock surged on Thursday after topping Q2 revenue estimates

Bullish stock surged on Thursday after reporting stronger-than-expected second-quarter revenue on Thursday.

Record subscription and services income helped offset weaker cryptocurrency trading activity, even as swings in the value of its digital asset holdings weighed on profitability.

The Peter Thiel-backed crypto exchange posted adjusted revenue of $92.6 million, up 62% from a year earlier and ahead of analysts' expectations of $87.4 million.

The company said subscription, services and other revenue reached a record $62.7 million, up from $32.9 million a year earlier. 

The segment includes revenue from products outside core transaction fees, including CoinDesk events, margin loans, data and other services.

Bullish BLSH shares rose about 11% in the trading session.

Record services revenue offsets softer trading activity

While revenue exceeded expectations, trading volumes remained under pressure amid a weaker crypto market.

Digital asset sales, which measure revenue generated from executing crypto spot transactions on the exchange, declined 44% year over year to $32.6 billion from $58.6 billion.

Bullish reported a net loss of $280 million, or $1.78 per share. 

Although that was more than double the $108.3 million loss recorded in the same quarter last year, it represented an improvement from the $604.9 million loss reported in the first quarter of 2026.

Adjusted EBITDA increased to $29.5 million from $8.1 million a year earlier.

Chief Financial Officer Dave Bonanno attributed the strong performance in subscription revenue to the company's expanding ecosystem.

"That is our cross-sell engine at work, clients arrive through CoinDesk and Consensus and expand across data, indices, liquidity, and the exchange," Bonanno said.

Bullish also updated its full-year outlook, forecasting subscription, services and other revenue of between $225 million and $245 million. 

The company expects adjusted operating expenses of $225 million to $230 million and finance expenses of $52 million to $60 million.

Equiniti acquisition remains central to growth strategy

Bullish continues to diversify beyond cryptocurrency trading as it pursues its proposed $4.2 billion acquisition of transfer agent Equiniti.

The transaction, announced in May, includes approximately $1.85 billion of assumed Equiniti debt and around $2.35 billion in Bullish stock. The company said the deal remains on track to close in early 2027.

Chief Executive Officer Tom Farley said the acquisition would strengthen Bullish's ability to connect blockchain technology with traditional capital markets.

"The nearly $300 trillion global securities market is moving onto public blockchains," Farley said. "Bullish is excited to work with issuers to make this happen in a way that accrues to their benefit."

He added that once the acquisition closes, "Bullish will assemble the complete offering for the issuance, listing, trading, and tracking of issuer-sponsored tokens."

Bullish went public on the New York Stock Exchange last year, raising $1.1 billion through the sale of 30 million shares priced at $37 each. 

After initially climbing above $74, the stock later retreated and closed Wednesday at $24.63.

The company also maintains the sixth-largest corporate Bitcoin treasury, holding approximately 24,300 BTC, according to BitcoinTreasuries.