StoneX Financial initiated coverage of Bullish with a Buy rating and a $42 price target on Monday, November 9, 2026, according to The Block. Analyst Mark Palmer’s thesis centers on the exchange’s pending $4.2 billion acquisition of Equiniti, which he said was expected to close in January.
The Block reported that Bullish shares were trading above $22 in early morning trading, up 2.9% on the day but down nearly 50% over six months. The report described StoneX’s target as implying roughly 97% upside. That figure reflects the analyst’s outlook, not an assured return.
Why Equiniti matters to StoneX’s thesis
The acquisition would give Bullish a transfer agency business serving nearly 3,000 issuers, 15,000 corporate clients and 20 million shareholders, according to Palmer’s note. The $4.2 billion transaction includes $1.85 billion in assumed debt and approximately $2.35 billion in Bullish shares.
“Every big market structure shift needs a toll booth, and BLSH is buying one,” Palmer wrote. He said Equiniti is the transfer agent of record for approximately 30% of the S&P 500 and half of the FTSE 100, positioning Bullish at a key point in the process of turning shares into tokens if the transaction closes. Equiniti processes $500 billion in annual payments, according to the note.
Tokenization potential—and execution risks
The report put onchain tokenized equities at about $2.1 billion, compared with $151 trillion in global equity value. Projections cited in StoneX’s note suggested the broader tokenized asset market could reach $9.4 trillion by 2030; that remains a forecast rather than an established outcome.
Palmer also pointed to Bullish’s existing business. Second-quarter adjusted revenue rose 62% year over year to $92.6 million, while subscription, services and other revenue reached a record $62.7 million, according to the note.
StoneX identified several risks to its thesis:
- An unforeseen delay or failure of the Equiniti acquisition.
- Slower adoption of tokenization.
- Competition from Nasdaq, DTCC, NYSE, Securitize and Superstate.
At the time of the report, Bullish was awaiting regulatory approval for the acquisition. The company had also appointed former New York Stock Exchange President Stacey Cunningham as its president and was expanding its issuer-sponsored tokenization business across Solana, Aptos and Ethereum.
Original publication: November 10, 2026, at 00:06:03 UTC+8, equivalent to November 9, 2026, at 16:06:03 UTC.
Source: The Block’s original article.