New York, February 20, 2026, 05:16 EST — Premarket
- Blackstone shares were steady premarket after sliding about 5.4% in the prior session
- A liquidity rethink in private credit spilled into alternative asset managers, weighing on sentiment
- U.S. GDP and PCE inflation data due later Friday could reset rate bets
Blackstone Inc shares were little changed in premarket trade on Friday, hovering near $125.76 after the stock fell 5.37% on Thursday to $125.76 from a prior close of $132.90. (Bloomberg)
The sharp drop a day earlier tracked a broader selloff in alternative-asset managers after Blue Owl Capital moved to permanently halt quarterly redemptions — investor withdrawals — at one of its credit funds and disclosed asset sales to return cash to clients. Mohamed El-Erian, an economist and former PIMCO chief executive, called it a possible “canary-in-the-coalmine” moment in a post on X. (Reuters)
The timing matters because investors have been quick to reprice any hint of strain in private credit — loans made outside public bond markets — just as markets brace for U.S. data that could swing interest-rate expectations again. Economists expect growth to have cooled in the fourth quarter while core inflation stayed sticky, Reuters reported. (Reuters)
Blue Owl said it was “not halting investor liquidity” in the fund, and told investors it would instead return 30% of the fund’s net asset value, or NAV, within 45 days, replacing a tender offer that would have allowed some investors to redeem up to 5% of capital. (Reuters)
Truist Securities analyst Brian Finneran said the market read the move as a sign that withdrawal requests had picked up, even as Blue Owl said it sold loans at 99.7% of par value — the face value — matching the marks on its books. Finneran wrote that, with rates down from recent highs, the loans “should be fetching premiums to par,” while Oppenheimer analyst Mitchel Penn said, “Nobody is getting a break.” (Reuters)
Blackstone, which oversees $1.3 trillion in assets under management, sits at the center of the private-markets industry that has drawn more money from wealthy individuals alongside pensions and insurers. (Blackstone)
Away from the day’s tape, a Blackstone-backed portfolio company also resurfaced in the IPO market this week. Liftoff Mobile filed confidentially for a U.S. listing hours after withdrawing an earlier plan, a reminder that exits are still possible but timing is touchy. (Reuters)
Investors have seen this movie before. Blackstone limited withdrawals from its flagship retail real estate vehicle BREIT in late 2022 after redemption requests breached preset limits, putting a spotlight on how “semi-liquid” private funds behave when demand for cash spikes. (Reuters)
But the spillover from Blue Owl may not be linear. If the asset sales and payouts go smoothly and the episode stays contained, the hit to the group could fade; if more managers face heavier withdrawal requests or have to sell assets into a weak tape, the pressure on valuations and fundraising would likely build.
For Blackstone, the next near-term test is macro: the U.S. government is due to publish its advance estimate of fourth-quarter GDP and the personal income and outlays report — which includes the PCE inflation gauge — at 8:30 a.m. ET on Friday. (Bea)
