StoneX gives Bullish a buy rating, target price $42

According to The Block, StoneX Financial has initiated coverage of the cryptocurrency exchange Bullish, giving it a "Buy" rating and a target price of $42, indicating an upside potential of about 97%. Analyst Mark Palmer pointed out that Bullish's upcoming $4.2 billion acquisition of Equiniti is a key part of its bullish argument.

Palmer stated that after the transaction is completed, Bullish will become the transfer agent for about 30% of S&P 500 companies and half of the FTSE 100 companies, controlling a critical node for converting stocks from database entries into tokens. The on-chain scale of tokenized stocks is currently about $2.1 billion, while the global stock value reaches $151 trillion, with the tokenized asset market potentially reaching $9.4 trillion by 2030.

Bullish's adjusted revenue for the second quarter grew by 62% year-over-year to $92.6 million. StoneX also highlighted risks related to delays or failures in the Equiniti transaction, a slowdown in tokenization adoption, and competition from Nasdaq, DTCC, NYSE, Securitize, and others.