Peter Thiel-backed company stock surges despite $280 million loss

Peter Thiel-backed crypto exchange Bullish reported a $280 million net loss for the second quarter of 2026, reversing a $108.3 million profit in the same period a year earlier.

Despite the loss, investors sent Bullish shares sharply higher after the market opened on Thursday. The stock was up 11.7% at $27.50 at the time of writing, reversing an earlier premarket decline.

Bullish Stock price at press time. 

The rally came as other parts of the results showed growth. 

Adjusted revenue rose 62% year over year to $92.6 million, even as digital asset sales fell 44% to $32.6 billion amid weaker trading activity.

Most Popular on TheStreet Roundtable:

• Kevin O'Leary bets millions on rare sports cards over gold and crypto
• Top economist says Bitcoin has one flaw gold will never have
• Crypto bridge loses nearly all of 200,000 XRP in 97 minutes

Chief financial officer Dave Bonanno pointed to Bullish’s expanding businesses beyond trading.

“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.

Wall Street saw upside before earnings

Wall Street had been broadly optimistic about Bullish heading into its Aug. 13 results. Analysts expected adjusted earnings of about $0.09 per share and revenue of roughly $87.9 million, meaning Bullish's adjusted revenue ultimately came in above expectations.

• Citi analyst Peter Christiansen reiterated a “Buy” rating on July 28 while cutting his price target to $50 from $65. 

• Clear Street analyst Owen Lau initiated coverage with a “Buy” rating and $40 target on July 24 

• Deutsche Bank analyst Brian Bedell had maintained a “Buy” rating with a $61 target.

• JPMorgan was more cautious. Analyst Kenneth Worthington maintained a “Neutral” rating in June and cut his price target to $26 from $43.

Bullish went public on Aug. 13, 2025, raising about $1.1 billion after selling 30 million shares at $37 each. The offering valued the company at roughly $5.4 billion.

At the time of writing, Bullish shares were trading up 11.7% on the day, but remained about 26% below their $37 IPO price.

Related: Goldman Sachs is paying $2.25 billion to get into Bitcoin income game