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KKR, Blackstone lead private equity sell-off after Partners Group curbs investor withdrawals

Shares of major US alternative asset managers like KKR & Co., Blackstone, Ares Management, and Blue Owl Capital are tumbling after Switzerland-based Partners Group capped investor withdrawals from a flagship private equity fund, reigniting broader market anxieties over private asset valuations and systemic liquidity.

Overseas, Partners Group’s stock dropped 17% in Zurich trading, marking its worst single-day drop on record and sending it to a 52-week low, according to CNBC.

The panic was triggered when Partners Group announced it had restricted redemptions within its $8.6 billion Global Value SICAV fund in a statement and filing to investors, according to Reuters. In a Bloomberg TV interview, Partners Group CEO David Layton said that the sudden surge of investor exit requests hit 9.8% of the fund’s total value during the second quarter. Because this nearly doubled the fund’s internal safety threshold, Partners Group automatically triggered structural guardrails to limit quarterly cash withdrawals to just 5% of net asset value.

“There are some idiosyncratic factors for this fund in particular, but indeed you do see investors broadly, after having redemption pressure within private credit for a number of quarters, now starting to redeem other asset classes,” Layton said on Wednesday.

The sector-wide drop followed a similar announcement just one day ago from asset manager Cliffwater, which capped quarterly redemptions at 5% after investors asked to withdraw roughly 17% of shares from the $31 billion private credit fund, according to Bloomberg.

The market’s sharp reaction stems from the fact that US giants like Blackstone, KKR, and Ares have spent years courting wealthy individual and retail investors to fuel their growth. With a surge in redemption requests starting in private credit late last year and now officially bleeding into private equity, investors are growing skittish that portfolios are holding over-marked assets that cannot be quickly liquidated.

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SpaceX gets a wave of bullish ratings from Wall Street analysts

SpaceX received more than a dozen positive analyst calls on Tuesday — including from major Wall Street banks — as they initiate coverage on Elon Musk’s space and AI company.

SpaceX went public on June 12 at a $2.2 trillion valuation, the largest debut in history. While the company hasn’t yet posted a profit, it seems to have convinced Wall Street that it will get there and grow its valuation on the way.

Of the at least 17 analysts that gave a rating on Tuesday, all but one gave it a “buy” or “outperform” rating. MoffettNathanson was "neutral."

The ratings come as SpaceX joined the Nasdaq 100 index, a benchmark tech-heavy basket of companies that underpins millions of portfolios. The inclusion adds built-in demand for the stock from index funds and ETFs.

Still, SpaceX fell more than 5% on Tuesday amid a broader sell-off, and is currently effectively flat from its opening price of $150 a share.

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Nike sinks to lowest level since 2014 after warning of “challenged” sales environment in Q4 report

Did Nike do it?

Investors had a mixed reaction after the global sports apparel company reported its fourth quarter earnings on Tuesday after the bell. Shares initially rose 5% as Nike beat out Wall Street expectations amid a hefty tariff refund bonus. However, the stock then sank to its lowest level since August 2014 in postmarket trading.

Here are the Q4 numbers:

  • Revenue of $11.0 billion (estimate: $10.8 billion).

  • Adjusted earnings per share of $0.20 (estimate: $0.12).

Ahead of this report, Nike warned that results would be flattered by a one-time tariff refund (now estimated at roughly $0.52 per share for the bottom line). That gave the company an extra cushion in snapping its streak of seven quarters of year-over-year profit declines.

Over the past year, the company had been punished by tariffs on imported goods, stagnant consumer spending, and increasing competition from other footwear brands like New Balance, Adidas, and Hoka.

Outgoing CFO Matthew Friend deemed it an “increasingly challenging operating environment, where sell-through remains challenged.”

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