bullish

Walton Goggins seems extremely grateful to learn that, if Pete Davidson is right, he might be the next Pedro Pascal — even if that might not be a good thing.

The Emmy-nominated actor, known for his eccentric characters in shows like “Fallout” and “The White Lotus,” responded Sunday to comments comedian Davidson made last week on Theo Von’s “This Past Week” podcast.

Taking a spin as a fortune teller, the former “Saturday Night Live” cast member predicted that adoring fans would soon turn on Goggins, just as they had with Pascal.

“[Pascal] worked so hard and has been a struggling actor, f—ing blows up so f—ing hard, everyone’s like, ‘Daddy, daddy! Yeah, daddy, daddy,’” Davidson told Von. “And then a year later, he’s like in everything now cause he’s hot and big and everyone’s like, ‘Go the f— away, dude.’”

“It’s like, we build everybody up and now it’s so fast to turn,” he added. “It’s within months.”

Well, Goggins responded to Davidson within days.

“Pete we don’t know each other but I appreciate the heads up,” Goggins said on Instagram, posting an image of an article about the 31-year-old sharing his thoughts on fame. “We agree on one thing … Pedro Pascal isn’t a good man, He’s a great man. A dear friend of mine.

“As a 53 year old,” he continued, “I’m acutely aware that every experience has a shelf life.”

The headline on the attached article? “Pete Davidson Predicts Fans Will ‘Turn’ on Walton Goggins Similar to Pedro Pascal Oversaturation Backlash.”

Goggins took a moment to explain he would be promoting some upcoming projects to “honor all those that worked so hard to bring these stories to fruition,” then encouraged people to simply scroll away if they weren’t interested in reading about it.

“See to me,” he wrote, “being included in this headline isn’t a curse it’s a blessing. How lucky am I that this is even a possibility?!!”

It’s something Goggins said he couldn’t have imagined as a poor kid from Georgia.

“So … if saying yes in life more than saying no is a crime, then I’m guilty as charged,” he said in closing. “And if this headline is a possibility or an inevitability, if this is my fate, well … f— it. I’m going to enjoy the F— OUT OF IT.”

Goggins told The Times last year that he sees his career as a stock he wants to own: “There have been dips, but it’s gradually gone up over time.”

Looks like it’s time to pump that stock before it’s dumped by the masses.

Shares of the crypto exchange Bullish (BLSH 12.36%) traded 8% higher as of 10:18 a.m. ET today. The move comes after the company reported second-quarter earnings results yesterday, received a license to operate in the U.S., and also received positive sentiment from Wall Street.

Entry into the U.S.

Bullish went public in August and was received extremely well. Shares priced at $37 but soared all the way to $118 on day one of trading. Since then, shares have struggled and trade around $57.50, which isn’t necessarily bad when you consider what the IPO priced at, but it’s also a common tale in an enthusiastic IPO market that has awoken after several years of limited activity.

Image source: Getty Images.

In the second quarter, Bullish reported net income of about $108 million on adjusted revenue of $57 million. Trading volume reached nearly $180 billion in the quarter, up about 35% year over year. Bullish is also guiding for net income between $12 million and $17 million in the third quarter and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) of about $26.5 million at the midpoint of its guidance, which would be up significantly from the $8.1 million it reported in the second quarter.

Perhaps more importantly, Bullish obtained a BitLicense from the New York Department of Financial Services, which will allow the exchange to operate in the U.S. Bullish is only the third company to receive both a BitLicense and New York Money Transmitter License since 2023. Following this news, analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on Bullish to $59 and maintained an overweight rating on the stock.

Still a monster valuation

Trading at an $8.6 billion market cap, Bullish still trades at extremely high multiples any way you choose to value the company. I’m also not a huge fan of this space because it is so heavily dependent on crypto volume, which is swayed by the gyrations of the crypto market. For this reason, I plan to avoid the stock.