Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by retail investors in Blaize Holdings indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• The top 7 shareholders own 40% of the company
• Institutions own 19% of Blaize Holdings

To get a sense of who is truly in control of Blaize Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:BZAI), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. We can see that retail investors own the lion's share in the company with 60% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

Following a 21% decrease in the stock price last week, retail investors suffered the most losses, but institutions who own 19% stock also took a hit.

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Blaize Holdings.

View our latest analysis for Blaize Holdings

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Blaize Holdings?

Institutional investors commonly compare their own returns to the returns of a commonly followed index. So they generally do consider buying larger companies that are included in the relevant benchmark index.

Blaize Holdings already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. This implies the analysts working for those institutions have looked at the stock and they like it. But just like anyone else, they could be wrong. If multiple institutions change their view on a stock at the same time, you could see the share price drop fast. It's therefore worth looking at Blaize Holdings' earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Blaize Holdings. Ava Investors SA is currently the company's largest shareholder with 17% of shares outstanding. With 9.2% and 6.3% of the shares outstanding respectively, Lane Bess and Temasek Holdings (Private) Limited are the second and third largest shareholders. Furthermore, CEO Dinakar Munagala is the owner of 0.5% of the company's shares.

On studying our ownership data, we found that 7 of the top shareholders collectively own less than 50% of the share register, implying that no single individual has a majority interest.

While studying institutional ownership for a company can add value to your research, it is also a good practice to research analyst recommendations to get a deeper understand of a stock's expected performance. Our information suggests that there isn't any analyst coverage of the stock, so it is probably little known.

Insider Ownership Of Blaize Holdings

The definition of company insiders can be subjective and does vary between jurisdictions. Our data reflects individual insiders, capturing board members at the very least. The company management answer to the board and the latter should represent the interests of shareholders. Notably, sometimes top-level managers are on the board themselves.

I generally consider insider ownership to be a good thing. However, on some occasions it makes it more difficult for other shareholders to hold the board accountable for decisions.

We can see that insiders own shares in Blaize Holdings, Inc.. It has a market capitalization of just US$663m, and insiders have US$65m worth of shares, in their own names. This shows at least some alignment. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a substantial 60% stake in Blaize Holdings, suggesting it is a fairly popular stock. This level of ownership gives investors from the wider public some power to sway key policy decisions such as board composition, executive compensation, and the dividend payout ratio.

Private Equity Ownership

With an ownership of 6.3%, private equity firms are in a position to play a role in shaping corporate strategy with a focus on value creation. Sometimes we see private equity stick around for the long term, but generally speaking they have a shorter investment horizon and -- as the name suggests -- don't invest in public companies much. After some time they may look to sell and redeploy capital elsewhere.

Public Company Ownership

We can see that public companies hold 4.6% of the Blaize Holdings shares on issue. We can't be certain but it is quite possible this is a strategic stake. The businesses may be similar, or work together.

Next Steps:

I find it very interesting to look at who exactly owns a company. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. For instance, we've identified 4 warning signs for Blaize Holdings (3 are a bit concerning) that you should be aware of.

Of course this may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free free list of interesting companies.

NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.