Analysts Slash Coinbase Targets as Revenue Stumbles—Is This a Buying Opportunity?
Wall Street sharpens its knives after Coinbase's lackluster earnings report.
The damage report: Multiple analyst firms downgraded price targets following Q2 revenue that missed expectations—again. No specific figures were disclosed, but the market reacted with predictable volatility.
Silver lining playbook: Crypto bulls argue this is classic 'weak hands' behavior—institutional traders panic-selling while long-term holders accumulate. Remember when Tesla bought Bitcoin at $30K and everyone called it reckless?
The cynical take: Traditional finance never misses a chance to short innovation while collecting fees on both sides of the trade. Maybe they'll downgrade Coinbase again after the next 200% rally—bankers gotta bank.
Analysts cut Coinbase targets after weak revenue report
Ed also pointed out that Coinbase is facing headwinds from rising stablecoin competition. These are crypto tokens pegged to traditional currencies like the dollar. On top of that, he said the company’s current valuation, 44x forward earnings, doesn’t leave much room to go higher.
The S&P 500, by comparison, trades at a 23x multiple, according to FactSet. Bitcoin is still up 22% this year, hovering above $114,000 after peaking at $120,000 earlier in 2025, but that hasn’t helped Coinbase hold onto investor confidence.
Bank of America dropped its target on Coinbase from $383 to $369 but held its Neutral rating. Oppenheimer’s Owen Lau wasn’t ready to downgrade but did lower the firm’s target from $417 to $413. Owen called the quarter weak but pointed to better trading volume in Q3, solid July numbers, and potential upside if the CLARITY Act gets passed.
Barclays’ Benjamin Budish also cut his target, from $359 to $352. He kept an Equal Weight rating but flagged the revenue miss and higher expenses. He did say the company still seemed confident about growth, helped by regulatory improvements.
JPMorgan’s Kenneth Worthington pushed his price target down to $215 from $276 and stuck with Neutral. He said the latest report fell short of expectations and warned about a more difficult transaction environment moving forward, which could cut into earnings.
Michael Elliott from CFRA also shaved his target from $335 to $325 and maintained a Hold rating. He said he expects earnings to improve in 2025 and gave a new forecast for 2026. But he reminded investors that 61% of Coinbase’s total revenue depends on crypto transactions, which makes the business sensitive to token price swings.
Some optimism remains despite a wave of downgrades
Piper Sandler brought its estimate down from $310 to $180, holding a Neutral view. The firm expects a 25% year-over-year revenue increase in Q1 2025, but that didn’t stop the cut.
Citi dropped its target to $270 from $350 but kept a Buy rating. Their analysts expect Q1 2025 net revenue to land about 4% below consensus, due to changes in the mix of trading volume and weaker retail spreads.
Not all firms are turning negative. Bernstein actually raised its target from $310 to $510. They’re betting that Coinbase will bring in $9.5 billion in 2025 revenue, much of it from non-trading sources like staking and stablecoins.
They also mentioned legislation like the GENIUS Act as a possible boost, and said the company’s position in the crypto market sets it apart.
Still, the overall mood isn’t positive. Trading activity is soft, competition is rising, and the stock is expensive compared to its peers.
The recent Deribit acquisition and a solid balance sheet were mentioned by a few analysts as positive signs. But the Street clearly wants more. At press time, COIN was worth $324, with a 3% increase in the past twenty-four hours.
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