Coinbase (COIN) stock has shown notable growth in recent weeks, returning to its listing price and trading above $252 at the time of writing, representing a 60% surge since the beginning of the year.
The stock has rebounded to surpass the $250 mark for the first time in two years on March 8, following a significant downturn during the crypto winter that saw its shares plummet to as low as $33 in 2023. Over the past year, Coinbase shares have risen over 300%.
Boosting the movement is Bitcoin’s (BTC) price performance, also hitting a record high on March 8, briefly touching $70,000 before bouncing back to around $68,000. Increasing flows from Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and anticipation surrounding BTC's upcoming halving are driving the cryptocurrency rally.
BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), for instance, reached $10 billion in assets under management (AUM) on March 1, just seven weeks since its launch.
Coinbase is getting a piece of Bitcoin ETFs’ revenue. Its custody arm, Coinbase Custody, has partnered with most of the asset managers that launched Bitcoin ETFs in January. It is expected that the products will generate between $25 million and $30 million in fees for the company.
The crypto exchange’s latest earnings call revealed a resilient fourth quarter in 2023. Coinbase’s net revenue reached $905 million in Q4 2023, an increase of 45.2% from the third quarter, exceeding consensus expectations of $825 million.
JPMorgan analyst Kenneth Worthington recently revised the stock rating from underweight to neutral, citing the positive impact of Bitcoin ETFs on crypto markets. Worthington has set the stock target price at $80, well below its current trading price.
“Given the acceleration in recent days of flows into Bitcoin ETFs and the significant price appreciation of Bitcoin and now Ethereum, we are returning to a Neutral rating on Coinbase as we see the higher cryptocurrency prices not only sustaining, but improving, activity levels and Coinbase’s earnings power as we look to 1Q24,” the analyst wrote on Feb. 15.
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