Robinhood Markets (HOOD) has become one of the market’s best-performing stocks of the year, thanks to strong trading revenues, fantastic growth from its Robinhood Gold subscription service, and a surprising addition to the S&P 500. But after an impressive 288.6% year-to-date run, tech analysts at BTIG argue there might be an even better bet: its biggest crypto competitor, Coinbase Global (COIN) .
Last week, BTIG initiated coverage of the crypto exchange with a buy rating and a $410 price target, crediting stronger subscription and services revenue for producing a “flywheel”, that will allow it to “benefit from increased digital asset adoption.”
The analysts called the company “the most comprehensive suite of products” when compared to other businesses, including competitor Robinhood. It singled out stablecoin adoption, its foray into payments, its new Base blockchain, and derivatives as key ‘greenshoots’ that work in the company’s favor.
However, fast growth from its Subscription and Services revenue is also notable, as staking rewards, its growing Coinbase One subscription service, and credit-related products take off. On that front, BTIG forecasts 23% growth in FY 2025, plus 14% more in FY 2026, thanks to these developments.
And so long as the crypto industry stays strong, consumer and institutional revenues are seen growing 8% and 7% respectively in FY 2025, then 17% and 17% in FY 2026 in their base case.
If all of those figures come true, it would be impressive work, especially considering the company’s already-healthy financial showings.
In the latest quarter, the company generated nearly $1.5 billion in revenue, while pulling in adjusted EBITDA of $512 million. Through year-end, BTIG sees Coinbase on its way to a record $7.318 billion in revenue in its FY 2025.
If Coinbase were to continue growing at this clip, it could easily live into the healthy premium priced by investors. At just 36x price-to-earnings, it remains cheaper than brokerages like Robinhood (76x) and Interactive Brokers Group IBKR (36.3x). And among domestic, pure-play crypto firms, it remains one of a few turning a profit; market newcomers like Gemini GEMI still don’t.
However, with its business more concentrated in the crypto and digital assets industry, investors might be offering up some caution, especially as valuations boom. Bitcoin notched a fresh all-time high in recent days, so too have other major crypto assets.
And in an industry which a penchant for speculative trading and volatility, that might be reason enough for investors to tread lightly.
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