Daiwa analysts upgraded Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) to Buy from Hold, raising the firm's price target on the stock to $65 from $58 per share in a note to clients on Monday, not long after the crypto exchange reported its first quarter results.
Coinbase's revenue rose "23% QoQ to USD773m, 18% ahead of the consensus," with its "adjusted EBITDA turning positive in 1Q23 at USD284m (vs. consensus' negative USD9m)," the analysts explained.
"We believe the strong beat was mainly on the better-than-expected retail trading spread and strong interest income," they wrote. "Even excluding the USD241m interest income in 1Q23, the positive adjusted EBITDA of USD43m indicates a profitable operation of its core business, despite the major restructuring (3,535 employees as of 1Q23, -29% YoY) to improve efficiency over 2022-23."
Daiwa believes the current Coinbase share price has largely priced in the US regulation uncertainty but "underestimated Coinbase's recovering profitability, accelerating global expansion and crypto-native innovations."
Premarket, Coinbase shares are down over 3% following a decline in Bitcoin's price, which is currently around $27,850, after declining over 2%.