Bernstein says Circle is "pivoting to fintech infrastructure"… keeps $190 price target

Bernstein, a major Wall Street investment bank (IB), maintained its price target for Circle, the issuer of the dollar stablecoin USDC, at $190.

According to DL News and others on the 26th, Bernstein assigned Circle an “outperform” rating and kept its price target unchanged at $190. That is more than double Circle’s current share price (in the $83 range).

What drew Bernstein’s attention was Circle’s performance in the fourth quarter of last year. Circle said the previous day (25th) that its total revenue and reserve management income for 4Q rose 77% year on year to $770 million. Bernstein said Circle’s 4Q results “stood in clear contrast to the broader market amid a crypto downturn that has wiped out more than $2 trillion.”

Bernstein stressed that “Circle has already moved beyond being a stablecoin company and has pivoted into a fintech infrastructure company.” In addition to USDC, the firm said new businesses such as Circle’s proprietary layer-1 blockchain Arc could help Circle grow into a digital dollar platform company.

However, Bernstein noted that as regulatory clarity improves through measures such as the US GENIUS Act (a stablecoin bill), competition with banks and payments companies could intensify.