Citizens lowered its price targets for COIN and SBET, though its revised targets still imply more than 100% upside for Coinbase and nearly 480% upside for SharpLink.
- Coinbase shares fell while SharpLink Gaming edged higher in pre-market trading after Citizens lowered price targets on both companies.
- Citizens maintained an 'Outperform' rating on both stocks despite the valuation reset.
- Coinbase is preparing to report second-quarter earnings later this month following a weak first quarter and a workforce reduction announced in May.
Shares of Coinbase (COIN) dropped in pre-market trade, while shares of Sharplink Gaming (SBET) edged higher in pre-market trade on Wednesday despite the fact that both firms received a price target cut from Citizens as part of the firm’s broader valuation reset.
Citizens analyst Devin Ryan lowered cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase's price target to $325 from $355 while maintaining an ‘Outperform’ rating, according to TheFly. At Tuesday's closing price of around $156, that target implies the COIN’s stock price will more than double.
Barclays, on the other hand, lowered its price target on Coinbase to $99 from $107 and kept an ‘Underweight’ rating on the shares, implying that it expects the stock price to fall by around 36%
COIN’s stock fell over 1% in pre-market trade, despite strength in other Bitcoin (BTC)-linked equities that rose alongside the apex cryptocurrency’s attempt to climb above $63,000. On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around Coinbase trended in ‘bearish’ territory over the past day, with chatter at ‘normal’ levels.
SBET Stock Price Target Implies 480% Upside Despite Cut
Citizens also cut Ethereum (ETH) treasury SharpLink's price target to $30 from $40, keeping its own ‘Outperform’ rating. At Tuesday's close of $5.16, that still implies a massive upside of roughly 481% despite the $10 cut.
SBET’s stock edged higher by 0.5% in pre-market trade, with retail sentiment on Stocktwits trending in ‘extremely bullish’ territory over the past day. Chatter, however, dropped to ‘high’ from ‘extremely high’ levels.
"The stronger market environment has favored companies already delivering strong results, leaving some high-quality businesses undervalued despite improving fundamentals, creating selective investment opportunities," the firm said in its notes on both companies.
The same phrasing appeared across Citizens' other financial sector calls Tuesday, with cuts also landing on Blue Owl Capital, TPG, Carlyle, and Blackstone, while Raymond James and Dave got price target increases.
COIN Stock Price Target Cut Ahead Of Earnings
Coinbase is scheduled to report its second quarter (Q2) earnings at the end of the month, with Wall Street analysts looking for earnings per share (EPS) of $0.10 on revenue of $1.35 billion. Last quarter, the company posted a $394.1 million net loss in Q1, reported a loss of $1.49 per share versus the expected earnings of $0.21 per share.
The firm also announced a restructuring plan in May. Coinbase said it was reducing its workforce by around 14%, or about 700 jobs. CEO Brian Armstrong said the plan was to reduce management layers and push for smaller, more AI-oriented teams.
Sharplink’s Growing Ethereum Play
SharpLink, meanwhile, has continued expanding its Ethereum treasury strategy while using a series of capital markets transactions to strengthen its balance sheet and support its shares.
It raised $75 million in late June by selling new shares in a registered direct offering, priced at a 41% premium to its prior close. The company used part of the proceeds to buy 10,000 more ETH, bringing its total Ethereum treasury to 886,725 ETH, and repurchased over 2.1 million shares. Sharplink also joined the Russell 2000 and Russell 3000 indexes effective June 29.
COIN’s stock has fallen more than 30% this year, while SBET’s stock is down over 40%.
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