Seven Wall Street firms cut their Coinbase (COIN) price targets on Friday following weak Q3 earnings and a slow start to the fourth quarter. Trading fees reached only $165 million through October 25, prompting the downgrades as the stock fell 6% to $150.75 before market open.
Barclays made the deepest cut, moving its target to $120 from $149, a 25% reduction from Thursday's $160.59 close. Wells Fargo moved to $174 from $200, Compass Point to $165 from $187, Needham to $197 from $205, Canaccord to $275 from $300, and Jefferies to $174 from $183. Mizuho cut to $145 from $155 and projects about $607 million in Q4 transaction revenue, 11% below the $684 million consensus.
Trading fees made up nearly half of Coinbase's $1.22 billion third-quarter revenue. CFO Alesia Haas reported transaction revenue through October 25 on Thursday's earnings call. Q3 transaction revenue of $590 million was already down 44% year on year. Mizuho flagged retail traders drifting to Robinhood as a concern.
Early-quarter figures have undershot before. In July, Coinbase reported about $130 million in transaction revenue through July 26, but the third quarter closed at $590 million. Haas said trading conditions improved in September and lowered 2026 adjusted expense guidance to $4.15 billion to $4.3 billion.
The profit headline of $718.7 million relied heavily on paper gains. Operating income fell to $61.7 million from $480.5 million, while a $715 million unrealized crypto gain drove most of net income. Prediction markets passed $200 million in annualized revenue, and average USDC holdings hit a record $22 billion.
CEO Brian Armstrong, co-founder Fred Ehrsam, and President Emilie Choi entered 10b5-1 share sale plans beginning November 16, covering up to 13.6 million shares combined. TipRanks showed a 30-analyst average target of $207.61, with 19 Buy ratings against two Sells and a lowest target of $100.