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☆ These other crypto trades are having big years as bitcoin hits a record high
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-05 | by ( Jesse Pound | In Jesse-Pound | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Start with the arrival of bitcoin exchange traded funds, which is often pointed to as one of the sparks of the crypto rebound. IBIT 1M mountain Bitcoin ETFs, like iShares' IBIT, have surged over the past month as the cryptocurrency has raced to a new record high. MSTR 1M mountain Shares of Microstrategy are outperforming bitcoin over the past month. Stock Chart Icon Stock chart icon Bitcoin ETFs, like iShares' IBIT, have surged over the past month as the cryptocurrency has raced to a new record high. Stock Chart Icon Stock chart icon Shares of Microstrategy are outperforming bitcoin over the past month.

Persons: Kenneth Worthington, It's, cryptocurrencies Organizations: Fidelity, Bitcoin, JPMorgan, Marathon, Getty

Loop Capital initiated Dell Technologies with a buy rating and a price target that implies more than 35% upside. Analyst Stephen Grambling hiked his price target by $9 to $49, while keeping his rating at overweight. Salesforce has popped nearly 14% in 2024, extending gains after the stock price came close to doubling in 2023 alone. Roseka's price target of $27.10 shows the potential for just 3.6% in upside compared with Tuesday's ending price. Analyst Ananda Baruah initiated coverage of the technology stock with a buy rating and a $125 price target.

Persons: Stifel, Smucker, Raymond James, Rick Patel, Patel, — Alex Harring, Kenneth Worthington, Worthington, Alex Harring, Morgan Stanley, Stephen Grambling, DKNG's, Grambling, DraftKings, Jackpocket, Morgan, Wednesday's premarket, Goldman, Goldman Sachs, Kash Rangan, Rangan, Bernstein, Daniel Roeska, Stellantis, Roseka, KeyBanc, Sophie Karp, CEG, Karp, Matthew Smith, Smith, Fred Imbert, Dell, Ananda Baruah, DELL, Baruah Organizations: CNBC, Dell Technologies, FactSet, Apollo Global Management, JPMorgan, APO, Grambling, Constellation Energy, Constellation, Dell, Capital, DELL Locations: Tuesday's, Wednesday's premarket, Grambling, Wednesday's, Salesforce, Netherlands, U.S, Europe

☆ Wall Street cheers Coinbase after its first quarterly profit in 2 years, but skepticism lingers
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-16 | by ( Tanaya Macheel | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Wall Street is celebrating Coinbase after the crypto exchange operator posted its first quarterly profit in two years. Late Thursday, Coinbase posted earnings of $1.04 per share on $954 million of revenue for the fourth quarter. "Happy days are here again" for Coinbase, as Raymond James put it, but it's not clear for how long. "That said, we maintain our U/P rating given crypto market unpredictability, lack of revenue diversification, valuation, and continued legal overhang." JPMorgan, neutral, PT $95 "Management calls spot bitcoin ETFs [a] net positive but, we're still unconvinced," said JPMorgan's Kenneth Worthington.

Persons: Coinbase, haven't, bitcoin, Raymond James, Goldman Sachs, Goldman, Will Nance, revs, Jason Kupferberg, Benjamin Budish, EBITDA, underperform, Patrick O'Shaughnessy, we're, Kenneth Worthington, Keefe, KBW's Kyle Voigt, Oppenheimer, Owen Lau, Devin Ryan, Needham, John Todaro, Canaccord, Joseph Vafi, Michael Bloom Organizations: LSEG, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, " Bank of America, Bank of America, Barclays, JPMorgan, Management, SEC, Coinbase's, BTC Locations: U.S, Coinbase, Needham

— Alex Harring 6:46 a.m.: HSBC sees Snowflake pulling back after rally Snowflake's good news has already been priced in with a recent rally, according to HSBC. Analyst Sara Russo upped her price target by $26 to $72, now implying a smaller downside of 43%. — Alex Harring 6:05 a.m.: Macquarie moves to sidelines on Sony There's reasons for pause on Sony , Macquarie warned. Still, the analyst noted the "many" risks to the stock price, including valuation and if the ETFs become a competitor to Coinbase itself. The bank initiated coverage of the medical technology stock with a buy rating and a price target of $100 per share.

Persons: Ulta, Oppenheimer, Rupesh, Parikh, Alex Harring, Snowflake, Stephen Bersey, Bersey, Bernstein, Sara Russo, Russo, — Alex Harring, Skechers, Jesalyn Wong, Wong, Macquarie, Damian Thong, Thong, deconsolidation, Colin Isaac, Eastman, Isaac, EBITDA, Piper Sandler, Harsh Kumar, Kumar, Kenneth Worthington, Worthington, Sezgi Oezener, Taha Kass, Oezener, Fred Imbert Organizations: CNBC, JPMorgan, HSBC, GE Healthcare, ISI, Distributors, Sony, Macquarie, U.S, Eastman, Eastman Chemical, Nvidia, GE Healthcare HSBC, General Electric, Learning, Amazon, Science & Technology Locations: Wednesday's, Sony's U.S, premarket, Coinbase

The firm downgraded the cosmetics stock to hold from buy but maintained $530 per share price target. The firm maintained a neutral rating alongside a $13 per share price target, implying nearly 10% upside ahead. The firm is standing by an underperform rating on Robinhood stock with a $12 per share price target. HSBC downgraded the software stock to hold but maintained its $22 per share price target. First Solar shares have lagged in 2024, losing 11.6% amid concern that Federal Reserve rate cuts may not arrive until later than anticipated.

Persons: Ulta, Anthony Chukumba, Chukumba, Brian Evans, Christopher Danely, — Brian Evans, Robinhood's, Robinhood, LSEG, JPMorgan's Kenneth Worthington, Goldman Sachs, Will Nance, America's Craig Siegenthaler, Wells, Biogen, Mohit Bansal, Stephen Bersey, Christopher Dendrinos, Dendrinos, Fred Imbert Organizations: CNBC, U.S, Wednesday, RBC, HSBC, Palantir, Citi, Revenue, Bank, America's, Technologies, RBC Capital Markets, Enphase Energy, Shoals Technologies Locations: 2024e, Tuesday's, U.S

☆ Ether is poised for an ETF approval in May, but the crypto’s price action may be subdued
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-10 | by ( Tanaya Macheel | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Investors expect the Securities and Exchange Commission to greenlight spot ether ETFs in May, but the price action for the crypto could be subdued compared to bitcoin's moves in the runup to its ETF approvals. That compares to the 55% surge bitcoin saw after BlackRock first filed its spot ETF application for the flagship crypto. Regardless, we see the spot ether ETF being less appreciated by the market." JPMorgan estimates a "no more than 50% chance" of spot ether ETF approval by May 23, the final deadline for the SEC to approve or deny the Ark/21Shares application . Schwenkler said any excitement leading up to potential ether ETF approvals will be "less speculative" and that a lot of it is priced in already.

Persons: Kenneth Worthington, Nico Cordeiro, there's, Owen Lau, Oppenheimer, Gustavo Schwenkler, Bitcoin, Solana, Schwenkler, — CNBC's Michael Bloom Organizations: Securities and Exchange Commission, JPMorgan, BlackRock, BTC, ETH, SEC, CNBC, Leavey School of Business, Santa Clara University, of Locations: Southern, of New York, bitcoin

Tuesday's analyst calls include upgrades to two solar names and a downgrade to a key crypto stock. 7:05 a.m.: Citi increases Meta price target ahead of earnings Meta shares have more runway ahead, according to Citi. Analyst Kenneth Worthington downgraded the crypto exchange to underweight from neutral, reiterating his price target of $80. Analyst Jordan Levy upgraded Sunnova to buy from hold and raised his price target to $18 from $10. He upgraded Enphase Energy to buy from hold, moving his price target to $145 from $85.

Persons: Truist, Ronald Josey, Josey, — Pia Singh, TD Cowen, Jason Gabelman, Gabelman, Jefferies, Glen Santangelo, Teva, Cantor Fitzgerald, C.J, Muse, Kenneth Worthington, Worthington, Coinbase, — Fred Imbert, Jordan Levy, Levy Organizations: CNBC, Enphase Energy, Federal Reserve, JPMorgan, Citi, Meta, Exxon, Chevron, Cowen, Exxon Mobil, Teva Pharmaceuticals, Jefferies Investors, pharma, mdc, Nvidia, Energy, Sustainability Locations: buybacks, Teva, Monday's

☆ Coinbase just took a stake in stablecoin issuer Circle. Here’s what it could mean for the crypto exchange
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-22 | by ( Tanaya Macheel | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Late Thursday, the companies announced that Coinbase had taken a minor equity stake in Circle, which includes a 50/50 revenue share of interest income going forward. "Centre will no longer exist as a stand-alone entity and Circle will remain as the issuer of USDC, bringing any Centre governance and operations responsibilities in-house." The U.S. stablecoin market has been held back by regulatory uncertainty this year, and the market cap for USDC has dropped nearly 42% since the start of the year, according to CryptoQuant. "All else is in fact not equal as [the] USDC market cap has drifted lower through 2Q23 and interest rates are subject to change." "The Circle equity stake deepens COIN's exposure to a dwindling asset class … casting doubt about the standalone business model of stablecoins."

Persons: Coinbase, they're, Alex Markgraff, JPMorgan's Kenneth Worthington, USDC, Ramsey El, Assal, They're, Dan Dolev Organizations: Wall Street, Key, Barclays, U.S ., Mizuho, PayPal Locations: U.S, Key Banc, stablecoins

The firm upgraded Blackstone shares at the start of 2023 on the belief that investors were over-penalizing Blackstone for its outflows in its Real Estate Income Trust division. "For the multiple to expand further, we'd want to see organic growth supported again by perpetual fund growth, which is currently weighed down by a depressed sentiment for real estate investing." Blackstone shares have rallied nearly 45% year to date. Worthington added that speculation over the stock being added to the S & P 500 has also fueled its rise. To be sure, Worthington thinks the real estate sector will likely "require a drop in rates to see a substantial improvement."

Persons: it'll, Blackstone . Blackstone, Kenneth Worthington, Worthington, Blackstone, — CNBC's Michael Bloom Organizations: JPMorgan, Blackstone ., Blackstone, Income

☆ Analysts call Coinbase's ongoing regulatory battles a 'major roadblock,' say long-term outlook looks uncertain
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Samantha Subin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Despite Coinbase Global 's better-than-expected quarter , many analysts remain cautious on the crypto exchange's longer-term outlook, viewing the regulatory and legal backdrop as a major obstacle for shares. But even with this seemingly intact near-term outlook, Wells Fargo's Jeff Cantwell warned that both the medium and long-term trajectory appears constrained, calling the regulatory backdrop a "major roadblock." COIN 1D mountain Coinbase shares pop on earnings Cantwell reiterated an underweight rating on the stock. An uncertain regulatory outlook One of the biggest concerns for analysts is the uncertain regulatory environment for the company. Nance has a sell rating on Coinbase shares.

☆ JPMorgan thinks this drastic move by Schwab could lead to a higher share price over the long run
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Brian Evans | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

JPMorgan said a move away from banking services could boost long term-growth for Charles Schwab stock. The firm reiterated an overweight rating on the stock on Friday, with a price target of $85 per share. But JP Morgan thinks that Schwab could benefit from de-banking, or moving away from banking services altogether. Worthington added that while the process of de-banking would put pressure on earnings, the move could lead to Schwab stock trading at a higher multiple. "At 20x, a de-banked 2024 projection of $3.20, we arrive at a value of $64 per share, noticeably higher than the current stock price," he said.

☆ JPMorgan upgrades Blackstone, calls it 'best in class'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Michelle Fox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

JPMorgan Chase upgraded Blackstone to overweight from neutral on Tuesday, calling the money manager "best in class." The call comes on the heels of the recent controversy over Blackstone 's private real estate investment trust. Blackstone shares dropped after news of the redemption limits in December, dropping 8% in five days and ultimately ending 2022 down nearly 43%. "Blackstone remains best-in-class and an intermediate and longer term winner, so it could hold up near-term better than feared," he said. The BREIT structure remains credible and Blackstone will likely launch new retail products to leverage the success of the non-traded structure, he added.

☆ Amazon, Charles Schwab and Domino's: These are some of analysts' top picks for 2023
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-08 | by ( Fred Imbert | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Despite the uncertainty surrounding the market to start the new year, Wall Street analysts see several stocks they like going forward. CNBC Pro combed the top 2023 picks from nine research firms to find the most common stocks between them. AMZN 1Y mountain Amazon in past year Another top pick shared among several analysts is brokerage Charles Schwab . "We like Schwab going into 2023 because of the downside protection and multiple avenues of upside it offers," wrote JPMorgan's Kenneth Worthington. Domino's Pizza , meanwhile, was named a top pick at Bank of America and BTIG after a tough year.

☆ The investment case for next-gen trading stocks like Coinbase and SoFi despite crypto contagion
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Tanaya Macheel | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Nevertheless, crypto trading services such as those offered by Coinbase , SoFi and Robinhood are likely to suffer a lull nevertheless as retail and institutional investors alike exit the market or try and move past their fear of another upheaval. "We are updating our model to reflect a 'lower for longer' assumption, particularly as it pertains to retail trading," Budish said. SoFi in a unique position This week, Democratic senators urged regulators to look into SoFi's trading activity as Washington attempts contemplates acting on FTX's spectacular collapse. SoFi has said its crypto revenue exposure is immaterial, it's compliant with regulators, doesn't do any crypto lending and had no exposure to FTX. However, it's possible that SOFI may find itself more heavily regulated with potential for incremental capital and liquidity requirements."

☆ Coinbase jumps after Wall Street cheers cost-cutting measures, active user numbers
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( Carmen Reinicke | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Active user jump Where analysts see the potential for optimism in Coinbase's report is in its reported active monthly users. While active monthly users dipped in the quarter to 8.5 million from 9 million, the company handily beat Wall Street's expectations of 7.84 million monthly active users. Budish also lowered his price target after management's guidance but maintained his equal weight rating on the Coinbase. The result was that lower trading volume drove Coinbase trading revenue to the lowest level since becoming a public company." Cowen has an outperform rating on shares of Coinbase and a $75 price target, albeit down from an earlier $85.

☆ Crypto investors still haven't priced in the upside from the Ethereum merge, JPMorgan says
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( Tanaya Macheel | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Excitement around the merge has already faded, but the long-term benefits Ethereum will reap from the technical upgrade have yet to be realized, according to JPMorgan. The merge refers to a technical transition meant to improve its security in a way that lowered energy consumption by almost 100%. One of the most attractive potential outcomes of the merge for investors, a smaller supply of ether, hasn't quite arrived yet, but JPMorgan says it's still early. While the ether supply has continued to increase since the merge, it has slowed to a di minimis pace, Worthington said. "We believe that the Ethereum Merge could be a big factor in terms of increasing the use cases for blockchain into new areas, including financial services," Worthington said, highlighting decentralized finance and NFTs.

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