Hedge funds are buying these two big tech stocks while selling two rivals
Investing.com - Baird upgraded Circle Internet Group (NYSE:CRCL) from Neutral to Outperform on Friday, setting a price target of $110.00, well above the current price of $82.34.
The upgrade comes after Circle stock underperformed the S&P 500 by 63% since June 30, 2025, with CRCL falling 55% while the S&P gained 9%. Baird cited several factors for the previous decline, including the November 13 lock-up expiration, waning post-IPO optimism, and investor concerns about falling rates and rising distribution costs.
Baird views Circle’s current valuation as reasonable at approximately 50 times 2026 estimated earnings, highlighting the company’s strong USDC stablecoin growth, which increased 92% year-over-year in Q3 and 86% in Q2. InvestingPro analysis indicates the stock is slightly undervalued, with RSI suggesting it’s in oversold territory.
The research firm noted a sequential doubling of on-Circle USDC, where the company retains 100% of reserve income, alongside accelerating wallet growth of 77% year-over-year.
Baird also pointed to strong interest in Circle’s Arc and CPN testing programs, with CPN having onboarded approximately 100 partners and over 500 more in the pipeline.
In other recent news, Circle Internet Group reported strong financial results for the third quarter of 2025, significantly surpassing earnings expectations. The company posted an earnings per share (EPS) of $0.64, which exceeded the forecast of $0.34, representing an 88.24% surprise. Circle also achieved a total revenue of $740 million, marking a 66% year-over-year growth. Despite these impressive numbers, analyst firms have expressed mixed sentiments about Circle’s future. Needham lowered its price target for Circle to $190 from $250, citing lower rates, though it maintained a Buy rating. Baird also reduced its price target to $110 from $144, maintaining a Neutral rating due to cost concerns. Meanwhile, Mizuho raised concerns about growth challenges in Circle’s fiscal year 2025 guidance. Nonetheless, Bernstein continues to rate Circle as outperform, despite a 10% drop in shares due to rate cut fears.
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