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Investing.com -- Monness Crespi Hardt analyst Gus Galá upgraded Coinbase, Strategy, and Circle in separate notes on Monday, citing growing prospects for stablecoin adoption and real-world blockchain utility.
The firm raised Coinbase to Buy with a $375 price target, saying it now sees “real-world drivers needed for commercialization…in clearer line of sight.”
Galá highlighted Coinbase’s partnerships with Circle and other firms as key to unlocking cross-border payments and B2B opportunities.
“We think that is coming soon in the cross border B2B side of payments,” the analyst said, adding that “commerce needs to ride these proverbially newly paved and regulated roads for their utility to be fully valued.”
The firm added that Coinbase could benefit from potential SEC clarity on tokenized equities and an upcoming product event on Dec. 17. Despite its cyclical nature, Monness argued Coinbase is “consistently spawning new, durable EPS streams with high ROICs” as it expands across the crypto value chain.
Monness also initiated Circle with a Buy rating and $150 price target, calling it an “undeniable force” well-positioned to bring “a meaningful, long-run chunk of M2 on chain.”
The analyst explained that Circle’s stablecoin USDC could “support U.S. dollar hegemony” while “making meaningful portions of global value more easily and inexpensively transactable.”
He pointed to Circle’s “growing distribution advantage” and “meaningful mass market volume opportunities” through its Arc platform.
Meanwhile, Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) was upgraded to Neutral from Sell after the firm said its earlier bearish catalysts had “played out.”
Monness cited the company’s reduced premium to bitcoin holdings but cautioned that the “raison d’être for BTC Treasury Cos” remains unclear without native yield.