MW Coinbase says crypto is seeing 'dawn of a new era.' But does Wall Street share its optimism?

By Claudia Assis

Coinbase's stock dips despite company smashing its earnings expectations

Coinbase Global Inc. late Thursday said it is witnessing "the dawn of a new era for crypto" as it revealed 2024 revenue that more than doubled and quarterly revenue that blew past Wall Street's expectations.

"Crypto's voice was heard loud and clear in the U.S. elections, and the era of regulation via enforcement that crippled our industry in the U.S. is on its way out," Coinbase $(COIN)$ said in a letter to shareholders accompanying results.

The Trump administration "is moving fast to fulfill its promise of making the U.S. the crypto capital of the planet, and globally leaders are taking notice and increasing their attention and investment into crypto," the company said.

Coinbase's earnings came on the heels of surprise blowout results for Robinhood Markets (HOOD) late Wednesday.

Ahead of Thursday's report, analysts at Needham said they expected a "strong" fourth quarter from Coinbase after Robinhood's better-than-expected earnings and amid a surge in crypto revenue for Robinhood.

Coinbase's earnings bore that out. The company reported fourth-quarter revenue of $2.3 billion, above FactSet consensus of $1.8 billion and 88% higher than third-quarter revenue.

That figure includes transaction revenue of $1.6 billion, and subscription and services revenue of $641 million, thanks to "higher crypto asset prices" and continued growth of Coinbase One subscribers, the company said.

Coinbase had guided for subscription and services revenue between $505 million and $580 million.

For the full year 2024, revenue more than doubled to $6.6 billion, from $2.93 billion in 2023 and FactSet consensus for revenue of $6 billion on the year.

Coinbase guided for first-quarter subscription and services revenue between $685 million and $765 million.

The company reported fourth-quarter earnings of $4.68 a share, also above Wall Street's expectations.

Analysts at Oppenheimer said in a note before the report that their research showed Coinbase taking market share back from competitors in December and January, notably from Robinhood.

After initially jumping in after-hours trading Thursday, the stock gave up its gains and ended the extended session down 1.5%. Shares of Coinbase have gained 112% in the past 12 months, compared with an advance of about 23% for the S&P 500 index SPX.

-Claudia Assis

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February 13, 2025 20:25 ET (01:25 GMT)

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