MW Circle gives crypto investors a reason to cheer by reporting a big jump in profits
By Tomi Kilgore
Stablecoin issuer's quarterly sales surge 77% while a closely watched measure of underlying profitability increased fivefold
Circle Internet, the stablecoin issuer, reported a big jump in fourth-quarter profitability, and the stock looked set to soar.
Shares of Circle Internet Group were surging toward their best day in months in early Wednesday trading, after the stablecoin issuer provided investors with something to cheer about - accelerating profitability and a sales beat.
The report comes as Circle's stock (CRCL) has been suffering in the cryptocurrency world in recent months - as have others - as bitcoin (BTCUSD) has tumbled to trade this month at its lowest prices in 16 months. Through Tuesday, Circle's stock had bounced more than 20% since closing at a record low on Feb. 5, but has still shed 23% this year through Tuesday.
That selloff is in stark contrast to how Circle started its public life on June 5, 2025, when it closed its first day 168.5% above its IPO price, then tripled before peaking at $263.45 on June 23.
On Wednesday, the stock shot up 14.2% in premarket trading, putting it on track for the biggest gain since it climbed 16% on Oct. 2.
The company reported fourth-quarter total revenue that grew 77% from a year ago, to $770.2 million. That beat the average analyst revenue estimate compiled by FactSet of $747.9 million.
Circulation of its USDC digital currency, as of the end of 2025, increased 72% to $75.3 billion. USDC minted rose 107% to $82.4 billion, USDC redeemed was up 157% to $80.9 billion, and stablecoin market share improved by 4.26 percentage points to 28%.
"USDC adoption continued to expand globally as more enterprises, developers, and public institutions integrated digital dollars into real-world payments, treasury, and on-chain financial workflows," said co-Founder and CEO Jeremy Allaire.
The company also showed that profits were increasing rapidly, as adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization - a closely followed measure of underlying profitability - soared 412% from last year to $167 million. That was well above the FactSet consensus of $130.2 million.
And RLDC margin, which is a gauge of profitability on revenue, less distribution costs, improved to 40% from 29.96%.
Earnings per share rose to 43 cents from break-even last year, topping the FactSet EPS consensus of 16 cents.
-Tomi Kilgore
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February 25, 2026 07:32 ET (12:32 GMT)
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