By Joe Light
Circle Internet Group on Monday reported first-quarter earnings of 21 cents a share, beating analysts' estimates for a per-share gain of 19 cents. The company reported $694 million in revenue, below the $715 million expected by analysts tracked by FactSet.
In Monday's premarket session session, the stock rose 5.7% to $120.20.
This is breaking news. Read a preview of Circle's earnings report below.
Circle Internet Group on Monday reports first-quarter earnings before the market open. The company is increasingly looking like an artificial-intelligence play.
Analysts expect Circle to report earnings per share of 19 cents, compared to EPS of 43 cents in the fourth quarter and 30 cents in the first quarter of 2025, according to FactSet. Revenue is expected to come in at $715 million, compared to $579 million during the same period last year.
Shares of Circle have risen nearly 40% this year to $111, though they're well off their high of $298.99 hit shortly after the company's IPO last June.
Circle is the issuer of USDC, a so-called stablecoin whose value is pegged to the dollar and is backed by reserves such as Treasuries. The company founded USDC in partnership with Coinbase Global and splits the interest it receives with the crypto trading firm. Stablecoins have traditionally been used to buy other cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and their prospects have risen and fallen with interest in crypto trading.
Lately crypto trading is in the doldrums, but some Circle proponents have been making the case for why that might not matter for the company in the future.
Recently, company executives have expressed optimism that USDC could become a currency heavily used by "agents," autonomous software that uses AI to do research and make and execute plans set by their users. Agent platforms such as OpenClaw have exploded in popularity over the past several months. The blockchains that stablecoins travel on have settle instantly and have low fees, even for tiny payments, potentially making them preferable for machine-to-machine transactions and other use cases that might one day be powered by AI agents.
Potential AI growth is especially important for Circle in this environment, as the traditional use for stablecoins -- crypto trading -- has continued to stagnate. Robinhood Markets in April said its crypto trading revenue fell 47% year-over-year in the first quarter.
Battles in Congress could also hamper crypto industry growth. A bill that would establish rules around crypto trading, which the industry has sought for years, appears to be on a knife's edge after a fight between banks and crypto firms delayed a key committee vote. Part of that debate has centered around crypto firms' ability to pay yields to investors on stablecoin deposits. Banks say the crypto accounts could drain their deposits and have sought a ban on yields that would make holding stablecoins such as USDC much less desirable.
Of the 27 analysts tracked by FactSet, 13 have the equivalent of a "Buy" rating on the stock while two have a "Sell" rating.
Write to Joe Light at joe.light@barrons.com
This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 11, 2026 06:40 ET (10:40 GMT)
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