COIN Stock Plunges 8% on Downgrade, Disappointing Coinbase Q4 Earnings

COIN stock declined by 8% due to a combination of Wall Street analyst downgrades, reduced price targets, and Coinbase’s weaker-than-expected Q4 2025 earnings report, which reflected a broader downturn in the crypto market.

COIN Stock Falls 8% on Wall Street Downgrades, Selloff by CEO Armstrong

Coinbase Global shares fell 8% to $141.09 on Thursday after Wall Street analysts lowered price targets, including Monness Crespi Hardt’s downgrade of COIN stock from buy to sell. The stock has declined more than 40% year-to-date and 66% over the past year.

Monness analysts, along with other Wall Street firms such as JPMorgan, sharply reduced price targets in response to prolonged weakness in the crypto market, which is expected to negatively affect revenue, EBITDA, and EPS forecasts through 2026 and 2027.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong’s ongoing Coinbase stake selloff was not well received by investors, resulting in significant profit-taking. Armstrong sold $101 million in COIN stock in January.

Brian Armstrong sold nearly $550 million in COIN shares last year, representing about 5% of his total stake. In addition, the delay in the CLARITY Act due to Coinbase’s withdrawal of support further weakened investor sentiment.

Coinbase Reports Disappointing Q4 2025 Earnings Results

Coinbase Q4 earnings results fell short of Wall Street expectations, underscoring ongoing challenges in a bearish crypto environment. Despite initiatives to expand into new product lines and international markets, the company continues to face volatility in crypto prices and regulatory uncertainty.

The company reported a net loss of $666.7 million, or $2.49 per share, for the three months ended December 31. Total revenue was $1.78 billion, below analyst expectations of $1.83 billion. Earnings per share (EPS) were -2.49 compared to 0.96, missing analyst estimates by 359.38%.

Coinbase’s transaction revenue fell to $982.7 million during the quarter, down from $1.56 billion a year earlier, due to reduced trading volumes. In contrast, the company’s subscription and services revenue increased by 13.5% to $727.4 million, reflecting steady growth in stablecoin operations.

Coinbase and COIN Stock Outlook in 2026

During the conference call, CEO Brian Armstrong and CFO Alesia Haas focused on Coinbase’s strong positioning entering 2026, despite ongoing challenges related to crypto market volatility.

Management plans to focus on advancing the “Everything Exchange” vision, scaling stablecoin and payment operations, and promoting broader blockchain adoption through deeper DeFi protocol integrations and the Base network.

“Our strong balance sheet and progress on the Everything Exchange gives us the ability to continue investing in these market conditions. We’ll keep buying Bitcoin, we’ll continue to buy our stock back, and we won’t stop building,” said Brian Armstrong.

COIN stock price increased by 0.87% to $142.32 in after-hours trading on Thursday. Bitwise research analyst Cam Khosravi noted that the stock is trading significantly below its 30-day simple moving average and is in the relative strength index oversold zone. Analysts have lowered their 12-month price targets to a range between $300 and $350.