Coinbase Off to a Good Start in 2023: JPMorgan

Coinbase’s (COIN) fourth-quarter adjusted loss per share of $2.46 beat JPMorgan’s estimate of a $2.85 loss per share but was worse than the consensus of $2.17 loss per share reported to Bloomberg, JPM said in a research report on Tuesday.

The bank raised its price target on Coinbase to $57 from $52, but maintained its neutral rating. At the time of writing, shares of Coinbase were down 1.5% at $61.16 in premarket trading.

“Coinbase is well positioned to deliver notable year-on-year improvement in EBITDA at current expense levels with the marked improvement in overall crypto volumes in 2023 thus far combined with somewhat better than anticipated costs cutting going into 1Q23,” analysts led by Kenneth B. Worthington wrote.

Unsurprisingly, trading volumes remained weak during the fourth quarter, but this was offset by take rates and higher interest income, the report added.

One of the biggest contributors to fourth-quarter revenue was from Coinbase’s relationship with Circle. Subscription revenue continued to grow in the quarter with USD coin (USDC) generating $146 million of interest income for the exchange, the report added.

More importantly, Coinbase said it now aims to generate positive earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) “in all market conditions,” whereas previously it aimed to operate at EBITDA break-even across each crypto cycle, said JPMorgan.

The bank says this is a notable change given the level of restructuring and “business realignment” in the past several quarters.

Read more: Coinbase Q4 Revenue and Earnings Beat Expectations, but Transaction Volume Falls 12% From Q3