Circle stock climbs 13% as stablecoin use cases grow

Circle stock climbs 13% as stablecoin use cases grow David Hollerith · Senior Reporter Updated Mon, May 11, 2026 at 11:47 PM GMT+7 4 min read CRCL USDC-USD Circle Internet Group (CRCL) stock seesawed on Monday before landing 13% higher by midday. The stablecoin issuer reported its first quarter earnings amid a volatile year for crypto. Revenue climbed 20% year over year to $694 million, while earnings declined 15% to $55 million, or $0.21 per share. Analysts were expecting $46 million in profits and $721 million in total revenue. However, investor optimism was lifted by higher stablecoin margins, a big token sale to institutions, and growing use-case opportunities. Its flagship stablecoin, (USDC-USD), ended the first quarter with $77 billion in circulation. That’s a 28% increase from a year earlier and 2.3% from the end of 2025. Crucially, the company earned a higher margin on its stablecoin reserves during the period, signaling less dependence on third-party platforms like crypto exchanges Coinbase Global (COIN) and Binance. “They’re getting more of the volume from their platform, which means they’re relying less on some of the third-party platforms,” Mizuho analyst Dan Dolev said in an interview, adding that the company is steadily growing use cases for stablecoins. “Shares will probably remain volatile,” William Blair analyst Andrew Jeffrey wrote to clients. “But our view is that investor focus will shift from short-term considerations…to Circle’s significant stablecoin commerce competitive advantage,” Jeffrey added. Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire described the usage growth of the firm’s stablecoin as “extraordinary” during an interview with Yahoo Finance. He also pointed to the company’s future opportunity to facilitate AI agent payments. “We believe we are going through the largest platform shift in the history of the internet, and it is accelerating,” Allaire said. Circle left its guidance unchanged while adding that it expects to share revisions in the second quarter. The company went public last summer in a blockbuster IPO as the first US publicly listed stablecoin issuer. After skyrocketing in the days following that listing, shares are still down more than 50% from their high. However, Circle stock is up 56% on the year. Stablecoins are crypto tokens with prices pegged to another asset, most often US dollars. Because their prices fluctuate far less than those of other cryptocurrencies, these digital assets play a key role in the crypto world, primarily for traders seeking a safe haven during volatile crypto market conditions. But the larger ambition for Circle and many other crypto players is for stablecoins to gain wider adoption in cross-border transactions and online commerce. This includes the newer frontier of so-called agentic commerce, where artificial intelligence agents autonomously conduct buying and selling. Circle announced on Monday that it’s rolling out a suite of tools for software programmers and AI agents to more easily use USDC. In late April, Meta quietly rolled out support for paying content creators in USDC, starting with workers in Colombia and the Philippines. Earlier this year, Circle notched an infrastructure partnership with predictions market Polymarket. In a sign that big institutions are continuing to invest in the firm’s efforts, Circle also said Monday that it sold $222 million of Arc, the native token of a new blockchain it’s planning to launch. The investor group included Apollo Global Management, Andreessen Horowitz, BlackRock, and New York Stock Exchange parent company Intercontinental Exchange. (Disclosure: Yahoo is a portfolio company of funds managed by affiliates of Apollo Global Management.) Circle’s USDC has been a big winner from the Trump administration’s push to make the US a major crypto hub by ushering in a favorable regulatory framework. Last summer, President Trump signed the first federal legislation for dollar-pegged stablecoins like USDC. After much delay, the Senate Banking Committee is planning a markup hearing Thursday on another major crypto bill, known as the CLARITY Act. The hope is that the bill is signed before August. “We’ve been very clear that the network affects liquidity and global reach of our network, along with sound regulation, make USDC the preferred option for major enterprises integrating this technology,” Allaire told analysts on Monday. David Hollerith covers the financial sector, ranging from the country s biggest banks to regional lenders, private equity firms, and the cryptocurrency space. Click here for in-depth analysis of the latest stock market news and events moving stock prices Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance

Circle stock climbs 13% as stablecoin use cases grow

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