Is Circle Internet Group a Buy After Their Latest Earnings Report?

Bram Berkowitz, The Motley Fool Mon, May 11, 2026 at 9:04 PM GMT+7 4 min read CRCL USDC-USD In the first quarter of 2026, Circle Internet Group (NASDAQ: CRCL), the issuer of the stablecoin USDC, reported diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.21 on total revenue of over $694 million, up roughly 20% year over year. While diluted EPS beat Wall Street analyst estimates, revenue missed expectations of $715 million, according to Barron s. Will AI create the world s first trillionaire? Our team just released a report on a little-known company, called an "Indispensable Monopoly," providing the critical technology Nvidia and Intel both need. Continue » Shares traded nearly 5% higher in pre-market trading, as of 9:23 a.m. ET. Management also expects USDC in circulation to have a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 40% through the cycle, and for other revenue, comprised of various income streams outside holding reserves in USDC and earning interest, to come in at $160 million at the midpoint of their full-year guidance. The guidance also doesn t include any impact from Circle s future ARC token revenue streams, the company s public blockchain being built for institutional finance. Is the stock a buy after the earnings report? One might think Circle s revenue miss would lead to a sell-off in its shares today. However, in addition to its earnings report, Circle also announced the launch of Circle Agent Stack, a set of products and tools that power artificial intelligence agents to hold assets, discover new services, and autonomously transact with USDC across certain blockchains and payment protocols. "USDC is uniquely well-suited for the agentic economy because it is internet-native, programmable, and always available," Circle s Chief Product and Technology Officer Nikhil Chandhok said in a statement. "By combining trusted digital dollars with programmable wallets, service discovery, machine-readable controls, and payment infrastructure built for software, we re helping developers build systems where agents can transact as seamlessly as software communicates." Stablecoins, digital assets pegged to a commodity or currency, such as the U.S. dollar, have tremendous potential because they can be transferred to anyone with internet access, easily converted to other cryptocurrencies and fiat currencies, and typically cost much less than traditional payment methods. In theory, if one could leverage AI to find more ways to pay with stablecoins, they could save a lot in transaction fees. While all of this is very exciting, investors should remember that Circle currently generates most of its revenue right now by investing U.S. dollar reserves backing stablecoins into U.S. Treasury bills and other instruments with yields tied to interest rates. So if interest rates decline, that could actually negatively impact revenue, though if Circle can keep growing USDC in circulation at a 40% CAGR and, therefore, reserves, that could still lead to strong growth, regardless of where interest rates go. The AI component and initiatives generating other revenue are exciting but difficult to predict, as is the actual growth in USDC circulation. Circle s stock is also coming off a big run last week after lawmakers seemed to agree on language in the CLARITY Act, a regulatory framework for crypto, which Congress is seeking to pass this year. The language would not allow stablecoins to earn passive yield while essentially just sitting in someone s account, but would allow rewards on other actions, such as payment transactions. Circle now trades at nearly 95 times forward earnings and roughly nine times forward revenue. The stock is not cheap, and investors seem to be pricing in a lot of growth based on factors that aren t easy to predict, which is why I m cautious on the name right now. Before you buy stock in Circle Internet Group, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Circle Internet Group wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $471,827!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,319,291!* Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 986% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 207% for the S&P 500. Don t miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors. *Stock Advisor returns as of May 11, 2026. Bram Berkowitz has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Is Circle Internet Group a Buy After Their Latest Earnings Report

Is Circle Internet Group a Buy After Their Latest Earnings Report?

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