Circle Stock Rallies 15% as Wall Street Bets on Stablecoin Adoption

Shares of stablecoin issuer Circle surged Monday after the company reported mostly upbeat earnings and disclosed that a major crypto venture capital fund had purchased $222 million worth of its blockchain tokens.

Circle’s shares rose almost 16% to close at $131.76, its highest level since March 18, according to Yahoo Finance. CRCL stock gave back some of its gains in initial after-hours activity.

The gain extends Circle’s strong run in 2026. Shares are now up 66% year to date, giving the company a market capitalization of roughly $35 billion.

Circle (CRCL) stock. Source: Yahoo Finance

Monday’s surge pushed Circle shares closer to Wall Street’s consensus price target of $138.50, according to TipRanks.

Among the most bullish analysts is Peter Christiansen of Citigroup, who has a 12-month price target of $243. Gautam Chhugani of Bernstein has set a target of $190. Both analysts, along with 10 others tracked by TipRanks, rate the stock a “buy.”

Related: Circle stock sinks 10% amid analyst downgrade, Drift Protocol probe

Strong earnings and Arc token raise stoke optimism

Circle’s rally was driven by a largely upbeat earnings report and fresh details about its expanding blockchain strategy.

The company said its USDC stablecoin reached $77 billion in circulation at the end of the first quarter, up 28% from a year earlier. Only Tether’s USDt has a larger circulating value, at $189 billion.

During the first quarter, Circle’s revenue rose 20% to $694 million, while adjusted earnings increased 24% to $151 million.

Circle’s key financial metrics for Q1 2026. Source: Circle

In its earnings report, Circle also disclosed that it raised $222 million in a presale of its ARC token, a blockchain-based utility token designed to support transactions within its Arc network. The fundraising valued the project at $3 billion.

“The successful adoption of the Arc network, including through the benefit of the ARC token, has a huge flywheel effect onto our stablecoin network and our digital assets,” Circle CEO and co-founder Jeremy Allaire told analysts on the company’s earnings call on Monday.

Investors in the round included a16z Crypto and a consortium featuring BlackRock, Apollo Global Management and ARK Invest. 

Analysts said the results reinforced Circle’s leadership in the fast-growing stablecoin market.

Andrew Jeffrey of William Blair told clients that Circle shares “will probably remain volatile” in the near term, but said the company has multiple positive catalysts driven by its “significant stablecoin commerce advantage.”

Dan Dolev of Mizuho said Circle continues to demonstrate new use cases for stablecoins, broadening the technology’s role beyond crypto trading.

Related: Crypto Biz: Wall Street wants more than just Bitcoin