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.
Shares traded nearly 5% higher in pre-market trading, as of 9:23 a.m. ET.
The company reported diluted earnings per share ahead of Wall Street estimates, but missed revenue estimates.
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.
Shares traded nearly 5% higher in pre-market trading, as of 9:23 a.m. ET.
Image source: The Motley Fool.
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?
Moving the conversation to AI agents
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.
Should you buy Circle stock?
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.
