JPMorgan upgrades target for Circle shares amid new partnerships, 'solid' earnings

Given Circle's strong third-quarter earnings and the issuer of USDC stablecoin's success in forging significant partnerships, JPMorgan analysts upgraded the company's shares to "overweight" in a research note on Thursday.

In the note, JPMorgan analysts issued a new stock price target for Circle of $100 by December 2026. Circle's shares, which shot up above $250 in the weeks after its June initial public offering, have since dropped to about $85 as of Thursday morning.

"We are upgrading Circle shares from Underweight to Overweight. Circle reported solid 3Q25 results with key metrics exceeding expectations," the analysts said. "We see fundamentals as largely improving and a pipeline of use cases and substantial corporates choosing to partner with Circle building."

The JPMorgan analysts singled out Circle's plans to work with Deutsche Börse, Finastra, Visa, and Brazilian banking giant Itau as examples of key USDC-related partnerships. "We would expect to see both USDC market share build as well as the mix of USDC improve for Circle in 2026. As the network strengthens, the pace of USDC adoption should grow and the outlook for higher margins increases," they added.

Last month, the analysts highlighted the fact that USDC's growth in onchain activity and market capitalization had been outpacing its chief competitor USDT, which is issued by El Salvador-based Tether. 

While JPMorgan analysts say Circle maintains an early-mover advantage in the "nascent stablecoin market," they have also acknowledged the company faces strong competition from not only Tether, but also decentralized exchange Hyperliquid, which is preparing to launch a native stablecoin. Several other fintechs are also preparing to launch their own USD-pegged tokens, meaning the number of stablecoin issuers is set to rise markedly.

Growth across the largest stablecoin issuers continues to steadily grow, while overall supply has plateaued slightly in recent weeks. With the U.S. government passing into law its stablecoin framework earlier this year, the GENIUS Act , the American market is poised for additional growth as the USD-pegged tokens edge further into the mainstream.