Coinbase faces downgrades

Wall Street analysts cut their calls on Coinbase this week after a first-quarter slowdown in crypto trading threatened the exchange’s next earnings report. (coindesk.com) Barclays downgraded Coinbase to underweight on April 8 and cut its price target to $140, according to multiple reports, after estimating first-quarter trading volume of about $196 billion. Barclays said global crypto trading had fallen to levels not seen since late 2023. (finance.yahoo.com) CoinDesk reported on April 11 that Oppenheimer also lowered its volume and revenue estimates for Coinbase, though it stayed more constructive than Barclays. Other market reports said Monness Crespi Hardt cut the stock to sell as weaker token prices and thinner volumes hit profit forecasts. (coindesk.com) (cryptorank.io) Coinbase’s business still depends heavily on transaction fees, so lower trading activity usually means lower revenue within the same quarter. That pressure comes just two months after the company said 2025 total trading volume had risen 156% year over year and subscription and services revenue hit a record. (investor.coinbase.com) The timing matters because Coinbase reported fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 results on February 12, 2026, and investors are now looking ahead to its next quarterly update in mid-May. MarketBeat and Zacks both list Coinbase’s next earnings report as expected on May 14, 2026. (investor.coinbase.com) (marketbeat.com) (zacks.com) The first-quarter backdrop was weaker across the crypto market, not just at Coinbase. CoinDesk said March spot-market trading volume fell to its lowest level in more than two years, and FalconX said U.S. venues including Coinbase and Kraken gained share even as total spot volumes compressed. (coindesk.com) (falconx.io) Coinbase has been trying to make itself less dependent on trading booms by adding steadier businesses such as subscriptions, custody, staking and stablecoin-related revenue. In its February shareholder letter, the company also highlighted growth in Coinbase One and said it had doubled total trading volume and crypto trading market share in 2025. (investor.coinbase.com) Coinbase did not appear to issue a public response to the April analyst downgrades on its investor news page as of April 12, 2026. The next test is whether May earnings show that weaker first-quarter trading was a short lull or a deeper problem for a fee-driven exchange. (investor.coinbase.com)