After a year of underperformance, Coinbase is getting a vote of confidence from Goldman Sachs. The bank upgraded shares of the cryptocurrency exchange to a buy rating from neutral. It also lifted its 12-month price target to $303 per share from $294, which implies upside of 28%. Shares of Coinbase have slipped 13% over the past 12 months, while the S & P 500 is up 15% in that time. COIN 1Y mountain COIN 1Y chart Goldman analyst James Yaro said that Coinbase's underperformance has opened up an attractive entry point for investors. Higher valuation should come over time, as Coinbase shifts from cyclical to structural growth, he said. Yaro also applauded Coinbase's strong business fundamentals. "COIN's scale and brand recognition continue to drive above average-revenue growth, market share gains, with a best-in-class [customer acquisition cost]...supplemented by recent product rollouts that make COIN more competitive generally, and specifically in new structural growth products," he wrote. The analyst sees more upside stemming from further growth in Coinbase's core offering, alongside new products and its growing crypto infrastructure businesses. "We are constructive on COIN's growing exposure to crypto infrastructure businesses through its subscription & services offerings, which should dampen earnings volatility over time," he said. "These have grown from < 5% of revenue to ~40% from 2020-25E, and we expect further robust growth (13% p.a. from 2025E-27E), as the crypto ecosystem expands to use cases beyond trading. Being less sensitive to crypto volumes, these businesses should support earnings vol falling." Yaro added that Coinbase's subscription and services businesses include a number of areas such as custody, stablecoins, staking and prime brokerage.
