Stock analyst Mike Colonnese from the firm H.C. Wainwright more than doubled his price target on Coinbase (COIN 5.68%) early Tuesday morning. Colonnese reiterated a "buy" rating on the crypto-trading veteran, boosting his price target from $115 to $250 per share.
Wainwright now has the highest price target among 22 firms covering the stock and tracked by MarketBeat, suggesting a 44% price gain.
Wainwright's projections
The estimates are based on Coinbase's Street-stomping fourth-quarter report released Feb. 15. The company delivered a modest net profit while the average analyst expected a small loss, and revenue came in 16% above the consensus estimate.
Colonnese also likes Coinbase's robust next-quarter guidance and its long streak of positive earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) during a tough economy with low cryptocurrency prices. Expecting a robust crypto-market push from the upcoming halving of Bitcoin mining rewards, the firm sees Coinbase expanding its dominant market share in American crypto-trading services throughout the next bull run.
Does this analysis make sense?
Coinbase's stock trades at a lofty 13 times sales and 68 times free cash flow. On the other hand, the Bitcoin halving should indeed light a fire under the crypto market, inspiring speculation and long-term investments by the truckload. Coinbase charges robust trading fees along the way, so the probable boom should do wonders for the company's financials.
Mind you, Coinbase entered the public stock market several months into the last halving-based cryptocurrency surge, so there's no helpful history of earlier reactions to these game-changing events. Coinbase is setting a course through uncharted waters, at least from an investor's point of view.
That being said, Colonnese's analysis looks directionally correct, and I do expect Coinbase's stock to surge over the next couple of years. All the way to $250? Perhaps, but a more modest surge would still be good news.
