HOOD, COIN, GLXY Price Targets Slashed Ahead Of Q1 Earnings – What’s Behind The ‘Impaired’ Crypto Sentiment?

• Coinbase shares saw the steepest price target cut among the three to $355 from $400. 
• The price targets for Robinhood’s stock were lowered to $155 from $180, and for Galaxy Digital’s stock to $55 from $60. 
• Citizens said crypto sentiment remains “impaired” in the near term due to weaker activity, with institutional trading as the “clearest bright spot” in the first quarter.

Shares of Robinhood Markets (HOOD), Coinbase Global (COIN), and Galaxy Digital (GLXY) edged lower in pre-market trade on Friday after Citizens lowered its price target on the three equities, citing “impaired” crypto sentiment in the near-term.

According to a note to investors cited by TheFly, Coinbase shares saw the steepest price target cut among the three to $355 from $400. Citizens also lowered its price target on Robinhood’s stock to $155 from $180 and on Galaxy Digital’s stock to $55 from $60. It maintained an ‘Outperform’ rating on all three. The revisions were part of the firm’s broader first-quarter (Q1) earnings preview.

Crypto Sentiment Remains Under Pressure

Citizens said the market is placing too much emphasis on the current slowdown and is disregarding medium-term policy and business catalysts. The resulting volatility is the “central challenge” across the capital markets and fintech sector, the firm noted.

It stated that capital market conditions "were better in pockets than in breadth," with institutional trading the "clearest bright spot” in the quarter. 

What Are Retail Traders Saying?

COIN’s stock edged 0.5% lower in premarket trade, while the broader equity and cryptocurrency markets traded flat. Retail sentiment around the company on Stocktwits trended in ‘bearish’ territory over the past day, accompanied by chatter at ‘normal’ levels. 

While Robinhood and Galaxy Digital’s shares also moved lower in pre-market trade, retail sentiment around the two crypto-linked equities on Stocktwits fared better.

HOOD’s stock moved 0.6% lower in premarket trade and saw retail sentiment improve to ‘bullish’ from ‘neutral’ territory over the past day. Chatter increased to ‘high’ from ‘normal’ levels. 

Some users on the platform expressed frustration with the fact that Robinhood’s stock has been moving more in line with Bitcoin (BTC) rather than the equities market. Bitcoin’s price edged 0.5% higher in the last 24 hours, holding above the $71,000 mark.

Meanwhile, GLXY’s stock dipped 0.24% in pre-market trade, on track to break its 5-day winning streak. Retail sentiment on Stocktwits jumped to ‘extremely bullish’ from ‘neutral’ territory, accompanied by chatter at ‘high’ levels. 

Commentary from retail traders on the platform pointed to its new collaboration with BlackRock and the development of the Helios data center campus as the source of optimism. Galaxy Digital announced on Thursday that it had been selected by BlackRock as one of the approved validators powering staking for the firm’s new iShares Staked Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHB). 

The company also released its annual report on Thursday, highlighting gains from its Helios data center campus. CEO Mike Novogratz said the company’s longer-term goal is to build a multi-billion-dollar portfolio of digital infrastructure assets diversified across regions, tenants, and technologies. 

GLXY’s stock has fallen more than 7% year-to-date, while HOOD’s stock is down nearly 40% and COIN’s stock has dipped over 26%. 

Read also: Arthur Hayes Dismisses Iran’s Hormuz Crypto Toll, Says IRGC Might Be 'Trolling' Global Financial System

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