CRCL Stock Faces September Catalysts: Bernstein Sees $140 Target, Susquehanna Says ‘More Competitors Are Showing Up’

• Bernstein kept an ‘Outperform’ rating and $140 target on Circle, whereas Susquehanna raised its target to $92 from $69 but stayed ‘Neutral.’
• Bernstein said Circle's growth cycle was independent of the Clarity Act passing in the September session.
• USDC supply added $1.7 billion last week after six months of decline, according to Bernstein.

Shares of Circle Internet (CRCL) rose on Monday after Bernstein and Susquehanna raised their price targets on the stock, but the two firms had starkly different outlooks for the stablecoin issuer as progress on the CLARITY Act remains stuck.

Bernstein analysts led by Gautam Chhugani reportedly raised CRCL’s price target to $140, which implied roughly 59% upside from Friday's close of $87.98. Chhugani assigned an ‘Outperform’ rating to the stock, saying the company could continue to grow regardless of progress on the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act (CLARITY Act), as per The Block. 

Why Is Bernstein Bullish On CRCL?

Chhugani stated that both Bitcoin (BTC) and stablecoins stand to benefit from a macro regime shift, with the apex cryptocurrency benefiting from renewed demand for “hard assets” and stablecoins soaking the increase in Treasury bill supply. 

"We believe this growth cycle is in dependent of the Clarity Act passing in the September session," the analysts wrote. "We believe the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)/ Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) intervention would accelerate if the Senate does not support Clarity in the Sept. 15 vote."

Without legislation, third-party stablecoin rewards would remain under the current model, but if Clarity passes, rewards would be tied to user activity, Bernstein said, adding that either outcome would be positive for USD Coin (USDC). The analyst attributed Circle’s growth to the macro shift, real-world blockchain capital markets, the adoption of stablecoin payments, and the increasing use of stablecoins for agentic payments.

Bernstein On Circle’s Growth

After almost six months of decline, USDC supply grew by about $1.7 billion in a week, Bernstein said, noting that the stablecoin was used as collateral in decentralized finance (DeFi) tokenized equities, real-world asset perpetual futures, and prediction markets. 

The firm said adjusted stablecoin transaction volume, excluding bots and high-frequency activity, totaled around $11 trillion in 2025 and is now on track for an annualized $17 trillion through July, up roughly 60% year-over-year.

CRCL stock was up 1% in premarket trading. On Stocktwits, the retail sentiment around CRCL remained in the ‘bullish’ zone, while chatter around it stayed at ‘high’ levels over the past day.

Susquehanna Stays ‘Neutral’

Susquehanna also lifted its target to $92 from $69 while keeping a ‘Neutral’ rating, leaving about 5% upside from Friday’s close. The firm said the price target increase was based on peer multiple expansion and upside catalysts, not a change to fundamentals. 

The firm touted a catalyst roadmap into the end of 2026 that includes the Clarity Act vote next month, Arc’s public launch on September 16, a Digital Asset Tax Bill in late September and Circle’s new Trust Bank. It also flagged that reserve income still accounted for 95% of Circle's revenue and that the Coinbase (COIN) revenue share weighed on margins, adding that "more competitors are showing up."

COIN stock was up over 1% during pre-market trading. On Stocktwits, the retail sentiment around COIN remained in the ‘extremely bullish’ zone, while chatter around it stayed at ‘high’ levels over the past day.

Read also: Bitcoin Surges In Strongest Weekly Gain Since 2023 – But This One Key Trading Metric Is Drawing Attention

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