Coinbye, $COIN: Morgan Stanley slashes target as the exchange’s post-earnings slide deepens

Morgan Stanley cut its price target for Coinbase (COIN) by more than half on Monday, lowering the cryptocurrency exchange’s target from $258 to $120 in a roughly 53% reduction. Analyst Michael Cyprys cited recent trading trends, a softer revenue outlook and uncertainty following Binance’s $6.3 billion hack. The bank still considers Coinbase one of crypto’s strongest competitors but expects its profits to recover more slowly than previously forecast.

Coinbase reported a roughly 34% year-over-year decline in third-quarter net revenue to $1.16 billion on Oct. 29. The exchange posted $719 million in net income, largely driven by gains on cryptocurrency investments, while adjusted net income was $78 million.

The earnings triggered a selloff in crypto-linked stocks on Friday, with Coinbase shares falling more than 13% in midday trading amid the fallout from the Binance hack. Circle shares declined more than 9%, while Strategy fell about 8%.

Coinbase extended its losses on Monday, dropping more than 3.3% to $138 at the time of writing, according to Yahoo Finance data. Yahoo Finance Magazine separately reported that Binance hackers raced to move billions before the funds could be frozen.