Goldman Sachs Calls Coinbase a 'Tactical Trade,' Predicts Q2 Earnings Beat

Coinbase is in position to beat Wall Street's estimates for its second-quarter financial results, according to a new Goldman Sachs memo that labels the crypto exchange a "top 25 tactical trade."

Citing Goldman's "buy" rating for COIN, researchers on the investment bank’s derivatives team said in the note to clients that the recent parade of negative crypto headlines could paradoxically help lead to an earnings beat.

That’s because “significantly elevated crypto asset volatility” led to a boom in trading volume that Coinbase can profit from through fees, the note said. The new report pointed to a July 8 note by Goldman's Will Nance, which said that even if bitcoin's price stays low, skittish users paying high fees to trade is a lucrative position for the exchange. 

In his note, Nance said that investors turned off by COIN’s post-listing slump – shares are down more than 25% from their peak – could start “reengaging in the coming quarters.” Coinbase listed its shares on Nasdaq in April.

Goldman acknowledged its earnings-per-share estimate for Coinbase is “11% above consensus” for the year ahead. The firm was a financial adviser to Coinbase's public listing in April.

Coinbase was trading down 2.5% Monday afternoon at $248 per share.

Correction (July 16, 14:21 UTC): Coinbase's second-quarter earnings call was not on July 15; the date has not been announced yet.