TD Cowen thinks a turnaround for Circle Internet Group may be in the cards, yet Morgan Stanley thinks it may be time to dump the stock. TD Cowen initiated the stablecoin issuer with a buy rating. Its price target of $82 indicates upside of 31% from Friday's close. "We see a compelling combination of attractive growth + diversification via USDC circulation, rapidly growing high margin fee-based revenues & Arc optionality and think the Street underestimates the evolution into a platform player," wrote analyst Bryan Bergin in a note. Circle shares have struggled, falling 21% year to date as crypto markets struggle. Bitcoin , the flagship cryptocurrency, has lost 28% of its value in 2026. Adding to the stock's downturn is uncertainty around the passing of the Clarity Act — which aims to define regulations within the crypto industry. The legislation has hit snags in Congress, despite President Donald Trump calling for its passing . CRCL YTD mountain CRCL year to date Yet Bergin views Circle as "an attractive vehicle for investors seeking exposure to the institutionalization of stablecoins and the modernization of global financial infrastructure." "We believe Circle is steadily evolving into a broader financial infrastructure platform spanning payments, treasury, tokenized RWA, interoperability, and developer services," he said. Not everyone is as bullish on the stock, however. Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock to underweight from equal weight. It also slashed its price target to $38 from $106, implying downside of 39% from Friday's close. Analyst James Faucette noted that stablecoin utility remains "more limited than headline activity implies." "Stablecoin activity remains overwhelmingly skewed toward crypto trading and transfer activity rather than payments. McKinsey estimates roughly $35T of adjusted volume, of which only $390B represents identifiable payments (which will still think may be optimistic), or roughly 0.5% of unadjusted activity and about 1% of adjusted activity," he wrote to clients. "While there are real and growing use cases in cross-border B2B and consumer remittances (including stablecoin-linked card spending) that are driving transaction velocity, they have not yet demonstrated the ability to create the durable balances or recurring transaction economics needed to offset pressure on Circle's reserve-income model," he added. Overall, analysts are also split on the stock. LSEG data shows that 16 of the 30 analysts covering Circle rate it a hold or sell. The remaining 14 rate it a buy or strong buy. Shares were down nearly 6% in the premarket.