TLDR
- Circle (CRCL) stock closed Tuesday at $75.22 and traded near $74.33 pre-market Wednesday.
- Adjusted EPS was 84 cents, versus the 37 cents analysts expected.
- Total revenue and reserve income rose 17% to $865 million.
- $182 million of revenue came from the ARC token presale, while reserve income fell 8%.
- Circle cut about 5% of its workforce and kept its 2026 guidance.
Circle (CRCL) stock closed Tuesday at $75.22, up 4%. It traded about 1% lower at $74.33 in pre-market on Wednesday as the company posted third-quarter results.
The stablecoin issuer reported adjusted earnings of 84 cents per share. Analysts had expected 37 cents.
Revenue also topped forecasts by more than 11%. Total revenue and reserve income rose 17% to $865 million.
Q3 was a big quarter for Circle.
→ USDC carried 79% of all stablecoin transaction volume, up from 66% a year ago, and $13.9T moved onchain (+49%)
→ A record $208B of USDC was minted and redeemed, about $2.3B every day
→ Arc mainnet went live, with 100+ institutions and apps… pic.twitter.com/euVfyHBUXX
— Jeremy Allaire (@jerallaire) November 4, 2026
Net income from continuing operations came in at $226 million. That compares with $214.4 million a year earlier, a gain of about 5%.
Adjusted EBITDA reached $317 million, up from $171.5 million. That is an increase of 85%.
Where the Beat Came From
A big piece of the quarter came from outside the core business. Circle booked $182 million from the presale of ARC, the token tied to its Arc blockchain.
Other revenue totaled $207 million, versus $29 million a year ago. Circle agreed to sell $242.2 million of ARC at $0.30 per token, at a $3 billion fully diluted valuation.
Circle said the presale and lower distribution costs drove the EBITDA jump. New product spending offset part of it.
Reserve income, the steady earner, went the other way. It fell 8% to $658 million as the reserve return rate dropped 61 basis points.
Distribution, transaction and other costs fell 8% to $412 million, mostly on lower distribution payments. Operating expenses rose 16% to $245 million on higher administrative, IT and marketing costs.
USDC, Arc and the Job Cuts
USDC averaged $73.3 billion in circulation, up 8% from a year ago. Quarter-end circulation was $73.9 billion, unchanged from a year earlier, and market share slipped to 27%.
Onchain USDC volume hit $13.9 trillion, up 49%. Circle also disclosed a workforce cut of about 5%, with $9.1 million in restructuring costs for severance, notice pay and benefits.
The company said the move aligns its structure with its operating model and strategic priorities. It gave no headcount, though it had roughly 1,100 employees at the end of 2025.
Arc’s public mainnet opened Sept. 16 with more than 100 institutional and ecosystem builders. Circle minted 10 billion ARC tokens, which it called a technical milestone and not a commitment to a public launch.
In September, Circle agreed to buy Singapore-based Tazapay, which handles more than $25 billion in annualized payment volume. The deal is expected to close in 2027, pending regulatory approvals.
Binance also bought $100 million of Circle stock in September and signed a new five-year USDC agreement. Circle kept its 2026 guidance of $310 million to $330 million in other revenue and $570 million to $585 million in adjusted operating expenses.
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