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4 Cryptocurrency Stocks in Focus After a Volatile September

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Wall Street had a solid run in the first seven months of the year before the rally came to a halt in August. Markets have since been volatile as inflation remains stubbornly high. This has made the Fed hint at another quarter percentage point interest rate hike this year. Moreover, the Fed also said that the higher interest rates are likely to continue for a longer period.

Also, the central bank cut its rate cut forecast to two from four, which won’t come before September 2024. Higher interest rates negatively affect high-growth sectors like technology, consumer discretionary and cryptocurrencies.

The Fed’s hawkish stance came as a major setback for the cryptocurrency market. Cryptocurrencies that made a solid turnaround this year after an unimpressive 2023 have also been suffering lately.

Bitcoin Rebounds

August and September have been particularly unimpressive for cryptocurrencies as the Fed’s hawkish stance saw treasury yields soar to multi-year highs. This has been taking a toll on all major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Cardano (ADA) and Dogecoin (DOGE).

However, Bitcoin started October on a high as its price hit a four-week high. Bitcoin jumped 3% to $27,921 on Oct 2 after trading above the $28,000 mark for most of the session, its highest level since Aug 17. Also, Ethereum crossed the $1,700 mark on the same day before giving up most of its gains.

Understandably, after a dull August and September, October is also expected to remain volatile as investors remain concerned about a slowing economy.

Other Factors Pose Challenges

Inflation continues to be stubbornly high despite a sharp decline over the past year and much above the Fed’s target of 2%. To make things worse, crude oil prices have been rising over the past month.

Crude oil prices reached their highest settlement level for the year in the last week of September. This surge in oil prices has raised concerns among investors as it will impact transportation costs, leading to an overall increase in the aggregate price level.

Soaring crude oil prices have made the Fed’s job even more difficult as it struggles to curb multi-decade high inflation.

Stocks in Focus

NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA - Free Report) is a major player in the semiconductor industry and has been one of the standout success stories of 2023. As a leading designer of graphic processing units (GPUs), the value of the NVDA stock tends to surge in a thriving crypto market. This is primarily due to the crucial role that GPUs play in data centers, artificial intelligence and the mining or production of cryptocurrencies.

NVIDIA’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 219.5%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 39.3% over the last 60 days. NVIDIA presently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Visa Inc. (V - Free Report) is taking a significant step toward modernizing cross-border money movement. In a move aimed at enhancing the efficiency of global transactions, V is expanding its stablecoin settlement capabilities to the high-performing Solana blockchain. This expansion of V includes collaboration with prominent merchant acquirers Worldpay and Nuvei, marking a pivotal development in the world of digital payments.

Visa Inc.’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 15.3%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 0.7% over the last 90 days. V currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Block, Inc. (SQ - Free Report) is an online digital and mobile payment platform for consumers and merchants and is the parent company of Square and Cash App. The users of Cash App can buy, sell, send and receive Bitcoin. In addition, SQ’s decentralized tbd platform allows developers to build decentralized finance applications to run on programmable blockchains. SQ is also one of the largest Bitcoin investors.

Block’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 69%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 2.4% over the last 60 days. SQ presently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Robinhood Markets, Inc. (HOOD - Free Report) operates a financial services platform in the United States. Its platform allows users to invest in stocks, exchange-traded funds, options, gold, and cryptocurrencies. HOOD buys and sells Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin, and other cryptocurrencies using its Robinhood Crypto platform.

Robinhood Markets expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 57.3%.The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 19.4% over the last 90 days. Robinhood Markets currently has a Zacks Rank #3.

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