DeFi Technologies Inc. (DEFT:NASDAQ; DEFI:CBOE; R9B:FSE) received approval to list its common shares on the NASDAQ starting today, under the symbol DEFT, reported Benchmark Analyst Mark Palmer in a May 12 research note. Benchmark increased its target price on the fintech firm on expected growth in 2025.
"We believe DeFi's uplisting to the NASDAQ is likely to result in significantly increased liquidity for the stock, broader institutional ownership and sell-side coverage of its shares and a lower overall cost of capital for the company," Palmer wrote.
DeFi, offering exposure to a differentiated portfolio of cryptocurrencies, no longer will trade on the OTC. It will, however, continue on the CBOE in Canada (symbol DEFI), where it has traded since September 2016, and on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (symbol R9B).
Target Price Raised
Benchmark raised its target price on the digital assets firm to CA$8 per share from CA$5 based on 15x its forecasted full-year 2025 earnings per share (EPS) of CA$0.53, noted Palmer.
"Our bullish stance toward DeFi's shares is rooted in our confidence that it will be able to execute on its aggressive growth plans during the balance of the year and beyond," wrote the analyst.
Those include adding at least 40 new crypto-focused exchange-traded products (ETPs) by year-end, taking the total count to more than 100. Plans also include expansion in the U.K., Africa, Asia and the Middle East, toward which the company has been working.
DeFi announced in its last monthly update that it increased its assets under management (AUM) in April to CA$988 (CA$988M), reflecting an 11.7% month-over-month increase. This is attributed to rising crypto prices and CA$10.8M of net inflows into DeFi's ETPs. In other growth news, the DeFi Alpha trading desk closed a CA$30.5M arbitrage trade on May 5.
Stock Undervalued, 44% Uplift
DeFi was trading, at the time of Palmer's report, at CA$5.55 per share, the analyst noted. While this level is consistent with the fintech's growth prospects, it is at a steep discount to other crypto-related stocks, including Coinbase Global Inc. (COIN:NASDAQ), Robinhood Markets Inc. (HOOD:NASDAQ) and Galaxy Digital Holdings Ltd. (GXLY:TSX).
From this share price, the return to target is 44%. DeFi is a Buy.
Changes to Estimates
Palmer reported that Benchmark tweaked its estimates for DeFi to account for its progress as well as the recent uptick in crypto prices. For Q1/25, estimated revenue was reduced to CA$27M from CA$52.7M and estimate earnings per share was lowered to CA$0.06 from CA$0.09.
Q2/25 EPS was raised to CA$0.16 from CA$0.10 to reflect DeFi Alpha's May 5 arbitrage trade.
More Stock Details
Palmer reported that on May 12, DeFi had 298 million shares outstanding, a market cap of CA$1.2 billion and a 52-week range of CA$0.75–5.56 per share.
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