Circle Internet Group (NYSE:CRCL) vs. Garden Stage (NASDAQ:GSIW) Critical Survey

Circle Internet Group (NYSE:CRCL) and Garden Stage (NASDAQ:GSIW) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings, dividends, profitability, risk and valuation.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

0.5% of Garden Stage shares are held by institutional investors. 10.9% of Circle Internet Group shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Circle Internet Group and Garden Stage, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Circle Internet Group	3	11	10	1	2.36
Garden Stage	1	0	0	0	1.00

Circle Internet Group currently has a consensus price target of $134.18, indicating a potential upside of 68.84%. Given Circle Internet Group’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Circle Internet Group is more favorable than Garden Stage.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Circle Internet Group and Garden Stage”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Circle Internet Group	$2.75 billion	7.19	-$69.51 million	($3.20)	-24.83
Garden Stage	$5.47 million	5.36	-$4.32 million	N/A	N/A

Garden Stage has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Circle Internet Group.

Profitability

This table compares Circle Internet Group and Garden Stage’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Circle Internet Group	-2.76%	2.89%	0.12%
Garden Stage	N/A	N/A	N/A

Summary

Circle Internet Group beats Garden Stage on 9 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Circle Internet Group

Founded in 2013, Circle’s mission is to raise global economic prosperity through the frictionless exchange of value. We intend to connect the world more deeply by building a new global economic system on the foundation of the internet, and to facilitate the creation of a world where everyone, everywhere can share value as easily as we can today share information, content, and communications. Since inception, we have relentlessly pursued our mission and vision, building fundamental technology for the internet financial system. We have forged paths toward mainstream acceptance through persistent and active engagement with policymakers and regulators globally, and have seen institutional and consumer knowledge and acceptance of internet-native financial assets approach critical mass. Large and influential players in the incumbent financial services system are increasingly embracing digital assets broadly and stablecoins specifically. Circle’s innovative products reach tens of millions of end-users, power thousands of businesses, and, as of March 31, 2025, USDC has been used for more than $25 trillion in onchain transactions. While we have made strong progress in our pursuit of our mission and vision over the past decade, we believe the internet financial system is in its infancy with decades of growth and innovation ahead. Our principal executive office is located in New York, NY.

About Garden Stage

Garden Stage Limited, through its subsidiaries, provides securities dealing and brokerage, underwriting and placing, and other financial services in Hong Kong. It also offers asset management services comprising discretionary account management and fund management services. The company was incorporated in 2022 and is headquartered in Central, Hong Kong. Garden Stage Limited operates as a subsidiary of Oriental Moon Tree Limited.