Why Circle Internet Stock Surged Today

By Joe Tenebruso – Mar 2, 2026 at 10:04PM ESTKey PointsUSDC usage is soaring.Circle is developing a new way to cash in on the artificial intelligence boom.Shares of Circle Internet Group (CRCL +15.22%) furthered their ascent on Monday. By the close of trading, the stablecoin issuer's stock price was up over 15%. Image source: Getty Images. Blistering growth Investors are still cheering Circle's dazzling fourth-quarter financial report released on Wednesday. The stablecoin supplier's total revenue and reserve income leaped 77% year over year to $770 million. The gains were fueled by a 72% jump in USDC in circulation to $75.3 billion at the end of 2025. In turn, Circle's net income from continuing operations increased to $133 million, up from $4 million in the prior-year quarter. ExpandNYSE: CRCLCircle Internet GroupToday's Change(15.22%) $12.70Current Price$96.14Key Data PointsMarket Cap$23BDay's Range$80.23 - $96.6152wk Range$31.00 - $298.99Volume33MAvg Vol13MGross Margin5.88% Accelerating agentic AI Better still, during the company's earnings conference call, CEO Jeremy Allaire made his case for why Circle could serve as a foundational financial layer for the artificial intelligence (AI) boom. We are seeing an explosion of developer activity around AI. It's becoming an important driver for Circle's platform, and we believe an important and potentially significant driver for USDC adoption. Allaire went on to highlight Circle Gateway, which enables AI agents to autonomously automate cross-chain USDC transactions with ultra-low transaction costs of $0.00001. "We believe that no other payment system in the world can do this," Allaire said.Read NextMar 2, 2026 •By Leo SunCould Investing $10,000 in Circle (CRCL) Stock Make You a Millionaire?Feb 25, 2026 •By Joe TenebrusoWhy Circle Internet Stock Soared TodayDec 16, 2025 •By Joe TenebrusoWhy Circle Stock Jumped TodaySep 26, 2025 •By Johnny RiceWhy Did Circle Internet Stock Fall 11.9% This Week?Aug 19, 2025 •By Motley Fool StaffMaking Sense of Market HyperboleAug 12, 2025 •By Rich SmithWhy Circle Internet Stock Popped TodayAbout the AuthorJoe Tenebruso is a contributing Motley Fool stock market analyst with more than 3,000 financial bylines to his name. Joe was an investment analyst for Stock Advisor, Income Investor, Crypto Society, and other top-rated investing services. He also managed Tier 1 Investments, a market-crushing real-money portfolio with 24.58% annualized returns. Joe graduated summa cum laude from Rutgers University with a Bachelor of Science in Finance.tmfguardianX@Tier1InvestorStocks MentionedCircle Internet GroupNYSE: CRCL$96.14(+15.22%)+$12.70USDCCRYPTO: USDC$1.00(+0.01%)+$0.00*Average returns of all recommendations since inception. Cost basis and return based on previous market day close.