Robinhood’s revenue jumped 50% in the first quarter, driven by surging crypto activity, as the trading app beat Wall Street estimates.
The retail brokerage posted $927 million in revenue, topping forecasts of $920 million, while earnings climbed to 37 cents a share, also ahead of estimates. Meanwhile, the company’s net income surged 114% to $336 million over the past year.
Robinhood’s strong financial performance was partially driven by its crypto business, which generated $252 million in revenue in the first quarter, a 100% increase from the same time last year.
That’s slightly above FactSet’s prediction of $247 million for Robinhood’s crypto-related revenue, according to MarketScreener. The company’s revenue from options and equity-based transactions also increased 55% and 44% year-over-year, respectively.
The company’s strong financial results come amid ongoing trade tensions between Washington D.C. and Beijing that continue to fuel choppy market conditions, even as some stocks show signs of recovering from their April losses.
Stocks and crypto prices have swung between gains and losses since President Donald Trump unveiled tariffs on China and other U.S. trading partners earlier this year—plans he has since partially scaled back. Investors have sought, in part, crypto to hedge against inflation amid the geopolitical uncertainties that have roiled global markets, while gold has seen its value soar in year-to-date terms.
Traders’ appetite for digital assets peaked just before President Trump’s inauguration in mid-January, with the crypto market capitalization hitting a local high of $3.8 trillion, CoinGecko data shows.
Bitcoin plunged as low as $75,100 in early April but has since rebounded to around $95,000. Even so, it’s still 13.5% down from its all-time high price of nearly $109,000 set on Trump’s inauguration day in January.
Last June, Robinhood laid the groundwork to capitalize on investors’ growing interest in crypto by acquiring the global digital assets exchange Bitstamp in a $200 million cash deal.
Though crypto wasn’t the only driver of the company’s success last quarter. Robinhood Gold—a program that offers IRA matches, professional research tools, and higher cash interest to subscribers for a few dollars per month—also boosted the free-to-trade digital platform’s finances. The program gained 1.5 million enrollees, bringing its subscriber base to 3.2 million customers.
Robinhood shares hit $49.11 after the closing bell on Tuesday, down roughly 1% in the past 24 hours but up 197% over the past year.
Edited by Sebastian Sinclair