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HOOD Bets on Football Prediction Markets: Can it Score Long-Term Gains?
ZACKS· 2025-08-20 14:01
Core Insights - Robinhood Markets (HOOD) is diversifying by launching pro and college football prediction markets, allowing trading on all NFL regular-season games and select college matchups [1][10] - The prediction markets utilize a market-based structure for event contracts, enabling users to trade outcomes with prices determined by market interaction, facilitated by a partnership with Kalshi [2][10] - Since the launch of prediction markets in 2024, Robinhood has facilitated over 2 billion contracts, indicating strong user engagement [3][10] Company Strategy - The introduction of event contracts aligns with Robinhood's vision to become a comprehensive platform for investing and trading, potentially opening new growth avenues and enhancing brand loyalty [4][10] - Regulatory scrutiny remains a concern, and the adoption rates in sports prediction markets are still untested [4] Competitive Landscape - Interactive Brokers (IBKR) is also expanding its prediction markets, having launched Forecast Contracts in August 2024 and recently expanding into Europe, enhancing global investor access [5][6] - Tradeweb (TW) is focusing on the electronification of bond markets and investing in blockchain and AI technologies to improve trading efficiency [7] Financial Performance - HOOD stock has surged 188.5% year-to-date, significantly outperforming the industry average of 21.5% and other competitors like Interactive Brokers and Tradeweb [8][12] - The current price-to-tangible book (P/TB) ratio for HOOD is 13.03X, compared to the industry average of 2.85X, indicating a premium valuation [12] - Earnings estimates for 2025 and 2026 suggest year-over-year growth of 42.2% and 20.8%, respectively, with recent upward revisions in earnings estimates [14][16]
HOOD's July 2025 DARTs Jump: Is Product Suite Expansion Paying Off?
ZACKS· 2025-08-15 15:01
Core Insights - Robinhood Markets, Inc. (HOOD) reported significant year-over-year growth in Daily Average Revenue Trades (DARTs) for equity, options, and crypto in July 2025, with equity DARTs increasing by 29% to 2.7 million, options DARTs rising by 22% to 1.1 million, and crypto DARTs soaring by 133% to 0.7 million [1][11] Group 1: Financial Performance - Total platform assets reached $298 billion, a 106% increase year-over-year [6] - Net deposits amounted to $6.4 billion, up 52% from the previous year [6] - Funded customers grew to 26.7 million, reflecting a 10% increase from July 2024 [6] - Equity notional trading volumes were $209.1 billion, up 100% year-over-year [7] - Option contracts traded increased by 22% to 195.8 million [7] - Crypto notional trading volumes reached $16.8 billion, a 217% increase from the prior-year month [7] - Margin balances surged to $11.4 billion, up 111% year-over-year [8] - Total cash sweep balances were $33.6 billion, a 54% increase from July 2024 [8] - Total securities lending revenues grew by 190% to $61 million [8] Group 2: Strategic Initiatives - Robinhood has launched several initiatives to attract clients and enhance market share, including U.S. stock and ETF tokens for EU investors and Crypto Staking for eligible U.S. investors [3][4] - New product offerings include Robinhood Legend (desktop trading platform), Robinhood Strategies, Robinhood Banking, Robinhood Cortex, a prediction markets hub, and a credit card to expand consumer finance [4] - The company is focusing on rapid product innovation through vertical integration to expand its client base and improve transaction-based revenues, which have a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 36.7% [5] Group 3: Competitive Landscape - Key competitors like Interactive Brokers (IBKR) and Tradeweb Markets Inc. (TW) are also enhancing their product offerings to challenge Robinhood's market position [9] - Interactive Brokers has launched the IBKR Lite plan in Singapore and expanded trading hours for various products, while Tradeweb is focusing on the electronification of bond markets and investing in blockchain technology [10][12]