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Shares of Robinhood rose in extended trading Thursday afternoon after the retail brokerage announced stronger-than-expected first-quarter results.
Robinhood reported 18 cents in earnings per share on $618 million of revenue. Analysts surveyed by LSEG were expecting the company to earn just 6 cents per share on $549 million in revenue.
The company said the earnings and revenue numbers were both records for the firm. The stock jumped more than 4% in after hours trading.
Robinhood surged in popularity during the Covid pandemic in 2020 and 2021, but has since seen user activity and revenue that mirrors action in the broader market. Stocks and cryptocurrencies rose during the first quarter, which likely helped the company’s results.
Cryptocurrency transactions accounted for $126 million in revenue in the quarter, the company said.
Regulatory uncertainty has clouded the future of that business. Robinhood disclosed on Monday that the Securities and Exchange Commission had issued a Wells Notice to the company, signaling potential legal enforcement action over the company’s cryptocurrency business.
Dan Gallagher, Robinhood’s chief legal, compliance and corporate affairs officer, said in a blog post that the company was “disappointed” in the SEC’s decision and still believes that the crypto assets on its platform are not legally securities.
Shares of Robinhood were up nearly 40% year to date before Wednesday’s earnings announcement.
