Robinhood Net Income Falls 14% to $476 Million Despite Record Trading Activity
Key Facts
Robinhood net income fell 14% year over year to $476 million in the third quarter of 2026, while diluted earnings per share declined 16% to $0.51, according to the company’s results. The company said net income included $67 million in unrealized losses, mainly related to the valuation of Robinhood Ventures Fund I. Meanwhile, transaction-based revenue rose 19% to $867 million. CEO Vlad Tenev said customers are entrusting the company with more of their assets as it executes its product roadmap, adding that this drove “the highest revenue quarter of all time.” The results highlight a divergence between lower profits and strong trading activity in the quarter.
Growth in event contracts, options and equities drove transaction revenue, while the crypto component declined. Event-contract revenue reached $173 million, more than 6 times the year-earlier level, while options revenue rose 31% to $399 million. Equities revenue increased 41% to $121 million. By contrast, crypto revenue fell 55% to $120 million. The weakness in that activity did not prevent overall transaction revenue from growing, as gains in other trading categories offset it.
Trading volumes reflect a widening gap between activity in equities and options and in crypto. Nominal equities trading volume rose 53% to a record $992 billion. The number of options contracts traded also increased 48% to a record 905 million contracts. Nominal crypto trading volume, however, fell 38% to $50 billion. These figures are consistent with the differing trends in trading revenue across asset classes during the quarter, without the company linking these moves to a change in investor appetite.
In other revenue sources, revenue rose 61% to $142 million, driven mainly by Trump Accounts revenue and an increase in Robinhood Gold subscriptions. On the interest side, net interest revenue fell 9% to $415 million. The company attributed this mainly to lower securities lending activity and short-term interest rates, partly offset by growth in interest-earning assets. Operating expenses totaled $739 million, up 16% year over year. The company attributed the increase to credit-loss provisions as its card loan portfolio grew, expenses related to Trump Accounts and Roth IRAs, and marketing and growth investments.
At the platform level, funded customers increased 7% to 28.7 million, and Robinhood Gold subscribers rose 34% to a record 5.2 million. Total platform assets were $396 billion on September 30, up 19% year over year. The company said continued net deposits and higher equity valuations supported asset growth, partly offset by lower crypto valuations. Net deposits totaled $15.7 billion during the quarter, equivalent to an annualized growth rate of 17% against platform assets at the end of the second quarter. Net deposits over the past twelve months reached $71 billion.
Looking ahead to the rest of 2026, the company lowered the upper end of its forecast for adjusted operating expenses and stock-based compensation by $25 million, to a range of $2.675 billion to $2.75 billion, citing efficiency gains. It also said net deposits since the start of October exceeded $13 billion through October 27. The figure included a $6 billion contribution from the Dell family to Trump Accounts. In the session before the results announcement, Robinhood shares closed at $92.84 on October 26. The company is thus combining a lower expense outlook with strong October deposits, while the trajectory of crypto revenue remains an issue to watch in results for coming periods.