Robinhood quarterly profit rises on strong trading activity

ROBINHOOD Markets posted a rise in second-quarter profit on Wednesday (Jul 29), as volatility in the markets spurred higher trading activity on its platform.

Retail trading activity remained elevated during the reported quarter, helped by heightened market participation as the US-Iran conflict stoked concerns over global oil supplies, fuelling uncertainty around inflation and the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate path and prompting investors to rebalance their portfolios.

Market volatility tends to boost trading activity on brokerage platforms as investors rebalance their portfolios and hedge against uncertainty.

Robinhood’s transaction-based revenue rose about 44 per cent to US$776 million, primarily driven by event contracts revenue of US$156 million.

The Menlo Park, California-based company’s profit was US$573 million, or 62 cents per share, for the three months ended Jun 30, compared with US$386 million, or 42 cents per share, a year earlier. REUTERS