Robinhood Markets Inc (NASDAQ:HOOD) shares were expected to shoot higher when US markets open after a huge crypto boost lifted its first-quarter numbers.
Group revenues rise 40% to US$618 million, with crypto jumping 232% to US$129 million and dwarfing equities income, up 44% at US$39 million.
Interest on the money flowing through its books again accounted for the bulk of income, rising 22% year-on-year to US$254 million.
Net income swung from a loss of US$511 million over the same three months in 2023 to a profit of US$157 million.
Shares jumped almost 4% on the numbers in overnight trades though Robinhood’s market value has dropped almost 50% since it listed in 2022, when it was buoyed by the ‘meme stock’ trading frenzy.
Investors in the UK were given access to the app from March of this year, but there were no details of what the take-up so far has been.
Vlad Tenev, chief executive, struck a bullish tone in his statement.
“We continued to aggressively execute on our product roadmap in the first quarter, leading to all-time highs for net deposits and gold subscribers,” he said.
“The second quarter is off to a strong start with April being our highest month of the year for net deposits and gold subscriber growth, and we’re excited to see strong interest from over 1 million customers in our Robinhood gold card.”
Robinhood chief financial officer Jason Warnick, meanwhile, commented: “We delivered significant revenue growth and margin expansion in Q1 as we remain focused on driving another year of profitable growth in 2024.
“We set records for quarterly revenues, net income, and EPS, even as we stepped up our marketing and growth investments.”
Shares were forecast to open at US$18.64, up 4.4%.