Robinhood’s Record-Breaking Quarter Gets Buried by Bitcoin’s Brutal Downturn
Robinhood’sHOOD bull case ran into crypto reality. The trading app delivered record Q4 2025 revenue of $1.28B as retail investors stayed active through market volatility. However, shares slid after hours, as Wall Street fixated on falling crypto revenue and rising costs. CEO Vlad Tenev doubled down on the vision of building a “Financial SuperApp,” while CFO Shiv Verma pointed to a renewed focus on profitable growth into 2026.
- Transaction revenue climbed to $776M, led by 54% equities and 41% options growth, while crypto revenue fell 38% after Bitcoin’s October crash.
- Profitability weakened as net income slid to $605M from $916M, largely due to a $56M tax provision versus last year’s $358M tax benefit.
Payoff time: Robinhood Markets is pushing beyond its trading roots. Gold subscribers rose 58% YoY, margin balances climbed 113%, and retirement assets more than doubled to $26.5B. Management plans to keep spending, guiding 2026 opex at $2.6B–$2.725B as it funds global expansion and integrations like TradePMR and Bitstamp. The potential end goal is to build a moat even as crypto keeps digging holes.