Bernstein has reiterated its Outperform rating on Robinhood Markets (Nasdaq: HOOD) and kept a $160 price target, implying roughly 31% upside for the stock. The firm’s argument centers on Robi
Bernstein has reiterated its Outperform rating on Robinhood Markets (Nasdaq: HOOD) and kept a $160 price target, implying roughly 31% upside for the stock.
The firm’s argument centers on Robinhood’s push beyond traditional brokerage.
Robinhood offers stock, options and cryptocurrency trading, while its newer businesses span prediction markets, tokenized equities and its Ethereum layer-2 network, Robinhood Chain.
In a Sept. 8 note to clients, Bernstein analysts led by Gautam Chhugani said Robinhood Chain has become a direct contributor to earnings, writing that “the chain is now earning.”
The network, launched July 1, has accumulated about $1.5 billion in total value locked and more than $50 billion in decentralized exchange volume.
The call builds on Bernstein’s July 20 upgrade, when the firm raised its Robinhood price target to $160 from $130 and argued that tokenized equities and prediction markets would drive the company’s next phase of growth. At the time, Robinhood shares were trading around $101, giving the target substantially more implied upside.
Related: Roundtable 100 analysts move PayPal up 56 spots in new power ranking
Robinhood reported record second-quarter revenue of $1.31 billion on July 29, up 32% from a year earlier, while net income rose 48% to $573 million. Transaction-based revenue increased 44% to $776 million. Crypto revenue fell 38% to $100 million, but crypto trading volume across Robinhood, Bitstamp and WonderFi reached $40 billion.
Prediction markets have emerged as another major growth engine. Event-contract revenue reached $156 million in the quarter, more than 10 times the prior-year level, while 13.6 billion event contracts were traded.
Robinhood expanded that business again on Sept. 8, taking equity stakes in Crypto.com and newly spun-off OG.com under a multi-year agreement.
Robinhood will route eligible U.S. event contracts through OG.com’s CFTC-regulated exchange and clearing infrastructure.
Robinhood Chain is also strengthening the crypto side of the thesis. Bernstein said network fees were running at $2 million to $4 million per day, with about $33 million generated over the prior 15 days, ahead of Solana and BNB Chain.
Robinhood shares were trading at about $121.02 at the time of writing, down roughly 0.9% on the day.
Related: Billionaire makes bold prediction about the future of IPOs
