ع
Morgan Stanley upgraded Robinhood Markets to Overweight from Equal Weight while raising its price target to $150 from $124, citing the brokerage’s success at deriving more revenue from its existing customer base through expanded products. Piper Sandler increased its target to $145 and Scotiabank initiated coverage with an Outperform rating and $136 target, according to multiple market reports. The moves reflect broader optimism around Robinhood’s shift toward prediction markets, subscriptions and wealth management that extend growth beyond cyclical trading activity.
The upgrades fueled a 16.6 percent rally in Robinhood shares to close at $124.72 on Thursday before the stock retreated 2.1 percent the following day. Prediction-market revenue reached $156 million in the second quarter, surpassing both equity trading at $129 million and crypto at $100 million as the platform attracted nearly 2 million users to the new offering. Company data show funded accounts stood at 28.5 million in July while the firm continues to diversify revenue streams.
An analysis published by Invezz on September 7 suggested the fresh bullish upgrades could serve as a cautionary signal for investors despite the positive analyst sentiment. The stock now trades near consensus price targets after its recent run-up, even as several operational metrics have softened from June levels. The report advised investors to sell the shares or refrain from initiating new long positions at prevailing valuations.
Robinhood’s July metrics showed total platform assets declining 4 percent from the prior month while equity trading volume dropped 15 percent and cryptocurrency volume fell 33 percent. Event-contract volume eased 5 percent month-over-month although it remained about 20 times higher than the year-earlier figure. These trends arrive as the company seeks to prove that product expansion can drive sustained monetization independent of market volatility.
Morgan Stanley lifted its revenue growth projections and now anticipates the company will reach $8 billion in annual revenue by 2028, representing a 23 percent compound annual rate. The bank pointed to higher assets, activity and captured revenue per user across the roughly 28 million customer base as supporting a longer runway than many investors appreciate. Executives have emphasized recurring income from Gold subscriptions, net interest and clearing services over pure transaction fees.
Other Wall Street firms have similarly raised targets in recent months on the back of record activity in prediction markets and options trading. Bernstein maintained a $160 price target in July after noting the generational shift toward event-based contracts that now form a material part of results. Analysts will watch the next quarterly update for confirmation that asset growth and user engagement can offset any further softening in traditional volumes.
