Crypto revenue slumps, but tops diminished forecasts

Robinhood’s HOOD$94.61·Market Closed third-quarter cryptocurrency trading business was down 55% from last year but still topped Street forecasts.

Crypto transaction revenue dropped to $120 million in the third quarter, according to the company’s earnings report released Tuesday. That was down from about $267 million in the same period last year, but ahead of Wall Street analysts’ expectations of $114.1 million.

That left crypto accounting for just 8.4% of Robinhood’s $1.42 billion in total quarterly revenue, compared with roughly 21% a year earlier.

The decline came as customers traded less crypto across Robinhood’s platforms. Total crypto trading volume fell 38% to $50 billion, including $21 billion through the Robinhood app, down 48%, and $29 billion through crypto exchange Bitstamp, down 28%.

The slump in crypto trading revenue stood in contrast to Robinhood’s broader business. Total revenue rose 12% year-over-year to $1.424 billion, helped by growth in options, equities and prediction markets. Street estimates had been for $1.43 billion.

Options trading generated $399 million in revenue, up 31%, while equities revenue climbed 41% to $121 million. Prediction markets brought in $173 million, more than six times the year-earlier figure.

Third-quarter EPS of $0.51 was less than consensus forecasts for $0.55.