Robinhood (HOOD) co-founder and CEO Vlad Tenev tells Yahoo Finance Live he’s controlling what he can to jumpstart the online trading platform’s stock price.
The “hope” is that over time Robinhood’s stock will reflect those efforts, Tenev explained.
Shares of Robinhood are down 1% in the past year, lagging the S&P 500’s 14% gain. Rivals Charles Schwab (SCHW) (integrating TD Ameritrade acquisition) and Morgan Stanley (MS) (integrating E-Trade acquisition) have seen drops of 23% and 10%, respectively, during the same time frame.
At $9.55 a share, Robinhood’s stock remains about 75% shy of its 2021 IPO price.
To Tenev’s point, this year has seen a host of milestones for the company made famous during the GameStop (GME) trading frenzy several years ago.
Last week, Robinhood said it would launch in the UK in early 2024. Features of the service will include the ability to select from 6,000 US stocks and 24-hour trading five days a week.
This marks Robinhood’s third attempt at bringing its business to the UK.
UK markets regulator the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has warned in the past about the risks of gamifying investing, a frequent criticism of the Robinhood platform. But this time around, the company will launch with a license from the FCA.
For the US, Robinhood debuted 24-hours-a-day trading on some stocks and ETFs in May of this year.
The feature is available from 8:00 p.m. ET Sunday to 8:00 p.m. ET Friday. The initial foray unlocked trading on more than 40 stocks and ETFs, including trader favorites such as Apple (AAPL) and Tesla (TSLA).
The number of eligible stocks has since risen to more than 100. On top of this, the company has been pushing into gold and retirement products over the past six months.
Robinhood is also eyeing the launch of futures trading in 2024, pending regulatory approval. A credit card offering is on the docket as well for next year, Tenev said. The company announced that it’s acquiring credit card startup X1 for $95 million in June.
Read more: Which credit card is best for me? A how-to guide on finding the right card
Tenev told investors on the company’s November earnings call that the platform could eventually reel in “nine figures” in annual revenue.
Despite the product rollouts, Wall Street has continued to stay lukewarm on Robinhood’s stock.
“While the founders have leveraged innovation, guts, and ideal market conditions to build a leading US retail broker, we do not see growth as sustainable, and we question the ability of the company to generate competitive margins over time given the focus on such small accounts that have limited room to be profitable,” warned JP Morgan analyst Ken Worthington in a client note.
“That said, the expected move to profitability in 2024 is a positive and appears sustainable, at least for as long as interest rates remain elevated.”
Brian Sozzi is Yahoo Finance’s Executive Editor. Follow Sozzi on Twitter @BrianSozzi and on LinkedIn. Tips on deals, mergers, activist situations, or anything else? Email brian.sozzi@yahoofinance.com.
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