Robinhood Markets missed both revenue and earnings expectations in the first quarter of 2026. Crypto transaction revenue plunged 47 percent to 134 million USD, compared with 252 million USD in the prior-year quarter. As a result, the broker recorded its third consecutive decline in crypto business.
Total net revenue came in at 1.07 billion USD, well below the analyst estimate of 1.14 billion USD. Adjusted earnings per share reached 0.38 USD, also below the consensus of 0.39 to 0.42 USD. The HOOD stock responded on 29 April 2026 with a daily loss of around 11 percent. Trading volume hit 79.2 million shares, more than double the daily average.
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Crypto volume cut in half, Bitcoin price weighs on the business
Crypto notional volume on the Robinhood app fell 48 percent to 24 billion USD. Including the Bitstamp platform acquired in 2025, total crypto notional volume reached 65.7 billion USD. This represents a gain of 43 percent year-over-year, but a decline of 20 percent compared with the fourth quarter of 2025. Bitstamp alone contributed 42 billion USD. Therefore, the consolidation masks the decline in the organic retail business.
The main driver is the broader crypto downturn. Bitcoin lost 22.6 percent in the first quarter of 2026, according to NYDIG. It was the weakest start to a year in 16 years. From the all-time high near 126,200 USD on 6 October 2025, the price fell to around 75,600 USD by the end of April 2026. Ethereum recorded a decline of roughly 29 percent over the same period.
Notably, the weakness is not isolated to Robinhood. Coinbase also lost 8 percent on 29 April to 179.16 USD, while Webull gave up 5 percent to 6.77 USD. Analysts at KBW warn that crypto volumes have continued to weaken industry-wide into April. Apptopia data paints a similar picture. Interest in crypto apps fell to its lowest level since Donald Trump took office in January 2025.
Diversification gains traction, yet expectations remain unmet
Total transaction-based revenue rose 7 percent to 623 million USD, missing the estimate of 728.2 million USD. Options revenue grew 8 percent to 260 million USD, and the equities business advanced 46 percent to 82 million USD. Prediction markets developed particularly dynamically. Other transaction revenue, primarily from event contracts, jumped 320 percent to 147 million USD. Trading volume in prediction markets reached a record 8.8 billion USD.
In addition, the interest business contributed to stabilisation. Net interest income rose 24 percent to 359 million USD. Gold subscribers climbed 36 percent to 4.3 million, a new high with an attach rate of 40 percent among new customers. Platform assets grew 39 percent to 307 billion USD, while net deposits reached 17.7 billion USD. However, these gains were not enough to offset the weakness in the crypto segment.
CFO Shiv Verma sought to support expectations on the earnings call. Equity and options volumes in April were on track to mark the highest monthly level of 2026. At the same time, the company raised its expense guidance for 2026 to between 2.7 and 2.825 billion USD. One reason is an additional investment of 100 million USD in the Trump Accounts app. Operating expenses already rose 18 percent during the quarter. Following the results, analysts at Raymond James pointed to signs of retail investor fatigue and declining revenue capture in options and crypto.
Competition intensifies: Schwab, Coinbase and Kraken put Robinhood under pressure
The structural challenge for Robinhood extends beyond the current market cycle. On 16 April 2026, Charles Schwab launched direct Bitcoin and Ethereum trading at a fee of 0.75 percent. Schwab manages 12.22 trillion USD in client assets and operates 39 million active brokerage accounts. As a result, a heavyweight is entering a market that Robinhood had previously dominated as a low-commission disruptor. Robinhood charges between 0.03 and 0.95 percent, while Coinbase charges up to 4 percent.
While established brokers add crypto features, Coinbase and Kraken are pushing into commission-free equity trading and thereby attacking Robinhood's core business. Bernstein expects strong growth in prediction markets. Volume is projected to rise to 1 trillion USD by 2030, with Robinhood and Coinbase as the main beneficiaries. In this segment, Robinhood already generates an annualised revenue run rate of 350 million USD.
Strategically, the company is positioning itself as a provider of state-initiated savings vehicles. The US Treasury named Robinhood as broker and sole initial trustee for the Trump Accounts. In March 2026, the board approved a new share buyback programme of 1.5 billion USD. During the quarter, Robinhood already repurchased 250 million USD of its own shares. Coinbase will report its own Q1 results on 8 May 2026. Only then can investors judge whether the crypto weakness is an industry-wide phenomenon or a Robinhood-specific problem.
