Robinhood Markets, Inc. (NASDAQ: HOOD) is ending Thursday with a familiar 2025 theme: strength on the day, but with volatility under the hood. The stock finished the regular session higher versus Wednesday’s close, then stayed essentially flat after the bell as investors weighed a mix of catalysts—from Robinhood’s push deeper into prediction-market-style “event contracts,” to a shifting macro backdrop after fresh U.S. inflation data.
Below is what’s driving the conversation after the bell on Thursday, December 18, 2025, and what traders and long-term investors will likely focus on before the market opens Friday.
Robinhood stock after hours: where HOOD is trading after the bell
As of 5:02 p.m. ET, HOOD traded at $117.16, up about 1.2% from Wednesday’s close. During Thursday’s session, the stock saw a wide range—roughly $117.05 (low) to $124.21 (high)—with volume around 24.1 million shares, underscoring the continued two-way trade in a name that has been one of the market’s standout movers this year.
On valuation and scale, Robinhood’s market cap sat around $127.2 billion, with a trailing P/E near 58 based on the same market data feed—figures that help explain why incremental news flow (ratings changes, product updates, regulatory headlines) can still swing sentiment quickly.
The setup going into Friday: HOOD’s intraday pattern mattered as much as the green close. A push toward the mid-$120s early, followed by a slide toward the session lows, suggests investors are still quick to take profits—especially with major derivatives expiration dynamics landing tomorrow.
Why Robinhood (HOOD) moved today: the three storylines investors chased
1) Analysts stayed active: fresh price targets keep the “upside case” in the spotlight
A meaningful part of Thursday’s narrative was renewed attention on Wall Street targets that frame Robinhood as a “platform” story—one that can keep compounding beyond meme-era trading.
- Truist initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $155 price target, arguing Robinhood is seeing “sizable growth” and market share gains as it expands its product suite and improves profitability. Truist also laid out a growth path that includes a second straight year of 50%+ revenue growth and ~20% growth potential for several years—even off a larger base—along with margin expansion from scale economics. [1]
- Barclays raised its price target to $171 from $168 and reiterated an Overweight rating, pointing to “constructive” market conditions going into 2026 for parts of the broker/wealth complex. [2]
These targets don’t guarantee performance—but they shape positioning into year-end, particularly as HOOD’s 2025 run has already been substantial, making the debate less about “survival” and more about how durable growth really is.
2) Product momentum: Robinhood keeps leaning into “event contracts” and sports-style markets
The most concrete company-specific catalyst still echoing through Thursday’s coverage is Robinhood’s continued expansion in sports-focused event contracts—an area where the company is trying to pull forward engagement and differentiate as competitors flood the space.
Reuters reported that Robinhood rolled out new sports-focused contracts that let customers take positions on individual player outcomes (think touchdown/yardage-style outcomes), and introduced “preset combos” that bundle multiple outcomes into a single contract that only pays out if all legs are correct. Reuters also noted ongoing debate about whether these products blur lines with sports betting, while industry participants point to CFTC oversight of derivatives-style contracts. [3]
This matters for HOOD’s stock because the market is essentially asking a revenue-quality question:
- If event contracts become a repeatable engagement engine (with responsible use and stable regulatory footing), they could support higher-frequency activity and new fee pools.
- If they trigger tougher restrictions or state-level friction, they could become a headline risk that weighs on multiples.
3) Macro tailwind: inflation came in cooler than expected, and rate-cut odds nudged higher
The broader tape also helped. On Thursday, Reuters reported November CPI rose 2.7% year over year, below the 3.1% forecast in a Reuters poll, with core CPI at 2.6% (though the release was complicated by data-collection disruptions after the government shutdown). Markets interpreted the report as supportive for easing inflation pressure and potentially boosting expectations for a January 2026 Fed cut, even as some participants cautioned about noise in the data. [4]
For Robinhood specifically, a “lower rates / improving risk appetite” environment can be supportive in two ways:
- It can lift participation across equities/options/crypto (activity drives transaction-related revenue).
- It can shift sentiment toward growthy fintech names—though the same rate moves can cut both ways for net interest dynamics over time.
The competitive backdrop changed again—Coinbase is moving onto Robinhood’s turf
Even if it didn’t happen “after the bell” tonight, it’s part of what investors were digesting into today’s close: the retail platform arms race is accelerating.
Reuters reported Coinbase is expanding beyond crypto into stock trading and event contracts, explicitly pushing deeper into the territory of brokerages like Robinhood and Interactive Brokers. Coinbase also discussed plans for tokenized stocks designed for round-the-clock trading in coming months—another sign that the “everything under one roof” thesis is becoming the industry standard. [5]
For HOOD, this is a double-edged signal:
- It validates the market opportunity for multi-asset platforms and event-contract-style products.
- It increases competitive pressure—especially on pricing, user acquisition costs, and product velocity.
Crypto still matters to HOOD—watch the 24/7 market overnight
Robinhood’s business mix is more diversified than it was a few years ago, but crypto sentiment still bleeds into HOOD because crypto trading and crypto-linked engagement can move quickly when volatility spikes.
Barron’s noted that Bitcoin was trading around $87,348 Thursday (still down in December and well off an October peak), while crypto-related stocks including Robinhood were nonetheless rising in premarket trading—another reminder that crypto-exposed equities can trade on correlation, sentiment, and positioning as much as spot prices. [6]
What to do with that tonight: Unlike equities, crypto trades all night. If Bitcoin breaks meaningfully higher or lower before Friday’s cash open, HOOD can react in the premarket—especially with derivatives expiration dynamics adding fuel tomorrow.
What to know before the stock market opens tomorrow (Friday, Dec. 19, 2025)
Here are the key items that can shape HOOD’s next session—even if none are “Robinhood-only” headlines.
1) Friday is “quadruple witching” (major derivatives expiration) — expect volume and whipsaws
Tomorrow, Dec. 19, 2025, is a quadruple witching date (third Friday of the quarter-ending month). Investopedia notes these sessions are typically marked by higher trading volume as traders roll, close, or rebalance expiring derivatives positions. [7]
For HOOD, that can matter in two ways:
- Broad market volatility can lift trading activity across retail platforms (a potential tailwind for “activity narratives”).
- Single-stock positioning can amplify intraday swings—sometimes causing “pinning” near popular strikes or abrupt trend reversals.
2) Key U.S. data hits after the open: sentiment + housing at 10:00 a.m. ET
If you’re looking for scheduled catalysts that can shift rates, risk appetite, and growth-stock positioning during Friday’s session, the New York Fed’s economic calendar lists:
- Michigan Consumer Survey (Final) — 10:00 a.m. ET
- NAR Existing Home Sales — 10:00 a.m. ET
- New York Fed Staff Nowcast — 11:45 a.m. ET [8]
Even though these are not pre-open prints, they can influence midday direction—especially after Thursday’s CPI surprise reframed the rates debate.
3) Watch the “24/7 trading” narrative—Robinhood is directly in that theme basket
A separate Reuters item Thursday highlighted how mainstream the concept of longer-hours trading has become, noting major brokerages such as Robinhood have extended trading hours in recent years, even as critics warn about liquidity constraints and potential price distortions overnight. [9]
This matters because “always-on” access is increasingly part of the competitive moat story investors attach to Robinhood—alongside international expansion, crypto access, and new derivatives-style products.
4) The biggest HOOD-specific risk to monitor: regulatory tone around event contracts
Reuters’ reporting on Robinhood’s sports-focused event contracts emphasizes a key tension: proponents frame these contracts as CFTC-regulated derivatives, while critics and some state-level voices argue they resemble sports betting and could encourage speculative behavior. [10]
For Friday’s open, that translates into a practical checklist:
- Any new state announcements, court updates, or CFTC messaging can move the stock quickly.
- The closer Robinhood’s offerings feel to sportsbook products, the more sensitive the stock can become to policy headlines.
Levels investors are likely watching after today’s reversal
Without turning this into a technical trading call, Thursday’s tape naturally spotlights a few reference points going into Friday:
- Near-term support zone: around $117 (today’s low region).
- Immediate resistance zone: around $124 (today’s high region).
- Context level: Wednesday’s close area (roughly $115.80 based on today’s change versus prior close) can act as another psychological marker if selling pressure builds.
With quadruple witching tomorrow, it would not be unusual to see bigger-than-normal intraday moves even if there’s no incremental company news.
Bottom line: HOOD ends the day higher, but the next session could be defined by volatility, not headlines
Robinhood stock is closing out Thursday’s session with a modest gain and a quiet after-hours tape—but the story flow is not quiet:
- Bulls point to continued product velocity (event contracts), multi-year growth narratives, and supportive analyst targets. [11]
- Bears (or cautious holders) focus on regulation risk around sports-style markets, intensifying competition as Coinbase expands, and the reality that HOOD’s valuation leaves less room for execution mistakes. [12]
- Everyone has to trade through a Friday that historically brings outsized derivatives-driven volume. [13]
References
1. www.tipranks.com, 2. www.tipranks.com, 3. www.reuters.com, 4. www.reuters.com, 5. www.reuters.com, 6. www.barrons.com, 7. www.investopedia.com, 8. www.newyorkfed.org, 9. www.reuters.com, 10. www.reuters.com, 11. www.investing.com, 12. www.reuters.com, 13. www.investopedia.com
