New York, June 11, 2026, 09:01 EDT
Robinhood Markets shares closed up about 3% at $86.36 on Wednesday and traded higher early Thursday. The stock is getting new interest as the broker steps closer to Wall Street’s main deal flow. What matters to investors isn’t just another update on trading volumes: Robinhood Securities got approval to underwrite IPOs, moving beyond distributing stock allocations to its app users and into helping companies go public.
An IPO is when a private company offers shares to the public for the first time. Underwriters—banks or brokers—structure these deals, set IPO pricing, and find buyers. Robinhood has its IPO Access product aimed at retail, but if it starts underwriting, it gets into the fees, allocation, and issuer ties typical for banks.
Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev said this is a change in how firms look at retail investors, according to Benzinga. “The question changed from ‘why allocate to retail at all?’ to ‘how big can the allocation be?’” Tenev wrote. He added, “We intend to be disruptive in this space.” Benzinga
SpaceX is testing how much retail investors want in on its IPO, with shares expected to be offered on platforms like Charles Schwab, Fidelity, Robinhood, SoFi and E-Trade, the Associated Press said. Reuters reported demand topping $250 billion for a $75 billion target. Pricing is set for Thursday afternoon.
Robinhood (HOOD) is trying to show it has moved past just being a zero-commission trading platform. Latest May data from the company put funded accounts at 27.7 million and total platform assets at $377 billion. Net deposits came in at $5.6 billion for the month. Equity notional trading volume reached $315 billion, rising 27% from the previous month and up 75% from a year ago.
Options trading jumped 29% from last year, according to Robinhood. Event contracts, which are tied to predictions about future events, climbed to 3.9 billion, up 22% from April. Stock trading didn’t drive the growth. Crypto trading showed a mixed trend—total crypto notional volume was slightly higher than in April, but activity on the Robinhood App was still 50% lower than a year ago.
Needham bumped its Robinhood price target up to $97 from $85 and kept its Buy rating, Investing.com reported. Stronger May numbers, mostly in equities and event contracts, were cited in the call. The firm cut its assumptions on crypto volume, saying retail interest moved back into equities.
Robinhood’s May data feeds into its wider earnings story. First-quarter revenue came in at $1.07 billion, up 15% from last year. Event-contract revenue surged 320%, while crypto revenue dropped 47%. The investor focus on Robinhood’s new products and market work is about lowering reliance on crypto cycles.
Margin use is moving higher. Robinhood reported customer margin balances at $19.5 billion for May, a jump of 117% over last year. That’s money customers have borrowed to buy stocks, which pushes up Robinhood’s interest income as customers take out more debt. But bigger margin balances also leave Robinhood closer to the risk of quick pullbacks if customers start borrowing less after the next market swing.
The risks aren’t minor. Most IPO underwriting still sits with the big Wall Street banks. Giving retail investors big pieces in a single hot deal doesn’t mean Robinhood will get the same shot again. There are also questions about prediction markets. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission on June 10 set out proposed rules for event contracts connected to things like gaming, war, terrorism and unlawful acts, putting those deals through a 90-day review. If the CFTC narrows what’s allowed, or if retail action fades, Robinhood could see one of its fastest-growing revenue streams lose momentum before it gets going.
Robinhood closed Wednesday at $86.36, putting its market value near $78 billion and a PE of about 42. That valuation doesn’t leave much margin for error. The shares trade well off the 52-week high of $153.86, but still far from the 52-week low of $63.52. That range shows how investors price in both growth hopes and worries about trading activity.
SpaceX’s allocation and first trades will give a quick look at whether Robinhood can use retail demand as an underwriting credential. The CFTC’s 90-day comment window is also underway, which will determine the future of event contracts—still a fresh growth area for Robinhood.
