By Manya Saini
(Reuters) -Robinhood beat Wall Street expectations for second-quarter earnings on Wednesday, as interest in meme stocks and cryptocurrencies soared, and said it continued to gain retail trading market share from rivals.
The app, typically associated with mom-and-pop investors, saw a surge in trading volumes as meme-stock influencer Keith Gill returned to social media and reignited interest in the highly shorted shares of videogame retailer GameStop.
Shares of the company rose 2.6% in extended trading after the brokerage also teased the launch of an upcoming desktop version of its popular mobile trading application.
Robinhood's transaction-based revenue surged 69% to $327 million in the quarter.
The crypto markets also logged a stellar first half of the year led by gains in bitcoin after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved exchange-traded funds to track spot prices of bitcoin and ether.
Despite its recent approvals, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has continued to argue that crypto tokens qualify as securities and come within its regulatory purview, putting it at loggerheads with crypto industry giants who have accused the regulator of overreach.
The hot-button issue of crypto regulation has been in focus at the upcoming presidential election and underscores the industry's growing political influence.
"In the U.S., there's plenty of work to do and we believe we can be successful regardless of what administration ultimately ends up taking power in November or if it's the same one," CEO Vlad Tenev said on a call with analysts, in response to a question regarding the regulatory landscape.
The remarks echo Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong's comments last week.
Robinhood's chief financial officer, Jason Warnick, shrugged off worries that a potential economic slowdown or recession would weigh on growth.
"Regardless of kind of how the market backdrop plays out through the rest of the year, we are pretty optimistic that we are well-positioned to perform well," Warnick said on a call with reporters.
After being at the heart of a meme-stock trading frenzy of 2021, Robinhood has struggled with uneven trading activity over the past two years and is seeking to counter the effects by building a suite of products for clients.
Robinhood's quarterly net interest revenue, the bulk of which comes from margin investing, jumped 22% to $285 million.
It reported record revenue of $682 million in the second quarter ended June 30, beating estimates of $643.34 million, according to LSEG data.
Profit of 21 cents per share also topped expectations of 15 cents.
