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HOOD Falls From All-Time High on DeepSeek Turbulence: Buy the Dip?

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Robinhood Markets Inc. (HOOD - Free Report) shares reached an all-time high of $52.06 on Friday. However, concerns over DeepSeek have triggered a broader market sell-off, pushing the stock below the $50 mark.

DeepSeek, a China-based open-source artificial intelligence (AI) company, unveiled its first model, DeepSeek R1, on Monday. It claimed that the product was created at a fraction of the cost compared with its U.S. counterparts like OpenAI’s GPT-4, Meta’s Llama and Google’s Gemini. The news sent shockwaves through the stock market, erasing billions in a single session as investors feared Chinese competition could disrupt U.S. tech giants. Nonetheless, this market sell-off may just be a prime buying opportunity!

So, is now the time to buy Robinhood stock before it rebounds? Let’s take a closer look.

HOOD’s Revenue Diversifying Efforts: Venturing Beyond Trading

Robinhood became extremely popular among younger generations in early 2021 riding on the meme stock wave. Nonetheless, since its IPO in July 2021, a lot has happened on the business front. 

Robinhood has evolved from a brokerage firm mainly trading in digital assets to a more mature and diversified entity, striving to widen its market and reach. Looking at the numbers, in 2021, HOOD majorly depended on transaction-based revenues (almost 75% of total revenues) to generate income. In the first three quarters of 2024, this came down to nearly 50%. 

Total Revenue Segregation
 

Robinhood Markets Inc.
Image Source: Robinhood Markets Inc.

Recent initiatives by the company reflect its ambition to become a full-spectrum financial services provider. In November 2024, Robinhood announced the $300 million acquisition of TradePMR, a custodial and portfolio management platform specializing in services for Registered Investment Advisors. By foraying into the advisory space, the company will directly compete with established players like Charles Schwab (SCHW - Free Report) , LPL Financial (LPLA - Free Report) and Fidelity Investments.

Moreover, in July, Robinhood acquired Pluto Capital Inc. With the integration of Pluto’s advanced capabilities, the company is set to revolutionize the investment experience for its users. Also, as part of a diversification effort, HOOD launched a credit card (expanding in the consumer finance space) and a desktop trading platform (catering to more sophisticated traders). Further, the company started offering futures, index options and election betting contracts, widening its market appeal.

Initiatives to change the revenue mix give HOOD solid leverage. The company intends to become a one-stop shop for building generational wealth.

Sales Estimates
 

Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Further, during its first-ever Investor Day conference on Dec. 4, Robinhood announced plans to expand in Asia to capitalize on significant global growth prospects and launch Futures in early 2025, which it believes offers a nine-figure revenue opportunity.

Crypto: A Vital Tailwind for Robinhood

Robinhood’s plans to focus on the cryptocurrency space through increased tokenization, enhanced capabilities and expansion into the EU markets will lead to further cost efficiency. Currently, it operates in four countries with regulatory authorizations. It has been applying for Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) licenses that would enable it to offer crypto services in European Economic Area member states, boosting its presence in 27 new geographies.

The company’s planned acquisition of Bitstamp (announced in June 2024) complements this theme. Bitstamp's core spot exchange, which features more than 85 tradable assets and is popular in Europe and Asia, will significantly enhance Robinhood’s crypto offerings.

This will support Robinhood’s cryptocurrency revenues as new investors will be attracted to cryptocurrencies to boost their returns and leverage the benefit of diversification as an asset class. At present, the total number of cryptocurrencies listed on its platform is 19. 

Over the last four years (2019-2023), the company’s cryptocurrency revenues witnessed a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 94.2%.

Transaction-Based Revenues Components
 

Robinhood Markets Inc.
Image Source: Robinhood Markets Inc.

HOOD Rewards Shareholders

In May 2024, Robinhood announced a share buyback plan. The company’s board of directors approved a share repurchase program, authorizing it to buy back up to $1 billion of its outstanding common stock.

While the plan has no expiration date, the company expects to buy back shares within two to three years. As of Sept. 30, 2024, roughly $903 million worth of authorization remained available for repurchase.

Robinhood is on solid ground, with significant cash reserves. As of Sept. 30, 2024, it reported cash and cash equivalents of $4.6 billion.

Robinhood Faces Regulatory Hurdles

Earlier this month, HOOD was fined $45 million by the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) for failure to adhere to “a broad array of significant regulatory requirements, including failing to accurately report trading activity, comply with short sale rules, submit timely suspicious activity reports, maintain books and records, and safeguard customer information.”

In September 2024, Robinhood agreed to pay $3.9 million as a settlement with the California Department of Justice over crypto withdrawals. It was alleged that the company prevented its customers from withdrawing cryptocurrency from their accounts between 2018 and 2022.

Additionally, in May 2024, the company received a Wells notice from the SEC concerning the tokens traded on its platform, reflecting the complex regulatory landscape for crypto firms. The notice came because of the alleged violation of registrations as a securities broker and transfer agent.

Robinhood Stock: A Solid Buying Opportunity

Despite the recent dip, Robinhood shares have soared 75.1% in the past three months, significantly outperforming the industry’s rally of 18.1%. Further, in contrast, its peers – SCHW and LPLA – are up just 15% and 35.7%, respectively, in the same time frame.

Three-Month Price Performance
 

Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Additionally, over the past month, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2024 and 2025 earnings has moved upward. This reflects a positive sentiment among analysts and suggests encouraging prospects. 

Estimate Revision Trend 
 

Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for HOOD’s earnings implies 259% and 21.7% year-over-year growth for 2024 and 2025, respectively.

Earnings Estimates
 

Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Find the latest earnings estimates and surprises on Zacks Earnings Calendar.

Given the robust stock price performance, the company shares are trading at a massive premium to the industry. At present, the company has a forward price/earnings (P/E) of 41.18X compared with the industry average of 14.36X.

Price-to-Earnings F12M
 

Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Robinhood is on the right path to expand/diversify operations. Its initiatives to keep adding new products and services and plans to become a global entity by venturing across Europe and Asia Pacific regions, organically and through buyouts, align with its expansion efforts. The positive sentiments of analysts are echoed in the upward estimate revision trends. 

While high valuation and regulatory issues could act as deterrents, changing regulatory landscape under the Trump administration will support HOOD immensely. Hence, now is the perfect time to buy this stock before it surges again and becomes out of reach.

At present, Robinhood sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.


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