Robinhood Stock Gets 5 Price Target Upgrades, Signaling Upside
Robinhood Markets (NASDAQ: HOOD) missed out on inclusion in the S&P 500, but the last thing the company is doing is focusing on the past. The firm just announced innovations that have Wall Street analysts swooning. Robinhood has been one of the hottest stocks in the market recently.
As of the July 7 close, shares of the finance company were up 312% over the past 52 weeks. The company’s expanded product offerings and crypto trading demand have been key to its success.
However, the company is far from done adding new features and growing its presence in different markets. That’s a big reason why Robinhood received five Wall Street price target upgrades in July. These aren’t just any upgrades, either.
Several analysts increased their price targets massively, with one boosting its target by 100%. So, what is causing these analysts to become so much more bullish on Robinhood? Just how much upside do they see? Let’s dive in below.
HOOD Fast-Tracks EU Trading With Tokenization, Expands Opportunities
The increases in Robinhood’s price targets come after the company’s “To Catch a Token” event on June 30. During the event, the company unveiled new features, the most notable of which was the introduction of tokenized U.S. stocks and ETFs for Robinhood’s users in the European Union.
This is big for expanding the company’s international footprint. Before this release, EU users could only trade crypto on Robinhood. The tokenization route allows Robinhood to bypass the regulatory requirements for users to buy U.S. stocks.
The release greatly accelerates Robinhood’s timeline for gaining traction in the EU equity trading market and creates a new revenue stream.
It starts with 200 of the most well-known U.S. stocks and ETFs, but the company plans to expand this into thousands by the end of the year.
The company’s new blockchain, Robinhood Chain, makes this possible. Robinhood Chain will expand to allow investors to trade many other types of assets. This includes real estate, art, and even the stock of private companies. Robinhood announced that EU customers could access private stock tokens of OpenAI and SpaceX.
Expansion into these assets is another way Robinhood can grow its customer base, attracting more assets and revenues. Notably, these tokenized offerings are not available to U.S. users.
The company also announced that crypto trading is now available in 31 European countries, greatly expanding access and further broadening its market opportunities.
Recent Updates Flip Robinhood’s Outlook from Downside to Upside
The MarketBeat consensus price target on Robinhood is just under $73. This implies a downside of over 22% from the stock’s July 7 closing price. However, the five price targets updated by the To Catch a Token event flip the script. Their average comes in at nearly $103, which signals that shares could rise by 10%, greatly altering the outlook on the stock.
Overall, the average price target among these five analysts' upgrades increased by 28%, signaling the event greatly impacted their perceptions of Robinhood. Notably, Citigroup boosted its target from $50 to $100.
With Aggression Comes Risk, But Robinhood’s Innovation Is Undeniable
One risk for Robinhood is the potential that the company is moving too fast. The firm has rolled out update after update, strengthening its ability to keep and attract assets. This is an exciting strategy, but it could backfire if the company does not execute its rollouts to a tee. One of the key reasons the Robinhood platform attracts customers is the top-notch user experience it offers. Maintaining this is paramount to keeping and growing its customer base.
The company seems to have also stepped into a legal gray area with its private stock tokens. Investors do not actually own shares in these companies, and OpenAI has said the company does not endorse the Robinhood product. The Bank of Lithuania is seeking clarification from Robinhood to assess the legality of the instruments.
Robinhood will need to avoid legal trouble as it expands its offerings to avoid damaging the trust it has built with users.
Still, Robinhood continues to demonstrate a level of innovation and product expansion within the investment industry that no other firm is matching. This positions the firm to outcompete others going forward and grow faster than its industry if it can avoid the potential pitfalls of its aggressive strategy. This can allow the stock to continue winning.
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