Retail Trading Platforms Post Record Quarters as Investor Apps Multiply

Wall Street Investor News Commentary – Four publicly listed retail investing platforms now report more than 41 million funded accounts between them, and two of them reported record quarters this summer. The pattern is the same across all of them: more people are managing their own money from a phone, and the platforms competing for them are adding research, data and AI tools alongside the trade button. Active Companies from around the markets include: Robinhood Markets, Inc. (NASDAQ: HOOD), Webull Corporation (NASDAQ: BULL), Futu Holdings Limited (NASDAQ: FUTU), eToro Group Ltd. (NASDAQ: ETOR), Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ: MORN).

Not every investor needs a brokerage to follow the market. A growing set of free tools sits one step before the trade, built for people who want to watch prices, understand why a stock moved and keep a watchlist without paying for a terminal. Those tools now compete on the same features the brokerages use to win accounts: live quotes, plain-language explanations and AI research.

Quote Daddy is one of them. It is a free stock-tracking app for the web, iPhone and Android with live watchlists for U.S. stocks and ETFs, interactive charts, insider activity from SEC Form 4 filings, alerts, and one-tap AI briefings that explain in plain English why a stock moved. It also tracks the latest SEC 13F holdings of well-known investors and congressional disclosed trades. Its research tool, Luxor IQ, turns live prices, a year of trend data, fundamentals, news and analyst ratings into a research note written by AI, with three free reports a day. There is no credit card and no paywall; accounts are free at quotedaddy.com.

Below are five listed platforms in the same space, the investor-facing apps and research services that millions of self-directed investors use, and what each reported in its latest quarter.

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In other industry developments and happenings in the market this week include:

Robinhood Markets, Inc. (NASDAQ: HOOD)

Robinhood reported record second quarter 2026 revenue of $1.31 billion, up 32% from a year earlier. Funded customers rose 7% to 28.4 million, total platform assets rose 32% to $369 billion, and Robinhood Gold subscribers grew 39% to 4.8 million. Net deposits were $21.7 billion for the quarter, and the company has scheduled its third quarter results for October 27.

Webull Corporation (NASDAQ: BULL)

Webull reported second quarter 2026 revenue of $198.8 million, up 51% year over year, and net income attributable to the company of $24.4 million, compared with a net loss a year earlier. Registered users rose 13% to 28.2 million, funded accounts rose 8% to 5.13 million, and customer assets climbed 79% to $28.5 billion.

“I’m proud to report a record second quarter for Webull,” said CEO Anthony Denier, who credited the rollout of updated active-trader features after the elimination of the Pattern Day Trader rule on June 4.

Futu Holdings Limited (NASDAQ: FUTU)

Futu, the parent of the moomoo investing app, reported second quarter 2026 total revenues of US$918.2 million, up 35.6% year over year, and net income of US$464.4 million, up 41.6%. Funded accounts grew 33.6% to 3,842,667, registered users reached 31.3 million, and client assets rose 43.6% to HK$1.40 trillion.

“Malaysia led new funded account additions for the third consecutive quarter,” said Leaf Hua Li, Chairman and CEO.

eToro Group Ltd. (NASDAQ: ETOR)

eToro, which combines trading with a social investing feed, reported second quarter 2026 net contribution of $229 million, up 9% year over year, and GAAP net income of $53 million, up 77%. Funded accounts rose 18% to 4.28 million and assets under administration grew 10% to $19.2 billion.

“We delivered another strong quarter as we continue executing against our long-term strategy,” said Yoni Assia, Co-Founder and CEO.

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ: MORN)

Morningstar, the investment research and data provider, reported second quarter 2026 revenue of $663.2 million, up 9.6%, and operating income of $160.6 million, up 28.4%. Revenue from its Morningstar Direct platform rose 6.2% to $222.1 million and PitchBook revenue rose 4.9% to $174.7 million.

“We are continuing to deliver profitable growth with meaningful increases in operating and free cash flows,” said CEO Kunal Kapoor. Morningstar plans to report third quarter results on October 28.

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Source : Wall Street Investor