Robinhood Markets reported revenue of $4.473 billion for fiscal 2025, up from $1.865 billion in fiscal 2023.1 Over the same two years net income swung from a loss of $541 million to a profit of $1.883 billion, and earnings per share went from -$0.61 to $2.05.1 Those are SEC-filing figures that Via News has checked against the source. They explain why the company sits at the centre of a wider story: fintech is reorganising around AI agents, and capital is following.
One caveat on scale. The dossier holds no outside yardstick, such as a market-wide total or an index weighting. We therefore compare Robinhood only with itself. Revenue is now more than double what it was in 2023. We cannot tell you whether you own it through an index fund, because the material does not say.
The balance sheet behind the product push
Robinhood's cash did not grow in a straight line. It was $4.835 billion at the end of fiscal 2023, $4.332 billion at the end of 2024 and $4.261 billion at the end of 2025.2 That fell even as profits rose. The quarterly figures show a recovery since: $5.012 billion in Q1 2026 (against $4.416 billion a year earlier) and $5.362 billion in Q2 2026 (against $4.162 billion).2
Operating cash flow, the cash the business actually generated from running itself, was uneven. It was $1.181 billion in 2023, then negative $157 million in 2024, then $1.638 billion in 2025.3 A profitable year can still be a cash-negative one, which is a reason to read the cash-flow line and not only the headline profit. Research and development spending stayed in a narrow band: $349 million, $323 million and $355 million over the three years.3 Revenue rose far faster than that spending.
Where reporting diverges. Two records give Robinhood's cash for 30 September 2025 as 4.331 billion and 4.3 billion dollars. The difference is about $31 million, and it comes from rounding. We use the filing-based $4.331 billion.2
Retail trading products: zero fees, for now
Cboe announced at Robinhood's third annual HOOD Summit in Houston that it plans to launch binary contracts tied to company-specific key performance indicators. The products cover 23 companies, are expected in October 2026 and are subject to regulatory approval. Robinhood will be the first retail broker to offer them.4 Cboe will charge no fees on the contracts through the end of 2026, subject to regulatory review, and Robinhood will also offer them fee-free until year-end.5 Cboe's Steve Quirk said: “Earnings contracts give retail investors another tool to inform their strategies and offer an even more precise way to trade on anticipated company KPIs.”4
For an ordinary investor the practical point is that the fee waiver is time-limited and still under regulatory review. A product that is free until a stated date has not shown yet what it earns once fees start. Robinhood also announced other products at the same event, including Robinhood Agent, perpetuals, 24/7 trading and 10X crypto leverage.5 The dossier does not say how any of them performed.
The money going into agent identity
Baselayer, a San Francisco startup that helps financial institutions verify businesses and assess fraud risk, raised $35 million in a Series A led by M13. Picus Capital, Torch Capital, Afore Capital and Matt Thompson of Socure also took part.5,6 It launched an Agentic Identity Suite alongside the round, extending its identity network from businesses to the AI agents that transact for them.5
CEO Jonathan Awad frames the problem as trust: “Agents spin up and they spin down. How can you trust this random one-task agent?”6 His warning is blunt: “agents will just get blocked everywhere” unless they can show they act for legitimate people or businesses.6 The financial case is in the sales cycle. Awad said relationships with financial institutions typically take 12 to 18 months to establish, and large merchant partnerships up to 24 months.6 He also said: “We've essentially streamlined 10 years' worth of selling into two years.”6 This is the company's own claim and we have not verified it independently.
Incumbents buy
On 22 October 2026 LSEG agreed to acquire Octus, a provider of credit intelligence, data and workflows. The cash consideration goes to funds advised by Permira and to Octus management, including founder Kent Collier.5 The dossier does not give a price. The same narrative cites Circle–Tazapay, Grab–Atome and Adobe–Rilo, but the dossier holds no terms or primary documents for them, so we do not analyse them. Via News's reading of the pattern is that established players are buying data and workflow assets rather than building them. That is our interpretation of the narrative, not a stated fact.
The sceptic's view
Norwest partner Sean Jacobsohn is cautious about handing finance to AI: “You don't want AI doing calculations because it is not good at math. There are certain workflows it can handle where it doesn't produce precise numbers. But when you need precision, accuracy and calculations, you can't rely on AI for that.”7 He sees the opening in software, not in core systems. “I think it would be very hard to disrupt the core products of Workday, ADP, SAP, UKG and Dayforce. But it's easier to disrupt some of their secondary products, where the category isn't their core business.”7 On ERP he said there is “a potential opportunity to disrupt NetSuite and Sage,” with disruption coming “more downmarket first.”7 His reasoning on CFO tools: “There's actually one less layer of approval when they're buying their own software, so it is a little easier to replace it when they're the direct buyer.”7
He also tests founders on selling: “Before I invest, I'll go on a lot of sales calls I set up with the CEO to see how good they are at selling. To me, that's a big way of assessing the potential of a company.”7
How much to trust the sources
The measured reliability of our sources differs. The Cboe and Robinhood press release came from a feed where 53% of 6,376 checked claims held up.4 The Crunchbase News articles come from a feed where 49% of 41 checked claims held up.6,7 Neither is high. Treat the quotes above as what the speakers said, not as established fact. Treat Robinhood's SEC figures as the firm ground.
What to watch
- Whether the Cboe KPI contracts launch in October as planned, and what happens when the fee waiver ends after 2026.
- Whether Robinhood's operating cash flow stays positive after its swing to negative $157 million in 2024, and whether the Q2 2026 cash of $5.362 billion holds.
- Whether Baselayer's 12-to-24-month sales cycle shortens as agent identity becomes standard.
- Whether Jacobsohn's caution proves right: that the first disruption comes in secondary software and downmarket ERP, not in core systems.
