StoneX analyst Mark Palmer gives Robinhood stock a Buy rating and $170 target, citing Robinhood Chain and prediction markets as major growth drivers.
Key Takeaways
- StoneX initiated coverage of Robinhood stock with a Buy rating and a $170 price target.
- The target implies roughly 45% upside from Robinhood’s September 8 closing price of $117.34.
- Analyst Mark Palmer identified Robinhood Chain and prediction markets as two major future growth engines.
- Robinhood Chain generated about $4.59 million in daily fees as of September 3, according to figures cited by StoneX.
- Robinhood’s prediction-market business generated about $156 million in Q2 revenue, up roughly 50% quarter over quarter.
Robinhood stock has received another bullish Wall Street call, with StoneX initiating coverage at Buy and assigning a $170 price target. Analyst Mark Palmer said Robinhood is evolving beyond its traditional retail brokerage model, with blockchain infrastructure and prediction markets emerging as important new sources of growth.
The target represents approximately 45% upside from Robinhood’s $117.34 closing price on September 8. The call comes after a series of analysts raised their outlooks for the company, strengthening the argument that Robinhood is increasingly being valued as a diversified financial-technology platform rather than simply a retail trading app.
StoneX Sees Major Upside for Robinhood Stock
Palmer’s bullish thesis centers on the acceleration of Robinhood’s operating businesses. According to StoneX, almost every major operating metric is moving higher, while the company continues expanding into financial infrastructure with what Palmer described as software-like economics.
Robinhood closed Tuesday at $117.34, meaning the $170 target would require the stock to rise about $52.66 from that level. That is a substantial forecast, but it also reflects the analyst’s view that Robinhood’s newer businesses could materially increase the company’s earnings potential over the next several years.
Robinhood Chain Becomes a Central Growth Driver
One of the most important parts of the StoneX thesis is Robinhood Chain, the company’s Ethereum Layer 2 network that launched its mainnet on July 1, 2026. The network is designed to support tokenized assets, decentralized finance and other blockchain-based financial products while allowing Robinhood to participate directly in the infrastructure underlying those markets.
StoneX highlighted the network’s rapidly increasing fee generation. According to the figures cited in the report, Robinhood Chain generated approximately $4.59 million in daily fees on September 3, while annualized revenue was approaching $39 million based on an August 29 figure. StoneX also said the chain had, at one point, generated more gas-fee revenue over a trailing 24-hour period than other Ethereum Layer 2 networks.
The analyst’s longer-term projection is considerably more aggressive. StoneX reportedly expects Robinhood Chain to generate approximately $980 million in revenue by fiscal 2029, with an estimated 85% profit margin. If that forecast proves even partially accurate, the blockchain could become a meaningful contributor to Robinhood’s overall valuation rather than simply an experimental product.
Prediction Markets Add Another Growth Engine
Prediction markets are the second major pillar of the bullish case. Robinhood has aggressively expanded into event contracts, allowing customers to trade contracts tied to outcomes involving sports, politics, economic data and other events.
The business has already become large enough to make a meaningful contribution to Robinhood’s financial results. The company traded approximately 13.6 billion event contracts during the second quarter, with prediction-market revenue reaching about $156 million, representing an increase of roughly 50% from the previous quarter.
That growth is particularly significant because prediction markets can generate trading activity even when traditional equity or cryptocurrency volumes are weaker. Robinhood can therefore potentially diversify its revenue base by capturing activity from customers who want exposure to event-driven markets rather than simply buying stocks or cryptocurrencies.
The company’s recent agreement with Crypto.com further reinforces that strategy. Robinhood is set to add Crypto.com’s prediction markets to its platform while taking minority stakes in Crypto.com businesses, expanding the range of event contracts available to its users.
The Crypto Business Is No Longer the Whole Story
Interestingly, StoneX’s bullish thesis does not depend on cryptocurrency revenue returning to its previous highs. Robinhood’s second-quarter revenue increased 32% year over year to $1.31 billion, but cryptocurrency revenue declined 38%, leaving crypto at about 8% of net revenue, compared with 16% a year earlier.
That shift is important for investors. It suggests Robinhood has become less dependent on cryptocurrency trading even as the company continues making major investments in blockchain infrastructure.
Instead of relying solely on transaction revenue from customers buying and selling digital assets, Robinhood is attempting to capture value from the infrastructure surrounding those markets. Robinhood Chain, tokenized assets, prediction markets, derivatives and other financial products could potentially provide multiple sources of recurring revenue.
Why Investors Are Paying Attention
The StoneX call arrives during a period of increasing institutional optimism around Robinhood. Other Wall Street firms have recently raised their targets, including Goldman Sachs, Jefferies and Cantor Fitzgerald, while Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock to Overweight and raised its target to $150.
The growing number of bullish calls does not guarantee that the stock will reach $170. Robinhood remains exposed to market volatility, regulatory changes, competition and the risk that its newer businesses fail to grow as quickly as analysts currently expect.
There is also a valuation question. At $117.34, investors are already assigning significant value to Robinhood’s growth prospects. If the company delivers strong results, the premium could be justified; if growth slows, the stock could face pressure even if its underlying businesses remain healthy.
Why It Matters
The importance of the StoneX report extends beyond Robinhood stock itself. It reflects a broader change in how financial companies are approaching blockchain technology. Rather than treating crypto as simply another asset class for customers to trade, Robinhood is building infrastructure that could allow it to earn revenue from activity occurring directly onchain.
That distinction could become increasingly important as tokenized stocks, decentralized finance and blockchain-based financial markets mature. If Robinhood Chain develops into a major settlement and trading network, its economic value could eventually extend well beyond cryptocurrency transactions.
Prediction markets create a similar opportunity on the traditional-finance side. Robinhood is effectively combining brokerage services, derivatives, event contracts and blockchain infrastructure under one platform, giving the company more ways to monetize each customer.
Closing Analysis
The bullish case for Robinhood stock is increasingly based on what the company could become rather than what it was when it first became popular among retail traders. StoneX sees Robinhood transforming into a broader financial infrastructure company, with Robinhood Chain and prediction markets providing two of the most important new growth avenues.
The $170 target is ambitious, but the underlying numbers explain why analysts are becoming more optimistic. A rapidly growing Layer 2, $156 million in quarterly prediction-market revenue and continued expansion into financial infrastructure give Robinhood several potential engines for future earnings growth.
