Market Volatility Propels Financial Results At Interactive Brokers

Strong trading activity during a volatile market helped lift the second-quarter financial results of Interactive Brokers (IBKR) past Wall Street forecasts.The Greenwich, Connecticut-based company reported earnings per share (EPS) of $0.51 U.S., which topped the $0.47 U.S. that was the consensus expectation of analysts. Revenue in the April-through-June period totaled $1.50 billion U.S., which beat the Wall Street forecast of $1.40 billion U.S.In the same period of 2024, Interactive Brokers reported earnings of $0.41 U.S. on sales of $1.20 billion U.S. Management at Interactive Brokers said they navigated a challenging market environment during the second quarter. Stocks plunged in April because of U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade war but rebounded later in the quarter after he delayed implementation of most of his threatened tariffs.During the spring, Interactive Brokers saw a surge in investor activity as customers opened more accounts, traded more often, and traded more on margin or debt. Management said the number of new customer accounts at its brokerage jumped 32% year-over-year to 3.87 million, while margin loans grew 18% to $65.1 billion U.S. during Q2.Shares of IBKR rose 4% in after-hours trading on news of the Q2 results. The stock is up 35% so far this year compared with a 7% gain for the benchmark S&P 500 index.