Prominent wealth manager Ross Gerber has slammed Robinhood following its latest quarterly report.
The financial pundit has described the retail trading platform as nothing more than a “gambling app.”
The company’s Q1 report has shown a massive drop in cryptocurrency volumes.
The shares of Robinhood (HOOD) have tumbled by roughly 8% in post-market trading.
“Nothing more than a casino”
Robinhood’s heavy reliance on high-risk and speculative trading activity has apparently backfired.
“They only make money when you gamble and lose on…. stock options, crypto and betting,” Gerber stated. “This is a gambling app, nothing more. They make money when you lose.”
Robinhood’s most lucrative quarters have historically been driven by massive retail speculation in meme stocks and volatile cryptocurrencies.
The crypto slump
Robinhood posted a 15% year-over-year increase in total revenue to $1.07 billion, but it still fell short of Wall Street’s $1.14 billion estimate.
Adjusted earnings per share came in at $0.38, which was below expectations.
As mentioned above, the platform has experienced a massive 47% collapse in crypto trading revenue. It has plummeted to $134 million from $252 million a year earlier.
The platform is waiting for the next major market cycle to bring the dopamine-driven retail crowd back.
The silver lining
Of course, crypto tanked, but Robinhood saw a massive boom in prediction market bets. Revenue from “other transactions” skyrocketed 320% year-over-year to $147 millions
The company has also pulled in roughly $50 million in subscription revenue.
During the earnings call, Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev actively tried to shift the narrative away from the platform’s dependence on cryptocurrency price cycles.
“I want to get away from talking about the price of Bitcoin,” Tenev told investors.
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