Shares of Interactive Brokers fell 7% Tuesday after the brokerage firm was removed from a curated list of top U.S. stocks from Goldman Sachs, although it retains a Buy rating from Goldman analyst James Yaro.
Also on Tuesday, UBS analysts assumed coverage of Interactive Brokers, rating its stock Neutral. "We view IBKR as a best-in-class broker with a compelling growth runway, but believe the stock already reflects much of that advantage," analysts led by Michael Brown wrote Tuesday.
Interactive Brokers has been on a growth tear, and shares have easily outpaced the benchmark S&P 500 index over the past three years. The stock is up 290% while the S&P 500 is up 74% over the same period. The benchmark index was down 0.8% on Tuesday afternoon.
Interactive Brokers serves individual and institutional investors, and it has benefited from robust trading activity and a bull market for stocks. Customer accounts reached 5.19 million for the quarter ended June 30, a 34% year-over-year increase, the company reported in July. Daily average revenue trades, a brokerage industry metric reflecting trading activity, increased 36% to 4.82 million.
Customers also traded more on margin, meaning they borrowed money from the brokerage to buy stocks. Interactive Brokers reported that margin loans jumped 67% to $108.5 billion. The company has been adding new technology capabilities and offerings for customers, such as cryptocurrency, prediction markets, and tools for advisors. It also recently began allowing clients to connect their own artificial intelligence agents to their accounts for use in research, analysis, and trading.
Brown, the UBS analyst, thinks Interactive Brokers' earnings growth outlook is compelling and that growth in accounts, assets, and trading activity can drive "low-teens EPS growth on average through 2030." But the stock price largely reflects the strides Interactive Brokers has made. "From here, upside depends on the company exceeding already demanding expectations," Brown writes.
Brown assumed coverage from former UBS analyst Benjamin Rubin, who had a Buy rating on Interactive Brokers stock.
A representative for Interactive Brokers was unavailable for immediate comment.