Interactive Brokers Hits Q2 High on Trading Momentum

Interactive Brokers reports 28% revenue growth and 34% account expansion in Q2 2026 as trading and margin lending surge.

Key Points:

• Interactive Brokers posted Q2 2026 net revenue of $1.90 billion, up 28% year-on-year, with diluted EPS rising to $0.69 from $0.51 as customer accounts grew 34% to 5.19 million.
• Net interest margin narrowed to 1.93% from 2.07% a year earlier, as revenue growth came from larger loan balances rather than higher yields on interest-earning assets.

Interactive Brokers Hits Q2 High on Trading Momentum

Interactive Brokers Group delivered a strong second quarter, with higher trading volumes, expanding customer accounts, and growing margin lending driving profit and revenue above year-ago levels across the board.

The broker posted net revenue of $1.90 billion for the three months through June, up 28% from $1.48 billion a year earlier. Diluted earnings per share climbed to $0.69 from $0.51, while income before taxes rose 32% to $1.46 billion. The pretax margin held at 77%, two percentage points above the prior-year level. Customer accounts reached 5.19 million by the end of June, up 34% year-on-year and 9% above the first-quarter figure, with customer equity rising 40% annually to $930.3 billion.

Trading and Lending Lift Revenue

Commission revenue rose 30% to $673 million as customer trading activity accelerated across asset classes. Options volume climbed 17% year-on-year, stock volume gained 14%, and futures volume edged up 2%. Daily average revenue trades jumped 36% to 4.82 million. Notably, commission per cleared order stayed nearly flat at $2.64 against $2.65 a year earlier, confirming that the surge in commissions reflected volume rather than higher pricing.

Net interest income, the company’s largest revenue line, grew 23% to $1.06 billion. Higher average customer margin loans and credit balances drove the gain, with margin loans ending the quarter at $108.5 billion, up 67%, and customer credit balances rising 27% to $182.4 billion.

Yields Fall as Balances Grow

Despite the revenue growth, the profitability of lending narrowed. Net interest margin slipped to 1.93% from 2.07% a year earlier as yields fell across interest-earning assets. The annualized yield on customer margin loans dropped to 4.10% from 4.67%, and the yield on segregated cash and securities declined to 3.32% from 3.86%.

The increase in net interest income therefore came from larger balances rather than better rates. The pretax margin held at 77%, above the year-ago 75% but short of the 79% the company posted in the third quarter of 2025, pointing to persistent yield pressure even as volumes continue to expand.

Retail Peers Feel a Cooler Market

Interactive Brokers‘ active trader and institutional base kept engagement high through the quarter, a contrast to conditions reported elsewhere in retail brokerage. Robinhood posted slower first-quarter revenue growth of 15%, with crypto trading volumes declining, and its strategists flagged a pullback in retail net buying as U.S. equity gains slowed into 2026.

To sustain engagement, Interactive Brokers has expanded its product lineup significantly. It bundled prediction market contracts from Kalshi, CME Group, and ForecastEx into a unified interface, integrated AI trading tools from ChatGPT and Grok for options and futures traders, and recently broadened its crypto infrastructure with stablecoin withdrawals, external wallet transfers, and nine new digital assets.

Dividend Steady, Currency Basket Cuts Earnings

The board declared a quarterly dividend of $0.0875 per share, unchanged from the prior quarter and payable September 14 to holders of record on September 1. Total equity stood at $22.3 billion at the end of June.

Interactive Brokers holds its net worth in a basket of 10 major currencies it calls the GLOBAL. This quarter the strategy cut comprehensive earnings by $36 million as the dollar value of the basket fell approximately 0.21%, reversing a period in early 2025 when a stronger basket had added $127 million to results.

Reported net income reached $1.34 billion for the quarter, though the firm’s holding structure directed $1.03 billion to noncontrolling interests, leaving $312 million attributable to common shareholders.

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