Robinhood Stock Slips as It Buys $25M Bitcoin, Barclays Sets $132 Target and ARK Sells

• Barclays raised its Robinhood stock target to $132 from $105, maintaining an Overweight rating despite weaker trading
• Robinhood added $25 million in Bitcoin to its corporate balance sheet as it expands its crypto business
• Cathie Wood’s ARK sold 63,466 Robinhood shares across ARKK and ARKW, worth approximately $7.1 million

Robinhood is putting some of its own money into Bitcoin, even as investors pull back from its shares. The Robinhood Bitcoin purchase comes with a higher Barclays target and another sale by Cathie Wood’s funds, leaving Robinhood stock caught between expansion plans and a weaker market. The company has spent years helping customers trade crypto. Owning more of it raises a different question about where that business is heading, and how much shareholders stand to gain.

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Robinhood Stock Faces Selling Despite Barclays’ Higher Target

Robinhood stock closed Tuesday, October 6, at $112, down 1.85%. Shares remained lower in Wednesday’s premarket trading. Latest data showed an early quote of $108.94, a further 2.73% decline.

Barclays took a more optimistic view, maintaining its Overweight rating and lifting its target to $132 from $105. The Barclays Robinhood price target represents a 25.7% increase and sits about 17.9% above Tuesday’s close. This leaves a sizeable gap between the bank’s expectations and where HOOD stock is trading.

A Small Bitcoin Treasury Allocation With a Bigger Message

Johann Kerbrat, Robinhood’s crypto and international chief, said that the company added $25 million in Bitcoin to its balance sheet. He added,

“We care deeply about bitcoin and the ecosystem around it.”

Kerbrat acknowledged that the purchase is small for a company valued near $100 billion. These corporate Bitcoin holdings amount to roughly 0.025% of that valuation. The Bitcoin treasury allocation signals commitment, but its size gives shareholders little reason to expect a major change in the company’s finances.

Robinhood crypto expansion reaches further through perpetual futures, stock tokens and Robinhood Chain. Its existing trading business offers a useful measure of demand. Robinhood Markets reported $17.5 billion in August crypto trading volume, up 61% from July but down 38% from a year earlier. The monthly recovery was strong, and activity still trailed last year.

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ARK Trims Its Robinhood Position

ARK Invest’s Robinhood sale added another development for shareholders to consider. Cathie Wood’s funds sold 43,354 shares through ARKK and 20,112 through ARKW on Tuesday, according to trade tracking data. Together, the 63,466 shares were worth approximately $7.1 million at the closing price.

The sale alone does not explain Wednesday’s weakness. For Robinhood stock, the more lasting test is whether new crypto products keep customers trading and bring in enough revenue to support the higher expectations.

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