TLDR
- HOOD shares surged over 3% during premarket hours to $118.60 following dual analyst upgrades from major firms
- Morgan Stanley increased its price forecast from $95 to $124, maintaining an overweight stance
- Barclays elevated its target from $82 to $122, highlighting robust platform growth and elevated trading activity
- The company unveiled its proprietary Layer-2 blockchain powered by Arbitrum, facilitating continuous tokenized equity trading across 120+ nations
- This strategic launch positions Robinhood as a direct rival to Solana, which currently dominates with over 95% of tokenized stock trading volume worldwide
Robinhood (HOOD) received consecutive endorsements from prominent Wall Street institutions on Friday, with both Morgan Stanley and Barclays increasing their price projections for the trading platform operator. HOOD shares advanced more than 3% in early trading to $118.60, extending a rally that has pushed the stock approximately 40% higher over the preceding month.
Morgan Stanley boosted its price objective from $95 to $124—representing an increase exceeding 30%—while keeping its buy recommendation intact. The investment bank observed that brokerage firms and trading venues are positioned to deliver above-consensus second-quarter results, supported by heightened market activity and increased volatility.
Barclays analyst Benjamin Budish similarly maintained his buy rating while elevating his price target from $82 to $122. He emphasized the sustained positive momentum across Robinhood’s ecosystem and trading metrics as the firm diversifies beyond its traditional retail brokerage business model.
These latest upgrades complement recent optimistic moves from Goldman Sachs, Mizuho, and BTIG, which have all established 12-month price objectives ranging between $121 and $130.
HOOD concluded Thursday’s session at $115.11, registering a 1.39% gain, although trading activity remained beneath its 30-day average of approximately 32 million shares.
Robinhood Takes On Solana With Its Own Blockchain
The analyst enthusiasm stems partly from Robinhood’s aggressive expansion into cryptocurrency and distributed ledger technology. On July 1, the platform enabled continuous tokenized stock trading available around the clock in over 120 countries and started directing perpetual futures transactions through Lighter, a decentralized trading protocol.
The newly minted Robinhood Chain operates on Arbitrum, a Layer-2 scaling solution for Ethereum. The blockchain has quickly garnered significant interest—Robinhood Chain exceeded Hyperliquid in daily decentralized exchange volume, while its total value locked (TVL) reached $100 million just days after going live.
This deployment creates direct competition with Solana, which presently processes upward of 95% of worldwide tokenized equity trading volume and maintains $568.1 million in tokenized stock assets. Solana’s rapid transaction speeds and minimal transaction costs have established it as the preferred blockchain for tokenized financial instruments.
Robinhood opted against Solana entirely, selecting Arbitrum as its foundation. While Arbitrum processes transactions more slowly and at higher costs than Solana, Robinhood’s established customer base of 28 million users spanning 38 countries provides a distribution network that competitors struggle to match.
What This Means for the Tokenized Stock Race
Solana continues advancing its position. Its on-chain real-world asset holdings expanded from $1.4 billion to $3.3 billion between January and early July 2026, with prominent financial institutions including Bitwise, State Street, and Amundi launching products on the platform.
Institutional participants may gravitate toward Solana to circumvent potential conflicts of interest associated with utilizing a competitor’s proprietary infrastructure.
Robinhood’s meme cryptocurrency ecosystem is also building momentum. Cash Cat (CASHCAT), a meme token native to Robinhood Chain, skyrocketed over 1,000% within a three-day period and registered approximately 80% gains in the previous 24 hours, trading at $0.172.
Bitcoin advanced more than 3% to $64,556 on Friday, providing additional support for cryptocurrency-adjacent equities like HOOD.
Robinhood generates approximately $157 in annual revenue per funded account and currently serves 28 million customers internationally.
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