HOOD or TW: Which Trading Platform Stock is a Better Bet Post Q4?

By Swayta Shah | February 13, 2026, 8:29 AM

Robinhood Markets HOOD and Tradeweb Markets TW are fintech brokerage innovators reshaping the landscape of electronic trading, with revenues tied to market activity. HOOD caters primarily to retail investors, offering commission-free trading across multiple asset classes. Tradeweb, by contrast, is an institutionally focused platform specializing in electronic trading for bonds, derivatives and other fixed-income products.

Both companies posted strong fourth-quarter 2025 earnings and revenues. Yet the market reaction has diverged. Robinhood’s shares have come under pressure amid softer crypto-related activity and fresh worries that AI could disrupt parts of traditional financial services. Tradeweb, meanwhile, has stayed largely range-bound, with its stock showing limited sensitivity to AI-driven concerns.

Against such a backdrop, let’s break down fundamentals, growth catalysts and strategic moves to assess which stock, HOOD or TW, looks like the better addition to your portfolio now.

The Case for Robinhood

Robinhood is accelerating growth with rapid product rollouts and international expansion, aiming to become the "financial super app.” Key 2025 launches included Robinhood Cortex (an AI assistant for market analysis and real-time insights), the Legend platform (advanced trading tools like futures, short selling and extended-hours index options) and Robinhood Social (a verified community with copy trading planned). It has also expanded into personal finance through banking services and a Gold credit card.

Globally, Robinhood is rolling out tokenized U.S. stocks and ETFs across 31 EU/EEA countries with 24/5 commission-free trading, with plans to tokenize private companies. The company is also broadening crypto offerings, developing a proprietary blockchain and laying the groundwork for global banking products. New offices in Toronto and planned Asia-Pacific expansion (including acquisitions in Indonesia) are intended to diversify revenues and deepen its footprint.

HOOD is betting big on the lucrative prediction markets, which are likely to be a billion-dollar business soon. The company’s other initiatives (including a partnership with Susquehanna International Group to acquire a 90% stake in MIAX Derivatives Exchange to launch a dedicated futures and derivatives exchange and clearinghouse) underscore its ambition to evolve into a full-scale financial services platform.

Robinhood is also investing in crypto (tokenization, platform upgrades, acquisitions and EU expansion), but recent weakness in Bitcoin and other digital assets has weighed on investor sentiment and trading activity, pressuring fourth-quarter 2025 crypto-related revenues. Still, HOOD is no longer a crypto-centric firm, as crypto contributed only about 20% of total revenue last year.

Unlike traditional brokerages, Robinhood operates on a lean, cloud-based infrastructure. This allows low operating costs, efficient trade execution and faster product rollouts. As its user base grows, these efficiencies are expected to drive margins. Its tech-powered model enables cost-effective entry into new markets, unlocking a larger global opportunity.

The Case for Tradeweb

Tradeweb is strengthening its global leadership in electronic trading through technology innovation, international expansion and diversification. Its heavy investment in automation and AI-powered tools, including AiEX, portfolio trading and electronic swaption protocols, has accelerated the shift from manual to digital trading. This is driving robust growth in fixed income and derivatives volumes.

The company’s recent strategic investment in MAXEX aims to expand access to the institutional marketplace for U.S. residential mortgages. Internationally, TW has tripled emerging market revenues since 2023, with Asia-Pacific and EM swaps trading growing nearly tenfold since 2021. In credit markets, it now captures almost 18% of U.S. investment-grade and 8% of high-yield electronic trading volumes.

Strategic acquisitions like ICD and Yieldbroker have expanded Tradeweb’s product range and recurring automation revenues, while cross-platform integration deepens client engagement. It is also advancing into digital assets and tokenization, leveraging blockchain partnerships such as the Canton Network to capitalize on regulatory and institutional demand for tokenized securities.

With record daily trading volumes of $3.1 trillion and more than 3,000 global clients, Tradeweb benefits from strong network effects and resilient infrastructure. Operating leverage from automation supports profitability, positioning the company to sustain its edge as electronic and digital markets converge.

Tradeweb’s growth could slow if recent volatility-driven trading volumes ease. Its initiatives in blockchain and private credit also face execution, regulatory and innovation-related risks.

How Do Earnings Estimates Compare for HOOD & TW?

Over the past 30 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for HOOD’s 2026 and 2027 earnings has been revised upward. The earnings estimates for 2026 and 2027 imply 21% and 17% growth, respectively.

Earnings Estimates for HOOD