Key Highlights
- HOOD stock rose over 3% during premarket hours, reaching $118.60 following dual analyst upgrades
- Morgan Stanley elevated its price objective from $95 to $124 while maintaining its buy recommendation
- Barclays increased its target from $82 to $122, highlighting robust platform engagement and elevated transaction activity
- The company unveiled its proprietary Layer-2 blockchain using Arbitrum technology, facilitating round-the-clock tokenized equity transactions across 120+ nations
- This strategic initiative positions Robinhood as a direct rival to Solana, which currently dominates with over 95% of worldwide tokenized stock trading
Robinhood (HOOD) received consecutive endorsements from prominent Wall Street analysts on Friday, with both Morgan Stanley and Barclays increasing their stock valuations. The trading platform’s shares surged more than 3% in early trading to $118.60, extending an impressive rally that has seen approximately 40% gains over the previous month.
Morgan Stanley’s revised projection jumped from $95 to $124—representing over 30% upward revision—while keeping its buy stance intact. The investment bank highlighted expectations that brokerage firms and trading venues will deliver above-consensus second-quarter results, fueled by elevated market volatility and transaction volumes.
Barclays analyst Benjamin Budish likewise maintained his buy recommendation while elevating his price objective from $82 to $122. His analysis emphasized the sustained strength across Robinhood’s user engagement metrics and trading activity as the firm transitions beyond its traditional retail brokerage identity.
These latest upgrades align with recent bullish moves from Goldman Sachs, Mizuho, and BTIG, which have all established 12-month targets ranging between $121 and $130.
HOOD finished Thursday’s session at $115.11, gaining 1.39%, though transaction volumes remained beneath the 30-day average of approximately 32 million shares.
Robinhood Launches Blockchain to Compete With Solana
The wave of analyst confidence stems partly from Robinhood’s aggressive push into cryptocurrency and blockchain infrastructure. Starting July 1, the platform enabled continuous tokenized stock transactions spanning 120-plus jurisdictions and began processing perpetual futures contracts via Lighter, a decentralized trading protocol.
The newly introduced Robinhood Chain operates on Arbitrum, a Layer-2 scaling solution for Ethereum. Early adoption has been substantial—Robinhood Chain exceeded Hyperliquid in daily decentralized exchange volume, while total value locked (TVL) crossed the $100 million threshold just days after deployment.
This strategic move creates direct competition with Solana, which presently commands more than 95% of tokenized stock trading globally and supports $568.1 million in tokenized equities. Solana’s high throughput and minimal transaction costs have established it as the preferred blockchain for asset tokenization.
Robinhood deliberately avoided Solana, opting for Arbitrum despite its relatively slower speed and higher costs. However, Robinhood’s extensive user base of 28 million customers spanning 38 countries provides a substantial distribution network that competitors struggle to match.
Implications for the Tokenized Equity Market
Solana continues advancing its position. The network’s on-chain real-world asset holdings expanded from $1.4 billion to $3.3 billion between January and early July 2026, with established institutions including Bitwise, State Street, and Amundi deploying assets on the platform.
Institutional participants may gravitate toward Solana to sidestep potential conflicts of interest associated with utilizing a competitor’s proprietary blockchain infrastructure.
Meanwhile, Robinhood’s meme token ecosystem demonstrates momentum. Cash Cat (CASHCAT), a native Robinhood Chain meme cryptocurrency, exploded over 1,000% within three days and posted approximately 80% gains in the most recent 24-hour period, trading at $0.172.
Bitcoin advanced more than 3% to $64,556 on Friday, providing additional support for crypto-oriented stocks like HOOD.
Robinhood generates approximately $157 in annual revenue per funded account and currently serves 28 million users worldwide.
