Webull Corp (NASDAQ:BULL) shares jumped 13.8% in premarket trading on Thursday after the digital brokerage delivered its strongest quarterly performance since becoming a public company, beating Wall Street forecasts on both revenue and adjusted earnings.
Second-quarter 2026 revenue reached $198.8 million, comfortably ahead of analysts’ expectations of approximately $165.7 million. Adjusted earnings came in at $0.05 per share, compared with the $0.04 consensus estimate.
The positive reaction pushed Webull shares to $9.83 before the opening bell, up from the previous session’s close of $8.64.
Trading activity drives record profitability
Trading-related revenue climbed 66% year on year to $147.7 million, providing the main engine for Webull’s quarterly growth.
Adjusted operating profit increased even faster, surging 169% to a record $62.6 million. The sharp improvement demonstrated significant operating leverage, with revenue expanding considerably faster than the company’s expense base.
Trading volumes were also substantial during the quarter. Equity notional volume reached $279 billion, while customers traded 213 million options contracts.
One important catalyst was the elimination of the Pattern Day Trader rule on June 4, 2026. Removing the longstanding $25,000 minimum account balance requirement for day traders helped open the platform to greater participation from active retail traders and supported increased engagement.
Customer assets climb 79% as Webull expands user base
Webull also recorded strong growth across several key platform metrics.
Customer assets increased 79% from the previous year to $28.5 billion, while the number of registered users rose 13% to 28.2 million.
The company’s artificial intelligence initiatives are becoming another area of focus. Its Vega system reached 480,000 active users, highlighting increasing adoption of AI-powered functionality across the brokerage platform.
The combination of higher customer assets, a larger registered user base and stronger trading activity points to an expanding platform at a time when regulatory changes are encouraging greater participation from active traders.
Northland raises Webull price target
The results prompted a positive response from Northland Securities analyst Michael Grondahl, who maintained his Buy rating on Webull while increasing his price target to $15 from $14.
The analyst cited the strength of the second-quarter performance, evidence of operating leverage and the company’s AI-driven growth initiatives among the reasons for the higher target.
The new $15 objective also remains substantially above Webull’s premarket price, providing additional support for investor sentiment following the earnings release.
Webull rally driven by company-specific catalysts
Broader U.S. equity markets offered little assistance to Thursday’s move. The S&P 500 was broadly unchanged, the Dow Jones traded slightly lower and the Nasdaq recorded only a marginal gain.
Webull’s major competitors in the retail brokerage industry, including Robinhood Markets and Charles Schwab, also had no significant overnight developments that would explain a wider sector rally.
That leaves Webull’s earnings beat, record adjusted operating profit, increased trading activity, regulatory tailwinds and Northland’s higher price target as the primary drivers behind the premarket surge.
Despite climbing to $9.83, the stock remains well below its 52-week high of $16.04. Sustaining the current momentum will therefore depend on Webull’s ability to maintain strong customer engagement, translate higher trading volumes into earnings growth and continue expanding its user and asset base.