Key Highlights
- HOOD shares surged 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 forecast from $82 to $122, highlighting robust platform growth and increased trading activity
- The company unveiled its proprietary Layer-2 blockchain powered by Arbitrum, facilitating round-the-clock tokenized equity trading across 120+ nations
- This strategic initiative positions Robinhood as a direct rival to Solana, which dominates with over 95% of worldwide tokenized stock transaction volume
Robinhood (HOOD) received consecutive endorsements from major Wall Street firms on Friday, with both Morgan Stanley and Barclays upgrading their price projections. The stock experienced a premarket surge exceeding 3%, hitting $118.60, extending an impressive rally that has delivered approximately 40% gains over the previous month.
Morgan Stanley’s revised target jumped from $95 to $124ārepresenting more than a 30% liftāwhile reaffirming its buy stance. The investment bank observed that brokerage firms and trading platforms are positioned to deliver above-consensus second-quarter results, fueled by elevated trading volumes and market volatility.
Barclays’ Benjamin Budish similarly maintained his buy rating while advancing his price objective from $82 to $122. His optimism stems from persistent strength in Robinhood’s user engagement and transaction volumes as the firm transitions beyond its traditional retail brokerage identity.
These latest upgrades complement earlier bullish calls from Goldman Sachs, Mizuho, and BTIG, which have all recently established 12-month targets ranging between $121 and $130.
HOOD concluded Thursday’s session at $115.11, gaining 1.39%, although turnover remained beneath its 30-day average of approximately 32 million shares.
Robinhood Challenges Solana’s Dominance With Proprietary Blockchain
The wave of analyst confidence correlates partly with Robinhood’s aggressive expansion into cryptocurrency and blockchain infrastructure. On July 1, the platform activated continuous tokenized equity trading spanning over 120 countries and started channeling perpetual futures transactions through Lighter, a decentralized exchange protocol.
The newly launched Robinhood Chain operates on Arbitrum, a Layer-2 scaling solution built atop Ethereum. The network has quickly garnered market attentionāRobinhood Chain eclipsed Hyperliquid in 24-hour decentralized exchange volume, while its total value locked (TVL) reached $100 million shortly after deployment.
This development creates direct competition with Solana, which presently processes over 95% of global tokenized stock trading activity and supports $568.1 million in tokenized securities. Solana’s high-speed transactions and minimal costs have established it as the preferred blockchain for tokenized financial instruments.
Robinhood deliberately avoided Solana, opting for Arbitrum despite its comparatively slower processing speeds and higher transaction fees. However, Robinhood’s substantial user base of 28 million customers spanning 38 countries provides a significant distribution edge that competitors struggle to match.
Implications for the Tokenized Securities Market
Solana continues advancing its position. The network’s on-chain real-world asset portfolio expanded from $1.4 billion to $3.3 billion between January and early July 2026, attracting prominent institutions including Bitwise, State Street, and Amundi to issue assets on its platform.
Institutional participants may gravitate toward Solana to circumvent potential conflicts of interest associated with utilizing a competitor’s proprietary blockchain infrastructure.
Robinhood’s meme coin ecosystem has also demonstrated momentum. Cash Cat (CASHCAT), a native Robinhood Chain meme token, exploded over 1,000% across three days and posted approximately 80% gains in the preceding 24 hours, trading at $0.172.
Bitcoin advanced more than 3% to $64,556 on Friday, providing additional support for crypto-exposed equities like HOOD.
Robinhood generates approximately $157 in annual revenue per funded account and currently serves 28 million users worldwide.
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