Analyst upgrades can often do wonders for a stock, and for online investing platform Robinhood (HOOD), that proved to be just the case. In fact, a new report from analysts at Needham sent shares blasting upward, after an upgrade to Buy sent them up over 8% in Monday afternoon’s trading.
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The word from Needham is familiar, but perfectly rational. The team of analysts contributing to that report declared Needham was likely to benefit from the upcoming changes in Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) leadership, thanks in large part to the upcoming Trump administration.
Plus, since the Trump administration is also likely to be friendly to cryptocurrency as well. That should open up space for Robinhood to expand into buying and selling cryptocurrency, which it has already begun. Given that currently only four crypto assets are on offer at Robinhood, there is a lot more room to expand outward into the host of altcoins that are difficult to buy just anywhere. Plus, Needham also directly calls out Robinhood’s marketing initiatives, which have proven quite effective in drawing in the retail investor market.
Chinese Competition Emerging
Yet even as Robinhood is delivering a safe and effective way to buy stocks, there are certainly other options out there. But one in particular, drawing attention from Congress, is Webull, which is actually a creation of a current Alibaba (BABA) executive. With Webull basically connected to China, that is calling in quite a bit of attention from Congress, which is pressing Webull for information, noted a report from the New York Post.
Several red state attorneys general are getting together to launch their own probe into Webull, the report noted, seeing just how connected to China it actually is. And with an upcoming Trump administration looking increasingly antagonistic toward China, it is a safe bet that Webull will be getting the horns by the time all is said and done.
Is Robinhood a Good Stock to Buy?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus rating on HOOD stock based on nine Buys, seven Holds, and one Sell assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 330.01% rally in its share price over the past year, the average HOOD price target of $27.38 per share implies 21.93% downside risk.
