Interactive Brokers (IBKR) Up On Improved September Metrics

Shares of Interactive Brokers Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:IBKR) have gained nearly 3% since the release of its Sep 2016 brokerage metrics for its Electronic Brokerage segment. The segment deals with the clearance and settling of trades for both individual and institutional clients on a global basis.

Total client DARTs were 651,000, up 13% from Aug 2016, but down 2% from Sep 2015. Further, it reported Cleared Client DARTs of 604,000, up 13% from the prior month, but flat on a year-over-year basis. On an annualized basis, Cleared Average DARTs per customer account of 413,000 increased 12% from the preceding month, while it tumbled 13% from the year-ago period.

Interactive Brokers recorded total customer accounts of 370,400, up 1% from the preceding month and 15% from the prior-year month.

Interactive Brokers’ total option contracts were 22.6 million, up 7% from the preceding month, but dropped 8% from the prior-year month. Meanwhile, future contracts increased 14% from Aug 2016, while it plunged 9% from Sep 2015 to 10.6 million.

Interactive Brokers also provides data related to period-end statistics for client equity, credit balances and margin loan balances. For Sep 2016, client equity was $82.7 billion, surging 3% from the previous month and 33% year over year.

Also, Interactive Brokers recorded a client credit balance of $42.0 billion in the reported month, up 1% from Aug 2016 and 20% from Sep 2015. Further, the company’s customer margin loan balance of $18.1 billion was up 11% from the prior month and 15% year over year.

We expect Interactive Brokers to see further improvement in its monthly metrics, as it remains well poised to gain from the volatility in the equity markets. If such a market scenario persists, strong trading activities are anticipated to accelerate the company’s top-line growth. However, the intensifying competitive environment and dismal performance of the Market Making segment can keep the company’s near-term profitability under pressure.

Currently, Interactive Brokers carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Notably, monthly performance of other investment brokerage firms including The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW) , E*TRADE Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:ETFC) and TD Ameritrade Holding Corporation (NASDAQ:AMTD) are expected to be announced in the next couple of weeks.

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