Webull Corporation (NASDAQ:BULL) enters this expansion phase backed by rapid top-line momentum, having expanded full-year 2025 revenues by 46% to $571 million while scaling customer assets past $28 billion. Despite working capital swings driving a $250.9 million net operating cash outflow in the first half of 2026, the retail broker maintains a solid balance sheet anchored by $1.04 billion in total equity and a return on invested capital near 18%. As peer brokerages like Interactive Brokers (IBKR) Turn Every Revenue Dollar into 77 Cents of Pretax Profit, Webull leverages its strong revenue growth and disciplined expense management to expand high-margin trading products across its global footprint.
On August 19, Webull Corporation reported results for the quarter ended June 30, and the profit swing was hard to miss. The trading app went from a pre-tax loss of $21.4 million a year earlier to pre-tax income of $34.7 million. Revenue growth did the heavy lifting, but the real question is whether the engine behind it can keep running.
Traders Showed Up In Force
Revenue rose 51% year over year to $198.8 million, while total operating expenses climbed just 13%. That gap is the profit story: when costs grow much more slowly than sales, most of each new dollar reaches the bottom line. Adjusted operating profit hit $62.6 million, a 31.5% margin, versus $23.3 million in the same quarter a year ago.
Activity was the fuel. Equity notional volume reached $279 billion, up 73%, and options contracts hit 213 million, a 34% jump from the prior quarter alone. Management pointed to its updated active-trader tools, rolled out after the Pattern Day Trader Rule was eliminated on June 4, as a driver. Customer assets climbed 79% to $28.5 billion.
Webull is also widening the funnel beyond its core app. Its Vega AI tool added about 160,000 users to reach roughly 480,000; the company launched in Spain, Argentina and Colombia, and it announced the purchase of Pi Securities in Thailand. On the business-to-business side, it added futures and prediction markets and a partnership giving accredited investors access to late-stage private companies.
The Fine Print On Growth
Look at who is driving the numbers. Funded accounts grew 8% to 5.13 million, while trading volumes rose by roughly 70%. So the surge comes mostly from existing customers trading far more, not from a wave of new ones. Trading-related revenue, at $147.7 million of the total, leans on that behavior continuing. Asset growth deserves a second look too. The 79% rise in customer assets far outran the 7% growth in net deposits, so fresh money alone does not explain the gain.
Costs also scale with activity. Adjusted operating expenses rose 26% to $136.2 million, largely because higher volumes mean higher brokerage and transaction costs. The 13% rise in total expenses looks tamer partly because share-based compensation fell. If traders go quiet, revenue would slow, but a good part of the cost base would not shrink as quickly as it grew.
Funds Nudge In, Shorts Linger
Hedge fund ownership rose to 36 funds from 34 in the prior quarter, a small vote of confidence. Meanwhile, 8.06% of the float is sold short, which is a real bear camp, not a rounding error. At 19.61 times forward earnings, as of September 25, the stock is priced for solid growth without demanding perfection. While not a single-digit bargain, the valuation leaves little room for operational missteps if retail activity normalizes. Short sellers appear to be targeting this exact vulnerability, betting that Webull’s top-line surge relies too heavily on elevated trading frequency from existing accounts rather than sustainable new funded user growth, leaving margins exposed if market volatility subsides and transaction expenses remain sticky. Funds buying while shorts hold their ground tells you the market has not settled on an answer.
Boom Or Blueprint?
Webull has shown that heavy trading can turn into real profit without costs keeping pace. What one quarter cannot settle is how much of the surge belongs to the rule change and an active stretch for traders, and how much is lasting. If international launches, AI tools, and institutional offerings start pulling in new accounts and deposits, the growth looks broader than trading itself. If volumes cool, the same cost structure that rewarded rapid growth could become a weight.
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