Virtu announced its fourth quarter results, beating expectations. Virtu's total revenue reached $705.6 million. The adjusted net trading income reached a total of $485.6 million. Basic and diluted earnings per share were $0.90 and $0.89, respectively with a normalized adjusted EPS of $1.19.
In addition, Virtu Financial's Board of Directors announced a quarterly cash dividend of $0.24 per share. The dividend will be payable on March 15, 2022, to shareholders as of March 1, 2022. The revenue is attributed to higher trading volumes in US equities .
source: Virtu Financial
3.7 million shares were repurchased in Q4 and an additional 1.5 million in January at an average cost of $28.13 for a total of $145 million repurchased. For the year, Virtu's revenue was $1.91 billion.
In Q3 of 2021, the company's revenue came in at $544.3 million. The decline (which followed a weak Q2) was due to lower trading volumes in US equities. The trading income (net) dropped -10.7% to $393.3 million.
Virtu Financial stock opened higher following the results, trading at $33.55 (+4.54%) at the time of writing.
More Trading Platforms to Add Stocks
As there is some correlation between US equities' volume and Virtu's revenue, more companies added the ability to trade US equities through their platforms.
etoro, a well-known trading platform recently added exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and stocks. Lule Demmissie, the CEO of eToro US, said, "For many new investors, crypto investing is a gateway to investing in stocks, and with broader access to financial education and fewer barriers to entry for first-time investors, we expect this trend to continue. As we continue to expand our offering in one of the world’s most important financial markets, we look forward to empowering U.S. users to expand their investing journey on the eToro platform and interact with our social community in new ways.”
Both FTX US and Bitstamp announced that they are looking to integrate stocks into their platforms.
