Interactive Brokers continues to add clients and assets at an impressive pace.
Rapid customer growth drives growth in online broker assets, net interest income, trading activity and margin loan interest.
The stock isn’t cheap, but the business model seems built to keep growing.
10 Stocks We Like More Than Interactive Brokers Group ›
After a year in which S&P 500 increased by 16% and the Nasdaq Composite jumped 20%, many growth stocks now look overvalued. But if you look close enough, there are some growth stocks that still look attractive even after last year’s big gains. Online broker Interactive brokers(NASDAQ: IBKR)boasting a low-cost and highly automated operation, arguably stands out as one of the few fast-growing companies that still looks attractive.
In fact, the company’s stock has outperformed Nvidia last year as it aggressively took market share from competitors. However, I think the stock is still attractive — even after such a big rally. That’s the strong performance of Interactive Brokers shares was supported by tremendous momentum in the underlying business.
Here’s why Interactive Brokers stands out as a top growth stock to buy for 2026 and beyond.
Image source: Getty Images.
Interactive Brokers is an online brokerage that allows individuals and institutions to trade in multiple markets. And behind this model is extreme automation. The company’s culture of automation spills over into every area of its business, from administrative and compliance tasks to customer onboarding. Its high degree of automation ultimately helps Interactive Brokers differentiate itself with a low-cost value proposition for its clients.
Its highly automated and efficient business model also helps it expand internationally and serve more markets than most brokers. At Interactive Brokers, clients in over 200 countries and territories can invest in over 170 global markets.
The company’s third-quarter results showed just how powerful this scaled and simplified operating model can be. Interactive Brokers reported third-quarter revenue of $1.655 billion in Q3 2025, up 21% from $1.365 billion a year earlier. And earnings per share rose 40% to $0.59. Fueling this growth were fee income of $527 million, up from $421 million in the prior quarter, and net interest income of $967 million, up from $736 million.
Of course, the most important numbers in Interactive Brokers’ third-quarter update were the drivers behind its financial growth. The company continues to add clients at a strong pace, and these clients bring more assets to the platform.
In Q3, Interactive Brokers’ client accounts grew 32% year-over-year to 4.13 million. Furthermore, client equity grew 40% year-over-year to $357.5 billion. And its customers stay engaged. Daily average revenue transactions (DART), or the average number of transactions per day during the revenue-generating quarter, increased 34% year-over-year to $3.62 million.
Importantly, we also have more recent data about the business. Interactive Brokers provides monthly updates on its key brokerage metrics. Unsurprisingly, the momentum has continued since the end of the quarter. In its December 2025 update of brokerage values, Interactive Brokers reported total customer accounts of approximately 4.4 million, up 32% year over year. It also reported customer equity of $779.9 billion, up 37% year over year.
Notably, however, there was a significant slowdown in December compared to Interactive Brokers’ Q3 update: DART growth slowed significantly. DARTs in December were around 3.384 million, up 4% year over year. Of course, it is normal to see lumps in this measurement. Additionally, given the company’s continued growth in its client base during December, it is not necessary for Interactive Brokers to always increase DART; Growth in client accounts and client equity continues to push hard even as DART growth slows.
Given that the stock is up about 62% in the past 12 months as of this writing, investors may think the stock should be avoided. Sure, I think there’s more valuation risk built into the price today than there was a year ago. But that doesn’t mean the stock isn’t attractive to investors with a long time horizon. With a price-to-earnings ratio of 34 and a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 29, the stock isn’t cheap. However, given how the company’s strong and easily scalable business model is translating into rapid customer growth, I think the stock is worth its current valuation.
That said, Interactive Brokers is a high-risk stock for investors with extremely high risk tolerances. As an online broker, the company’s business can take a boost during times when stocks and trading are viewed favorably and take a hit during periods of pessimism in the market. Given how strong the market has been over the past year, we are clearly in for a period of optimism. Such an environment benefits Interactive Brokers. But if the market declines and investors become more pessimistic, the stock could decline substantially and the shares of Interactive Brokers clients may be affected; in turn, customer growth could slow and customer activity could decline.
Given these risks, while I think the stock is attractive to investors looking to hold for the long term, it would probably be wise to keep the position small.
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Daniel Sparks and his clients have no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Interactive Brokers Group and Nvidia. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long January 2027 $43.75 Interactive Brokers Group calls and short January 2027 $46.25 Interactive Brokers Group calls. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Here are my top growth stocks to buy for 2026 and beyond was originally published by The Motley Fool
