Preliminary brief— based on press release only. Full analysis including management tone and Q&A will be added when the transcript is available.

IBKR · Q3 2025 Earnings

Interactive Brokers

Reported October 16, 2025

30-second summary

30-second take: Revenue grew 21% YoY to $1.66B with pretax margin expanding to 79% — roughly 1,200bps above the year-ago quarter's 67% — as commission revenue jumped 23% and NII held up 21% despite 96bps of Fed cuts. Management directly reversed May's deceleration warning ("we have not seen any deceleration… exactly the opposite"), confirmed the 4 millionth customer milestone, and disclosed crypto volumes grew 87% QoQ. The earnings stream is becoming both larger and less rate-dependent at exactly the moment the firm enters the S&P 500.

Headline numbers

EPS

Q3 FY2025

$0.57

Revenue

Q3 FY2025

$1.66B

+21.2% YoY

Key financials

Q3 FY2025

Metric	Q3 FY2025	YoY	Q2 FY2025	QoQ
Revenue	$1.66B	+21.2%	$1.48B	+11.8%
EPS	$0.57	—	$0.51	+11.8%

Guidance

No numerical guidance provided in either prior or current quarter; unable to assess beat/miss or guidance changes.

Segment performance

Q3 FY2025

Segment	Q3 FY2025	YoY
Commission Revenue	$0.537B	+23.4%
Net Interest Income	$0.967B	+20.6%
Other Fees and Services	$0.066B	-8.3%
Other Income	$0.085B	+51.8%

Capital & returns

Q3 FY2025

Segment	Q3 FY2025
Total Equity	$19.5 billion

Other KPIs

Q3 FY2025

Segment	Q3 FY2025
Customer Accounts	4.127 million
Customer Equity	$757.5 billion
Total DARTs	3.62 million
Customer Credits	$154.8 billion
Customer Margin Loans	$77.3 billion
Net Interest Margin	2.16%
Pretax Profit Margin	79%

Management tone

Q4 FY2024 anchor → Q1 FY2025 measured → Q2 FY2025 chairman conviction → Q3 FY2025 explicit acceleration + S&P 500 inflection.

Account growth: from "potential deceleration" warning to direct reversal. At a May 2025 conference, Peterffy had floated a potential deceleration in account growth — consistent with the firm's chronic sandbagging that Q2 FY2025's brief flagged. This quarter Thomas answered his own question: "We have not seen any deceleration as a matter of fact. It's exactly the opposite, and we expect that to continue." Net new accounts year-to-date have already exceeded the full 2024 total. Two quarters ago this was projected conservatism; one quarter ago it was a chairman admitting to sandbagging; this quarter it is explicit forward conviction.

Crypto: from speculative to core strategic rollout with dates. Q2 FY2025 framed crypto as a regulatory-driven priority but didn't put timelines on infrastructure. This quarter Galik specified them: "stablecoin deposits… should be going online at the end of October. We're working on the crypto asset transfers… by the end of the year… staking… once they are ready to offer staking, then we will offer that to our clients." Crypto volumes are up 87% QoQ and 5x YoY. The category went from "we need to add it" in Q2 FY2025 to a sequenced product roadmap in Q3 FY2025.

AI thesis: walked back from theoretical tailwind to honest "no visibility." In prior quarters management entertained AI as a driver of platform engagement. Asked directly this quarter whether AI was driving volumes, Galik conceded: "Unfortunately, we have no visibility into that… we do not have an ability to see whether that's the reason behind the volumes or what percentage of those volumes would be attributable to that." This is the rare honest retreat — management refusing to take credit for a narrative they cannot substantiate. Consistent with the firm's measured DNA, but notable that it sits alongside the more confident posture elsewhere.

China: new disclosure of a previously-unmentioned friction. Q2 FY2025 treated geographic expansion as uniformly tailwind. This quarter Galik introduced a constraint: "Chinese regulators clamp down on foreign brokers acquiring accounts in mainland China… we now have to ask the account applicants to prove to us that they have a residence outside of the mainland… smaller number than before, but… not something that would materially impact our figures." The framing is "manageable" — but it's new, and worth tracking.

S&P 500 inclusion as cultural inflection. Management explicitly took pride in the index addition. For a firm whose communications have historically been understated almost to a fault, the explicit ownership of this milestone — paired with the margin step-up to 79% and the acceleration call — marks the most confident posture IBKR has had on a public call in years.

Recurring themes management leaned on this quarter:

Organic account growth acceleration without promotional incentives (4M customers, 790k net new YTD exceeding full 2024)Market sentiment tailwind driving equities and options volumes (S&P +8% Q3, equity volumes +67% YoY, options +27%)Net interest income resilience despite rate cuts (up 21% YoY despite 96bps Fed cut; securities lending doubling to $314M implied)Product expansion and platform innovation (Connections feature 20k daily users; Forecast X contracts up 165% in Q2; crypto 87% QoQ growth)Margin loan growth at all-time highs signaling risk appetite; positioned to benefit from volatilityGeographic diversification reducing U.S. dependency; healthy introducing broker pipeline

Risks management surfaced:

Sudden market dislocation causing unwinding of leveraged positions and reduced risk appetiteChinese regulatory restrictions on foreign broker account acquisition (though deemed non-material)Rate sensitivity: $417M annual NII impact from 100bps rate cuts across all benchmarksWeak futures volumes (-7% YoY) in low industry activity environmentSpeculative nature of crypto and prediction markets; regulatory uncertainty on sports contracts

Answers to last quarter's watch list

4 millionth customer milestone confirmation in Q3 FY2025. Resolved positively. Customer accounts hit 4.127 million (+32% YoY), with 790k net new YTD already exceeding the full 2024 tally. The acceleration narrative is validated. Status: Resolved positively

Commission revenue vs NII mix. Both grew ~20-23% — the rate-independent stream is no longer outpacing NII, but only because NII proved more resilient than the 96bps of Fed cuts implied. Commissions $537M (+23.4%) vs NII $967M (+20.6%). The rate-cut headwind appears to be absorbed via balance growth and securities lending. Status: Resolved positively

Overnight trading volume trajectory. Management noted overnight trading was up 90% from 2024. Equity volumes were +67% YoY and options +27% YoY, suggesting the broader engagement trend continues. Status: Resolved positively

Crypto infrastructure rollout milestones. Resolved with hard dates: stablecoin deposits going live end of October, crypto asset transfers by year-end, staking once partners are ready. Crypto volumes up 87% QoQ, 5x YoY. Status: Resolved positively

Introducing broker integrations completed. Management referenced a "healthy introducing broker pipeline" with geographic diversification continuing, but did not quantify Q3 FY2025 integrations vs Q2 FY2025 or disclose named competitor defections. Status: Continue monitoring

Pretax margin trajectory. Resolved positively — margin expanded to 79%, roughly 1,200bps above the year-ago quarter's 67% GAAP / 66% adjusted. The automation moat is not plateauing; it is widening as revenue scales. Status: Resolved positively

What to watch into next quarter

NII trajectory under a Fed cut cycle. Management quantified -$77M annual NII per 25bp Fed cut and -$417M per 100bp across all benchmarks. Watch whether Q4 FY2025 NII sustains above $900M if the Fed delivers further cuts, and whether the implied sensitivity continues to compress as balance sheet growth offsets rate pressure.

Pretax margin holding at 79% or reverting. The step-up to 79% from 67% year-ago is unusually large. Watch whether this is a sustainable new floor or a Q3-specific function of mix (securities lending strength, exposure fees, non-recurrence of prior-year legal/consolidation charges).

Stablecoin deposits going live end of October and crypto asset transfers by year-end. Management put dates on these. Slippage on either would matter — these are the first concrete crypto product KPIs IBKR has committed to publicly.

Margin loans at all-time high — sustainability vs reversal signal. Galik flagged that "a sudden dislocation" would reverse this. Watch whether $77.3B holds, expands, or contracts in Q4 FY2025 — it is the cleanest leading indicator of client risk appetite.

Other fees & services declining 8% YoY. The only soft data point this quarter. Watch whether this stabilises or continues to leak — it's small but it's the one segment running counter to the bull narrative.

Customer account net adds in Q4 FY2025. YTD has already exceeded full-year 2024. Watch whether Q4 sustains the acceleration or whether the comparison law-of-large-numbers finally bites.

Sources

IBKR Q3 FY2025 8-K earnings release, filed via SEC: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1381197/000138119725000143/ibkr-8k_20250930er.htm
Management commentary excerpts from Q3 FY2025 earnings call (Peterffy, Galik, Brody).
Prior-quarter Tapebrief brief for IBKR Q2 FY2025.

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