Interactive Brokers (NASDAQ: IBKR) reported Q1 EPS of $0.69, $0.05 better than the analyst estimate of $0.64. Revenue for the quarter came in at $532 million versus the consensus estimate of $563.39 million.

Financial Highlights

• Commission revenue showed strong growth, increasing $96 million, or 55%, from the year-ago quarter on higher customer trading volume in an environment of high market volatility resulting from the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
• Net interest income increased $10 million, or 4%, from the year-ago quarter as average customer credit balances and average customer margin loan balances increased from the year-ago quarter, partially offset by a lower average Federal Funds effective rate, which decreased to 1.25% from 2.40% in the year-ago quarter.
• Other income decreased $135 million from the year-ago quarter mainly comprised of (1) $111 million related to our strategic investment in Up Fintech Holding Limited (“Tiger Brokers”), which swung to an $8 million mark-to-market loss this quarter from a $103 million mark-to-market gain in the same period in 2019; and (2) $30 million related to our currency diversification strategy, which lost $49 million this quarter compared to a loss of $19 million in the same period in 2019.
• Customer bad debt expense decreased $36 million due to a $7 million expense this quarter, mainly from the extraordinarily volatile markets, compared to a $43 million expense in the same period in 2019 related to margin lending on a particular security listed on a major U.S. exchange that lost a substantial amount of its value in a very short timeframe.
• 58% pretax profit margin for this quarter, down from 61% in the year-ago quarter. 61% adjusted pretax profit margin for this quarter, down from 62% in the year-ago quarter.
• Total equity was $8.1 billion.

For earnings history and earnings-related data on Interactive Brokers (IBKR) click here.