Interactive Brokers Q3 2026 Earnings: Net Revenue Rises 16% on Balance Growth

Interactive Brokers (Nasdaq: IBKR) reported Q3 2026 GAAP net revenue of $1.914 billion, up about 16% from $1.655 billion a year earlier, while diluted EPS increased to $0.69 from $0.59. Net interest income rose 19% to $1.154 billion as customer margin loans and credit balances expanded, although net interest margin narrowed and the GAAP pretax margin slipped to 78% from 79%. Customer accounts grew 35% to 5.58 million, and the board raised the quarterly dividend to $0.15 per share.

Core Financial Results

Growth remained similar on both a GAAP and adjusted basis. Adjusted net revenue, which excludes the effects of the currency diversification strategy and investment mark-to-market changes, rose about 16% to $1.872 billion. Adjusted diluted EPS increased to $0.67 from $0.57.

Pretax income grew more slowly than revenue because non-interest expenses increased about 22% to $418 million. This reduced the pretax margin by one percentage point despite double-digit revenue growth.

GAAP net revenue exceeded adjusted net revenue by $42 million, mainly because the adjusted figures removed gains associated with currency diversification and investment mark-to-market changes. The corresponding adjustment reduced diluted EPS by $0.02.

Revenue Drivers and Customer Activity

Net interest income remained the largest growth driver. It increased 19% to $1.154 billion, primarily because of higher average customer margin loans and customer credit balances. At quarter-end, customer margin loans were up 36% to $105.2 billion, while customer credits increased 20% to $186.2 billion.

The customer base also continued to expand. Accounts rose 35% to 5.58 million, customer equity increased 27% to $964.7 billion, and total customer DARTs advanced 18% to 4.27 million. However, annualized average DARTs per cleared account fell 14% to 168, indicating that account growth outpaced activity per account.

Commission revenue increased 12% to $602 million. Futures volume rose 13%, but customer stock volume declined 24% and options volume fell 1%. Commission per cleared commissionable order decreased 4% to $2.59, while higher regulatory fees passed through to customers also contributed to commission revenue growth.

Other fees and services increased 33% to $88 million. The increase included an additional $11 million of risk exposure fees, $3 million from exchange-mandated payment-for-order-flow programs, and $3 million of market data fees. Other income declined 18% to $70 million as a $50 million decrease related to investing activities was only partly offset by a $36 million increase from the currency diversification strategy.

Profitability and Balance Sheet

Non-interest expenses increased to $418 million from $343 million. Execution, clearing, and distribution fees rose 46% to $134 million, mainly because a higher SEC Section 31 transaction fee rate added $30 million of regulatory costs. Since these fees are passed through to customers, part of the quarter’s revenue growth carried a corresponding expense component.

Employee compensation increased to $167 million from $156 million, while general and administrative expenses rose to $78 million from $62 million. The combination of faster expense growth and regulatory fee pass-throughs contributed to the decline in pretax margin.

The balance sheet expanded alongside customer activity. Total assets reached $243.235 billion at September 30, 2026, compared with $203.240 billion at the end of 2025. Cash and cash equivalents increased to $5.935 billion from $4.963 billion, while total equity rose to $23.251 billion from $20.472 billion over the same period.

The board increased the quarterly cash dividend from $0.0875 to $0.15 per share, an increase of about 71%. The dividend is payable on December 14, 2026, to shareholders of record on December 1, 2026.

Balance Expansion Outweighed Lower Interest Yields

The quarter’s central interest-income dynamic was the contrast between rapidly expanding balances and a narrower spread. In the company’s net interest margin schedule, average interest-earning assets increased about 29% to $237.246 billion. Average customer margin loans rose about 47% to $104.032 billion, and average customer credit balances increased about 25% to $176.566 billion.

At the same time, net interest margin declined to 1.99% from 2.16%. The annualized yield on customer margin loans fell to 4.25% from 4.60%, while the yield on segregated cash and securities decreased to 3.40% from 3.81%. The rate paid on customer credit balances also declined, to 2.31% from 2.64%, but not enough to prevent overall margin compression.

The larger balance base therefore produced more net interest income in dollar terms even though each dollar of interest-earning assets generated a lower spread. Future interest-income growth will depend on whether customer balances continue expanding fast enough to offset any further yield pressure.

Recent Insider Transactions

Aggregate insider records for the preceding six months showed 803,718 shares acquired across seven transactions and 26,000 shares sold in one transaction, resulting in net acquisitions of 777,718 shares. Total insider holdings were reported at 12.08 million shares. Because the transaction history includes a large stock award alongside direct purchases, the aggregate figure should not be treated as purely open-market buying.

The latest ten reported transactions included eight direct purchases by director Lori A. Conkling, one stock award to officer and director Earl H. Nemser, and one sale by director Lawrence E. Harris.

Risks Investors Need to Watch

• Net interest margin pressure: Net interest margin declined by 17 basis points as yields on margin loans and segregated assets fell. Slower balance growth could make further yield compression more visible in net interest income.
• Trading mix and monetization: DARTs increased 18%, but customer stock volume fell 24%, options volume declined 1%, and commission per order decreased 4%. Overall activity growth may not translate proportionally into commission growth.
• Expense and regulatory fee growth: Non-interest expenses grew faster than revenue, while higher regulatory fees increased both reported commission revenue and execution costs. Continued cost growth could place additional pressure on pretax margin.
• Currency and investment volatility: Other income declined 18%. The currency diversification strategy generated a $40 million gain in other income but a $44 million loss in other comprehensive income, reducing comprehensive earnings by $4 million and creating differences among GAAP, adjusted, and comprehensive results.

Summary

Interactive Brokers’ Q3 2026 results were driven by a larger customer base, expanding margin loans and credit balances, and higher trading activity. Those factors lifted net revenue and EPS, but lower interest yields, reduced activity per account, and faster expense growth narrowed the pretax margin. The main issues to monitor are whether balance growth can continue offsetting net interest margin pressure and whether customer activity can support commission growth without further pressure on per-order economics.