July 31 (Reuters) - Robinhood's earnings

highlight how the app once at the center of the meme-stock mania

has evolved into a broader platform to keep retail investors

engaged even during market turbulence.

The trading platform reported a surge in volumes across

equities, options and cryptocurrencies in its second quarter,

with momentum continuing in July despite market jitters over

tariffs and high interest rates.

That marks a sharp contrast from 2022, when Robinhood's

business was closely tethered to retail stock buying. After the

Federal Reserve kicked off its rate-hiking cycle in March, the

firm's trading revenue slumped by nearly half from a year

earlier, as many small investors moved to the sidelines.

"In 2021, when we went public, it felt to me like we were

much more fragile than today," Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev said on

the earnings call on Wednesday.

"But now the road map, if you look at things that we expect

to deliver in the short-term, medium-term and long-term, is

pretty packed," he added, referring to new products such as

tokenization and perpetual futures.

For the second-quarter, Robinhood reported transaction-based

revenue of $539 million, up 65% from a year earlier. Options

soared 46% and equities climbed 65%.

Crypto revenue nearly doubled. The company has also deepened

its crypto presence with a $200 million acquisition of Bitstamp

in June, boosting revenue.

"Retail engagement remains strong on the platform," analysts

at Piper Sandler wrote in a note, adding that the variety of

products was supporting the engagement, with equity and options

trading volumes tracking at record levels in July, while crypto

volumes are near a six-month high.

MEME-STOCK FRENZY

Earlier this month, a wave of meme-stock mania sent shares

of several highly shorted companies, such as donut chain Krispy

Kreme, retailer Kohl's and action camera maker

GoPro ( GPRO ), soaring on retail purchases but without any

clear catalyst.

The moves echoed the 2021 retail trading frenzy, when

individual investors used Robinhood to buy shares of video game

retailer GameStop ( GME ), squeezing hedge funds that had taken

short positions against the stock.

While there have been some instances of elevated volumes

this year, Robinhood CFO Jason Warnick said that the platform

enjoys steady engagement even during quieter periods.

"Some months will be higher than others. But we feel really

good about the acquisition of new customers and the high

retention rate," he added.

CRYPTO BOOST

Crypto trading has soared since the election of Donald Trump

as U.S. president for a second term. Volumes have declined from

a burst after the election, but analysts see the crypto market

remaining sharply above pre-election levels.

"We believe the Bitstamp acquisition solidifies Robinhood's

crypto roadmap and increases crypto's future contribution to

Robinhood's overall earnings, which has most frequently trended

to about 10%-20% of revenue," analysts at J.P. Morgan said.

Robinhood shares recently touched record highs and the

company now has a market capitalization close to $94 billion.

Wall Street's average rating on the stock is "buy", with at

least seven brokerages raising their price targets after the

market-beating earnings report.