Futu "Stock Trading," Achieving Wealth Quietly

On March 12, Futu Holdings released its Q4 and full-year 2025 earnings before the U.S. stock market opened. In Q4, Futu Holdings achieved revenue of HKD 6.44 billion, a 45.3% increase year-over-year; Non-GAAP net profit was HKD 3.46 billion, up 77.0% year-over-year. Revenue and Non-GAAP net profit were nearly flat quarter-over-quarter, slightly exceeding Bloomberg’s expectations.

For the full year, Futu Holdings reported revenue of HKD 22.85 billion, a 68.1% increase year-over-year; Non-GAAP net profit was HKD 11.65 billion, up 101.9% year-over-year.

Futu’s main business is providing a digital platform for securities trading, including trade execution and clearing, margin financing, securities lending, and wealth management. The company earns revenue from interest on funds and trading commissions, making its performance highly correlated with secondary market trends.

From the Q4 financial report, it is evident that the company’s revenue and net profit growth slowed significantly in Q4. This was mainly due to the overall weakness of the Hong Kong stock market during the same period, with the Hang Seng Index down 5% quarter-over-quarter and the Hang Seng Tech Index down over 15%. Investor confidence was low, trading frequency decreased, and commission income growth slowed.

Futu also stated in its earnings report that the Hong Kong stock market weakened in the second half of last year, and investor sentiment towards tech stocks was subdued. Hong Kong stock trading volume decreased by 31% quarter-over-quarter to HKD 821.1 billion. The increased trading activity in gold and other precious metals partially offset this impact.

The revenue growth rates across different segments more intuitively reflect how the slowdown in commission income in Q4 dragged down overall revenue growth.

During the period, Futu’s trading commission and fee income reached HKD 2.77 billion, up 34.5%; interest income was HKD 3.04 billion, up 50.5%; and other income, including wealth management and enterprise services, was HKD 630 million, an 80.0% increase.

In terms of accounts and users, Q4 saw a 16% year-over-year increase in registered users to 29.2 million; brokerage accounts increased by 29.8% to 5.95 million; and fund accounts grew by 39.6% to 3.37 million.

For the full year 2025, Futu added 950,000 new fund accounts, a 34% increase, surpassing the company’s initial target of 800,000 for the year set at the beginning of 2025.

During the earnings call, Futu management maintained its guidance of adding 800,000 new fund accounts in 2026, the same as last year. CFO Chen Yu expressed confidence in achieving this target, as Futu plans to enter a new market in 2026. Although the licensing process is still ongoing and cannot be disclosed publicly, this market will be in Asia.

As of now, Futu has entered Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, the United States, and Canada. The majority of new fund accounts in 2025 came from Hong Kong and Malaysia.

Regarding the previously announced $800 million share repurchase plan, Futu management stated that no repurchases had been made under this plan in Q4. The plan will continue until the end of 2027.

After the earnings release, Futu Holdings’ stock briefly fell nearly 7% at the market open, closing at $143.01 per share, down 6.31%.

(Planning: Wang Hanxing, Charting: Li Yuhui)