Is Webull profitable in 2026?

Yes. Webull posted its sixth consecutive quarter of adjusted profitability in Q1 2026, with FY2025 adjusted operating profit of $110.3M on a 19.3% margin and revenue of $571M, up 46% year over year, as of December 31, 2025.

Webull Corporation is publicly traded (Nasdaq: BULL) after an April 2025 SPAC merger with SK Growth Opportunities. Founder, Chairman and CEO Wang Anquan, a PRC citizen, controlled about 79.2% of voting power as of March 31, 2026.

Could AI replace Webull?

No. Webull's FINRA/SEC broker-dealer licenses and SIPC coverage cannot be replicated by an AI agent, but its research and advisory layer faces commoditization pressure; Webull itself launched an MCP server and AI research tool in 2026 to stay ahead of that trend.

Who is Webull's biggest competitor?

Robinhood (Nasdaq: HOOD) is cited most consistently as Webull's primary head-to-head rival, with third-party reviews noting Webull's edge in charting, futures and margin but Robinhood ahead on simplicity and crypto-wallet integration as of mid-2026.

Why did Webull stock fall despite revenue growth?

Webull shares were down about 47% over the trailing year as of July 21, 2026, even though FY2025 revenue rose 46% to $571M, suggesting the market is pricing in unannounced risk such as the PRC-ownership overhang and PFOF regulatory exposure.

Does Webull depend on payment for order flow?

Yes. Order-flow rebates were $304.1M, or 53.3% of Webull's FY2025 revenue, with options rebates ($210.0M) far exceeding equities rebates ($94.2M), as of December 31, 2025, making the company sensitive to any SEC restriction on PFOF.

Banks and financial groups · United States

Webull

webull.com ↗

Webull runs a mobile app for trading stocks and options, mostly paid by broker order-flow rebates.

Losing its protection

Assessed 22 July 2026 · Evidence as of 22 July 2026

The structural protection is eroding.

On the recordSince 22 July 2026 · Checkable from Q3 2026 · Every call on the record Checkpoint: Next quarterly earnings and any Congressional or SEC move on China ownership or PFOF

The call

Webull's numbers look strong, but a China-linked ownership fight and PFOF dependence, not AI, are what could actually take it down.

Webull lets people buy and sell stocks, options, and crypto through an app. It makes money by taking a cut of trades and charging fees, just like Robinhood and other brokers do. The real problem is not that AI or new apps will copy what Webull does, because the government requires a special license to operate a brokerage and that is hard to get. The real problem is that Webull's founder is based in China and controls most of the company's voting power, which puts it at risk of being forced to sell to a U.S. owner if the government decides Chinese ownership is a national security threat. If that forced sale happens, or if Robinhood keeps taking Webull's customers with better marketing and more features, the company's value could drop fast.

Why

AI pressure: None apparent. AI agents don't replace the broker-dealer license Webull holds; Webull uses its own Vega AI to keep users in-app instead. Could AI do the core job? Only partly.

Bigger players: Robinhood Markets (HOOD). Robinhood is closing the gap on futures, charting, and margin, the exact features Webull uses to stand out from Schwab and IBKR. Could a giant copy it? Yes, easily.

What protects it. Its FINRA-regulated broker-dealer license and 97% account retention keep users and assets from leaving fast.

What would change this call

Congress or a federal agency orders forced divestiture of Webull's China ties. Would confirm geopolitical risk is materializing, not just theoretical.
SEC issues a rule restricting payment for order flow. Would threaten 53% of Webull's revenue base directly.
Robinhood or Schwab launches matching futures/charting/margin features within a year. Would show Webull's product differentiation is closing.

Key numbers

FY2025 revenue $571M, up 46% YoY (2025-12-31)
Order-flow rebates are 53.3% of revenue (2025-12-31)
Stock down 47% YoY despite revenue growth (2026-05-21)

Named risks

PRC founder holds 79.2% voting control amid escalating forced-divestiture scrutiny as of May 2026. Severity: high
53.3% of revenue tied to PFOF, exposed to potential SEC rule restrictions. Severity: high
Recurring FINRA/SEC/state fines for supervisory and disclosure failures, 2023 to 2025. Severity: medium
FINRA PDT rule change effective June 4, 2026 could reduce active-trading order flow. Severity: medium
Stock down 47% trailing year despite revenue growth, signaling market-priced risk not yet in filings. Severity: medium

Rivals, as read in July 2026

Rival	Direction	Evidence
Robinhood Markets (HOOD)	contesting	Webull leads in charting/futures/margin per reviews, Robinhood leads on simplicity, as of 2026-06-16
Charles Schwab / thinkorswim	losing to	Full-service incumbent already holds same broker-dealer license, larger scale
Interactive Brokers	losing to	Established incumbent with deeper global market access and licensing
moomoo (Futu Holdings)	contesting	Both face parallel China-ownership national-security scrutiny as of 2026-05-10
eToro	contesting	Grouped among brokers exposing MCP/agentic trading layers in 2026-06-23 roundup

Questions people ask

Is Webull profitable in 2026?: Yes. Webull posted its sixth consecutive quarter of adjusted profitability in Q1 2026, with FY2025 adjusted operating profit of $110.3M on a 19.3% margin and revenue of $571M, up 46% year over year, as of December 31, 2025.
Who owns Webull?: Webull Corporation is publicly traded (Nasdaq: BULL) after an April 2025 SPAC merger with SK Growth Opportunities. Founder, Chairman and CEO Wang Anquan, a PRC citizen, controlled about 79.2% of voting power as of March 31, 2026.
Could AI replace Webull?: No. Webull's FINRA/SEC broker-dealer licenses and SIPC coverage cannot be replicated by an AI agent, but its research and advisory layer faces commoditization pressure; Webull itself launched an MCP server and AI research tool in 2026 to stay ahead of that trend.
Who is Webull's biggest competitor?: Robinhood (Nasdaq: HOOD) is cited most consistently as Webull's primary head-to-head rival, with third-party reviews noting Webull's edge in charting, futures and margin but Robinhood ahead on simplicity and crypto-wallet integration as of mid-2026.
Why did Webull stock fall despite revenue growth?: Webull shares were down about 47% over the trailing year as of July 21, 2026, even though FY2025 revenue rose 46% to $571M, suggesting the market is pricing in unannounced risk such as the PRC-ownership overhang and PFOF regulatory exposure.
Does Webull depend on payment for order flow?: Yes. Order-flow rebates were $304.1M, or 53.3% of Webull's FY2025 revenue, with options rebates ($210.0M) far exceeding equities rebates ($94.2M), as of December 31, 2025, making the company sensitive to any SEC restriction on PFOF.

Timeline

2026-07-15Webull reports 28.2M registered users in June 2026 operating data
2026-06-15Webull launches MCP server for natural-language AI trading
2026-05-21Q1 2026 results: sixth straight adjusted-profit quarter, revenue $159.93M
2026-05-10Reports flag rising forced-divestiture risk for China-linked apps including Webull
2026-04-01FINRA approves Webull Securities US for self and correspondent clearing
2026-03-31Founder Wang Anquan holds 79.2% of Webull voting power
2026-03-06Webull reports FY2025 revenue of $571M, up 46% YoY
2025-05-09FINRA fines Webull Financial $1.6M over influencer supervision failures
2025-04-11Webull completes SPAC merger with SK Growth Opportunities, lists as Nasdaq: BULL
2024-11-30SEC censures Webull Financial with $125,000 fine over deficient SAR filings

Revision history

22 July 2026

First assessed. Losing its protection. The text above is fixed as of this date and is not edited afterwards.

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