Like the mythical hero it shares a name with, Robinhood Markets (HOOD 2.68%) proved to be quite popular with the public in recent days. The next-generation brokerage's stock was climbing nearly 20% week to date as of early Friday morning, according to data compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence.
A potential new international service seemed to be a key reason why. An analyst's price target raise didn't hurt either.
A prediction about prediction markets
On Tuesday, Bloomberg published an article highlighting a recently stated Robinhood goal to establish prediction markets outside of its native U.S. Financial companies are increasingly getting involved in this activity, in which participants can essentially bet on a range of outcomes for notable events (such as American presidential races).
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Robinhood's general manager of futures and international J.B. Mackenzie said of this kind of service in an interview earlier this month, "We're definitely looking to offer it globally, and my goal or focus is to make sure it's a regulatory-compliant product everywhere we go."
He speculated that possible countries and regions for expansion could be the U.K. and the European Union. Robinhood already provides access to prediction-market contract trading in the U.S. through partnerships with specialty companies.
Price target hike from a veteran researcher
Separately, on Wednesday investment bank Morgan Stanley pulled the lever on a significant price target increase for Robinhood stock. Analyst Michael Cyprys raised his fair value assessment to $146 per share from his preceding $110. He didn't change his recommendation, however, which remains equalweight (neutral).
