Plus500 (LSE: PLUS) posted $242.1 million in revenue for the first quarter, up 18% year-over-year, and told investors to expect full-year 2026 revenue and EBITDA to come in ahead of current market expectations.

The London-listed multi-asset broker said higher customer engagement, a shift toward higher-value client cohorts and continued growth in its US futures and prediction markets operations drove a quarter-on-quarter revenue jump of 24%.

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Plus500 Q1 Revenue Climbs 18%

EBITDA reached $95.7 million, up 19% on the quarter and 2% on the year, for a 40% margin. The company said the modest year-on-year EBITDA figure reflected a deliberate $16 million increase in customer acquisition spending, alongside roughly $4 million in additional payment processing costs tied to record deposits, which totaled $1.8 billion in the quarter. Cash on hand slipped to over $780 million from $801.6 million at year-end.

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The outlook upgrade reverses the tone from the same quarter last year, when Plus500 reported a 16% drop in new customer sign-ups and a 5% year-over-year revenue decline, though the company still lifted guidance then on a quarter-on-quarter basis. This time the numbers are pointing in the same direction across the board.

Customer Income Hits Five-Year High

The standout figure from the trading update was customer income of $270.6 million, a metric Plus500 describes as a leading indicator of client activity on its platforms. The number was 53% higher than a year earlier and the highest quarterly reading since 2021, a period that captured the pandemic-era retail trading boom.

Customer trading performance came in at negative $38.9 million, meaning clients made money on the Group's book, which Plus500 said it expects to even out over time.

"Customer Income reached a five-year record high in Q1 2026, driven by the continued execution of our strategic shift toward higher-value customers, as well as heightened market volatility," CEO David Zruia said in the statement. Total customer deposits of $1.8 billion marked a record for any quarter at the firm.

ARPU slipped 3% to $1,535, which the company attributed to the higher weighting of newly acquired customers in the quarter. Average user acquisition cost fell 5% quarter-over-quarter and 1% year-over-year to $1,196, even with the step-up in marketing spend.

US Business Revenue Climbs 45%, Prediction Markets Go Live

Plus500's US arm, built around its 2021 purchase of Cunningham Commodities, generated about $35 million in revenue in the quarter, up 21% sequentially and 45% compared with the same period a year earlier. The business now accounts for roughly 15% of group revenue and 18% of new customers, with customer funds in the non-OTC book topping $900 million at the end of 2025.

The company launched a retail-facing prediction markets platform in the US in February, distributing event contracts issued by Kalshi under the Plus500 Futures brand. A next-generation version with an expanded product suite is planned for the second quarter. Plus500 also continues to act as the clearing partner for the CME Group and FanDuel event-contracts venture, which went live earlier this year.

Zruia said the Group expects to announce "additional strategic partnerships" across its B2B futures and prediction markets businesses in the short to medium term, without providing specifics.

Board Signals Higher FY Numbers, Stock Still Below February Peak

"Reflecting the strong momentum across the business and our growing, increasingly diversified global footprint, the Board expects FY 2026 revenue and EBITDA to be ahead of current market expectations," Zruia added.

Plus500 did not quantify the uplift relative to consensus. The company delivered $792.4 million in revenue and $348.1 million in EBITDA for full-year 2025.

Plus500 shares have traded off their February highs after the company's three top executives, including Zruia and CFO Elad Even-Chen, sold a combined £67.1 million of stock in a block trade days after the launch of a $100 million buyback, triggering a 10% intraday drop.

The stock is still up more than 200% since the start of 2024, supported by capital returns totaling roughly $2.9 billion in dividends and buybacks since the 2013 IPO.