UP Fintech Q1 Earnings Call Highlights

Key Points

• UP Fintech’s Q1 revenue and operating profit rose 26.3% and 17.5% year over year, respectively, to $155 million and $47.6 million. However, a one-time regulatory penalty of about RMB 411 million pushed the company to a net loss of $26.9 million.
• The company continued to grow its user base and assets, adding 28,900 new funded accounts and ending the quarter with 1.28 million funded accounts. Client assets reached $58.9 billion, supported by $2.9 billion in net asset inflows, even though market volatility caused temporary mark-to-market losses.
• Management said new mainland China rules are industry-wide and not targeted specifically at UP Fintech, and that the company has already completed required rectification steps. It also maintained its full-year new funded account guidance and authorized a $50 million share repurchase program.

UP Fintech NASDAQ: TIGR reported higher first-quarter revenue and operating profit, while a one-time regulatory penalty drove the online brokerage to a quarterly net loss.

Chairman and CEO Tianhua Wu said total revenue for the first quarter of 2026 reached $155 million, up 26.3% from a year earlier, supported by “diversified offering and steady expansion of core operations.” Operating profit rose 17.5% year over year to $47.6 million, according to Wu.

The company, which operates the Tiger Brokers platform, added 28,900 new funded accounts during the quarter, with Singapore and Hong Kong described as the primary contributors. Total funded accounts reached 1.28 million at quarter-end, an 11.3% increase from the prior year.

Client Assets Rise Year Over Year Despite Market Losses

Wu said UP Fintech recorded $2.9 billion in net asset inflows during the quarter. Net asset inflow from retail users under consolidated accounts exceeded $2 billion for the first time in the company’s history, which Wu said reflected improvement in user quality and client profile.

Market turbulence, however, produced $4.9 billion in mark-to-market losses on client assets during the first quarter. Total client assets ended the quarter at $58.9 billion, down 3.2% sequentially but up 28.4% year over year.

Management said those first-quarter mark-to-market losses had been fully recovered on a quarter-to-date basis in the second quarter, as the Nasdaq rebounded. The company also said client assets increased quarter over quarter across overseas markets, with U.S. client assets rising nearly 40% and Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong posting high single-digit and double-digit growth.

Revenue Growth Offset by Regulatory Penalty

CFO John Zeng said commission income was $67.2 million, up 15% year over year but down 5% from the previous quarter. Interest income was $64.5 million, up 20% year over year and down 10% sequentially. Total revenue of $155 million increased 26% year over year and declined 12% from the fourth quarter.

Zeng said the cash equity take rate was 5 basis points, down from 6.4 basis points in the prior quarter. He attributed the decline partly to a roughly $10 billion quarter-over-quarter increase in trading volume at U.S. Tiger that did not generate commission revenue because the company offers zero-commission pricing for local U.S. users.

Within commission revenue, Zeng said about 67% came from cash equities, 25% from options and the remainder from futures and other products.

Total operating costs were $89.2 million, up 33% from the prior year. Employee compensation and benefits expense rose 39% year over year to $46.8 million, which Zeng attributed to increased headcount to strengthen research and development. Communication and market data expense also rose 39% year over year to $13.6 million, while marketing expense increased 29% to $14 million.

Zeng said UP Fintech received a regulatory penalty notice on May 22 totaling approximately RMB 411 million, which was fully accounted for in first-quarter results. He described it as a “one-time non-recurring charge” that would not have a material impact on the company’s core business or overall financial health. As a result, the company reported a net loss of $26.9 million and a non-GAAP net loss of $23.8 million.

Management Addresses China Regulatory Changes

In response to a question from JPMorgan analyst Peter Zhang, Wu said China’s securities regulator and other ministries issued new industry-wide rules on May 22 governing cross-border securities, futures and fund trading by mainland investors. He said the rules apply to the whole industry and are not targeted at UP Fintech alone.

Wu said the new framework shifts the regulatory approach from identity verification to territory-based oversight. According to management, the two-year rectification period is not about closing all existing PRC client accounts, but about restricting trading activities when clients are onshore in mainland China.

Wu said the new rules prohibit brokers and banks from marketing cross-border investment services within mainland China and require the closure of mainland-focused official websites and removal of relevant apps from local app stores. He said UP Fintech had completed those rectification actions in May 2023.

As of the end of the first quarter, mainland retail investors’ client assets under consolidated accounts represented roughly 10% of total client assets and contributed 20% to 25% of total net revenue, Wu said. Since the rules were announced, management said the company had seen some increase in asset outflows from mainland retail accounts, which it characterized as a normal short-term reaction that it expects to stabilize. Overseas retail users remained unaffected and continued to record net asset inflows, management said.

Product Updates and B2B Activity

Wu highlighted several product updates, including a major upgrade to TigerAI through a new multi-agent architecture. The company separated market code search, market analysis and risk control into standalone AI agents and launched a dedicated futures AI agent. TigerAI also integrated Claude models, moving from a dual-model framework to a three-model collaborative system.

In derivatives, UP Fintech rolled out Hong Kong index option trading and option TWAP orders.

The company’s B2B business also remained active. Wu said UP Fintech enrolled 10 Hong Kong IPO projects in the first quarter, including AI companies MiniMax and Zhipu AI, and completed two large-scale U.S. SPAC IPOs. Year to date, total subscription amount for Hong Kong IPOs on the platform exceeded HKD 1 trillion. The ESOP business added 42 clients in the first quarter, bringing cumulative ESOP clients served to 790 as of the end of March.

UP Fintech’s board also approved a share repurchase program of up to $50 million, to run from June 1, 2026, to June 1, 2027.

Outlook and User Growth

During the question-and-answer session, Wu said second-quarter new funded accounts are expected to remain stable quarter over quarter, with Hong Kong and Singapore continuing as the top contributing markets. He said both daily average revenue trades and commission income had improved from first-quarter levels, with U.S. stock trading activity showing the most significant improvement.

Management said Singapore and Hong Kong together accounted for more than 75% of first-quarter new funded accounts, split nearly evenly. Australia and New Zealand contributed around 20%, with the remainder from the United States.

Wu said the company was maintaining its full-year guidance for new funded accounts, citing its global expansion strategy. He said UP Fintech is prioritizing user quality, using client assets and net asset inflow as core performance measures.

On taxes, Zeng said the regulatory penalty is not tax deductible. He also said an income tax expense increase was primarily tied to a non-cash adjustment related to employee stock incentives. Excluding that impact, he said the company expects its effective tax rate to remain below 20% going forward.

About UP Fintech NASDAQ: TIGR

Up Fintech Holding Ltd, trading on NASDAQ under the ticker TIGR, is a China-based financial technology company that provides online brokerage and wealth management services through its proprietary trading platform. The company's primary offering, Tiger Brokers, enables retail and institutional clients to access global financial markets, including equities, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), options, and futures across the United States, Hong Kong, China A-shares, Australia, and Singapore.

Founded in 2014 by Zhang Zhen, Up Fintech has focused on developing an intuitive mobile and desktop trading experience, complete with real-time market data, customizable charting tools, and in-app research insights.

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