01 Robinhood商业模式面临监管风险

这一热门股票交易应用希望借I PO获得超过400亿美元的估值，但其大部分收入来自订单流付费，而监管机构正考虑修改这方面的规定。

全文共302个词，by Lex

Robinhood knows the value of striking while the iron is hot. A day after the popular but controversial stock trading app agreed to pay $70m to settle regulatory allegations that it has misled customers, it dropped the paperwork for its long-awaited initial public offering.

Robinhood知道趁热打铁的价值。这款广受欢迎但有争议的股票交易应用一天前刚刚同意支付7000万美元，以就监管机构对其误导客户的指控达成和解，一天后就抛出了外界期待已久的首次公开发行（IPO）文件。

The IPO prospectus is chock-full of eye-catching numbers that the Silicon Valley start-up is hoping to parlay into a $40bn-plus valuation.

这份IPO招股说明书里充满了吸引眼球的数字，这家硅谷初创企业希望借IPO获得超过400亿美元的估值。

Revenue more than tripled to $958m last year as stuck-at-home Americans passed their time stock trading. That explosive growth has continued in 2021. Revenue already topped $522m in the first quarter. A viral meme-stock and cryptocurrency trading boom helped the platform to more than double the number of funded accounts over the past 12 months to 18m.

去年，由于困在家中的美国人通过股票交易打发时间，Robinhood的营收增长了逾两倍，至9.58亿美元。这一爆炸性增长在2021年持续。其今年第一季度的收入已经超过了5.22亿美元。网红股走俏和加密货币交易热潮让该平台的资金账户数量在过去12个月里增加了一倍多，达到1800万个。

But the filing also highlights just how vulnerable Robinhood’s business model is to regulatory scrutiny. For would-be investors, the biggest risk is the legal hits would keep on coming.

但这份文件也突显出Robinhood的商业模式在监管审查面前是多么脆弱。对于潜在的投资者来说，最大的风险是法律打击将持续袭来。

Last year the Securities and Exchange Commission fined Robinhood $65m over charges that it misled customers about its revenue sources. The regulator is now considering changes to rules around payment-for-order flow, whereby brokers send retail customer trades to market-making companies such as Citadel Securities or Virtu Financial in return for a fee.

去年，美国证券交易委员会（SEC）对Robinhood处以6500万美元的罚款，指控其在收入来源方面误导客户。该监管机构目前正考虑修改“订单流付费”（payment-for-order flow）的相关规定。“订单流付费”是指经纪商将零售客户交易发送给Citadel Securities或Virtu Financial等做市公司，并从中收取费用。

Any changes could deal a big blow to Robinhood’s business model. As it does not charge clients a fee on making stock trades, the company makes the bulk of its revenue from payment-for-order flows. These accounted for about 63 per cent of Robinhood’s first quarter revenue. Cryptocurrency trading, which made up almost a fifth of the company’s transaction-based revenue during the period, is another area susceptible to regulatory changes.

任何变化都可能对Robinhood的商业模式造成重大打击。由于该公司不向客户收取股票交易费用，其大部分收入来自订单流付费。该业务约占Robinhood第一季度营收的63%。加密货币交易占该公司同期交易收入的近五分之一，是另一个容易受到监管变化影响的领域。

Add to this Robinhood’s meagre profitability and the $40bn valuation the company is seeking looks steep. Assuming the app can double its revenue this year, that still implies a valuation of 20 times that. Charles Schwab, which made $3.3bn in profit last year against Robinhood’s $7m, trades on a ratio of just 12 times.

再加上Robinhood微薄的盈利能力，该公司寻求的400亿美元目标估值看起来过高。即使这款应用今年的营收能翻一番，上述估值仍是这个数字的20倍。嘉信理财（Charles Schwab）去年实现利润33亿美元，市盈率仅为12倍，而Robinhood去年的利润仅为700万美元。

Robinhood’s plans to reserve up to 35 per cent of its IPO shares to retail investors could help it secure its lofty premium. But it also risks further public outcry from an army of unhappy buyers if the stock tanks on opening day.

Robinhood计划将至多35%的IPO股份留给散户投资者，这可能有助于其获得高额溢价。但如果其股票在开盘当天下跌，也有可能招致大批不满的买家的进一步公开抗议。