Interactive Brokers Is Splitting Its Stock. Is It Time to Buy Shares?

After a massive multiyear run that saw its shares more than double, Interactive Brokers (IBKR 1.05%) is making its stock more accessible to investors. Management just announced a 4-for-1 stock split, effective in June. The move that will increase the number of shares and decrease the share price comes as Interactive Brokers reported another quarter of staggering growth. The stock split may grab headlines, but the real story is the strength of the underlying business. Over the last few years, Interactive Brokers has become one of the most consistently growing companies in financial services. And that growth continued in the first quarter of 2025. With key metrics across revenue, trading activity, and customer accounts all posting strong double-digit gains, the company continues to build on its long-term track record of efficient, technology-driven expansion. A strategic move amid strong growth Interactive Brokers announced a 4-for-1 forward stock split, scheduled to take effect on June 18, 2025. Shareholders of record as of June 16 will receive three additional shares for each share held. While stock splits don't change the value of a company, they can signal management's confidence in the business. After all, why go through the effort of splitting a stock if you don't think there's a good chance shares will continue rising over the long haul? To this end, the stock split announcement is supported by exceptional fundamentals. Interactive Brokers' revenue for its first quarter of 2025 totaled $1.43 billion, up 19% year over year. One of the most impressive drivers was daily average revenue trades (DARTs), which came in at 3.52 million and were up 50% year over year. But there was plenty more to like about the quarter. Customer accounts rose 32% year over year to 3.62 million, while customer equity increased 23% to $573.5 billion. "We saw in the first quarter the value of a global automated platform that can leverage its low costs and offer a broad range of products and markets," said Interactive Brokers investor relations chief Nancy Stuebe in the company's first-quarter earnings call. A buying opportunity? Notably, Interactive Brokers stock actually fell when the stock brokerage announced its first-quarter earnings release and its stock split on Wednesday afternoon. One key reason for this was likely due to the company's adjusted earnings per share of $1.88, which was up from $1.64 in the year-ago quarter but below analysts' consensus forecast for the key metric. Shares fell about 10% after the report -- a move that may have been an overreaction given the company's strong business momentum. Also potentially weighing on sentiment could have been management's comment that there was a 10% to 12% decrease in customer margin loans as the stock market tumbled during Q2. Nevertheless, management seems convinced that the company's long-term growth story remains intact. CEO Milan Galik said in the company's earnings call that this decrease was "not that bad." Further, Interactive Brokers founder and Chairman Thomas Peterffy told CNBC in an interview after the earnings report that the company is continuing to add "more and more accounts" during Q2. The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.32, a 28% increase that puts the stock's yield near 1%. Interactive Brokers' latest results underscore the durability of its business model even during uncertain times. With strong account growth, rising customer equity, and disciplined expense management, the broker continues to gain market share among active traders and institutions alike. The upcoming stock split serves as both a symbolic and practical step to bring more investors along for the ride. While the post-earnings dip may give some investors pause, those focused on the long term might view it as a welcome pullback. If Interactive Brokers can maintain its strong growth trajectory (and history suggests it likely will), this may end up being just another healthy checkpoint on the way to new highs.