OptionsXpress Holdings Inc.’s second-quarter profit fell 3 percent from a year earlier, but beat analysts’ estimates as the options brokerage benefited from a rise in volatility and a surge in trading volume.
The Chicago-based company, like its peers, experienced a spike in retail activity in the quarter from the stock market’s May 6 flash crash. OptionsXPress said its daily average revenue trades, or DARTs — a figure closely watched by analysts — surged 10 percent year-over-year to 49,800. That figure is up 12 percent from the first quarter.
But since May, retail investors have been more cautious. Reflecting a slowdown in trading levels, DARTs in June fell to 42,900.
Overall, OptionsXpress reported net income of $15.6 million, or 27 cents a share, down from $16.1 million, or 28 cents a share, a year earlier.
