Robinhood Markets Inc. posted third-quarter revenue that beat analysts’ estimates as transactions rebounded slightly.

Revenue totaled US$361 million, exceeding the US$357.8 million average estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Net loss was US$175 million, or 20 cents a share, the Menlo Park, California-based company said Wednesday in a statement. 

Shares of Robinhood rose 4 per cent to US$11.86 in extended trading at 4:46 p.m. in New York. The stock had lost 36 per cent this year through the close of regular trading and 70 per cent since its July 2021 initial public offering.

Because Robinhood still relies on user transactions for most of its revenue, a decline in trading activity has been bruising the business. The company pivoted in its strategy, cutting costs by slashing jobs and closing offices while introducing features geared toward the most-active users of its trading app.

Despite those efforts, customer enthusiasm is waning. Monthly active users fell to 12.2 million at the end of September, an 8 per cent slide from the previous month.

The latest quarter “continued to be a difficult trading environment for customers, but we’re encouraged to see customers continuing to contribute billions of dollars to their accounts,” Chief Financial Officer Jason Warnick said in a conference call with journalists.

Robinhood’s third-quarter transaction revenue totaled US$208 million, fueled by increases in options and equities trading compared with the previous three-month period. Cryptocurrency transaction revenue, however, slid 12 per cent from the second quarter.