eToro: Buyback is welcome; the future hinges on its cross-selling abilities and use of AI. Flutter Entertainment: Future growth driven by new state openings and increasing US penetration; a cat-and-mouse race between DraftKings and FanDuel. Landsec: Weaker-than-expected profit should be partly balanced by solid rental growth; Push towards a higher-quality mix will be expensive.

After interviewing a number of executives in the financial space, Max Harper, Analyst at Third Bridge, made a series of remarks regarding eToro. These are informed by insights from industry experts:

eToro reported a strong set of results, with net income at 16.3% above consensus to USD 60.33m, as retail investors continue to show solid momentum. Combined with a USD 150m buyback, this should be welcome news given the company’s weak performance and share price struggles since its IPO.

The key question is whether eToro can sustain this momentum, particularly through cross-selling across its products such as eToro Money, Investing, and Wealth Management. Strong uptake of Tori, their AI analyst, could position them at the forefront of AI use cases in finance and create a neat link-up with their social trading network. The main thing to watch is whether management can use this as a springboard for the next phase of growth.

In the gambling space, Alex Doran, Analyst at Third Bridge made a series of remarks regarding Flutter Entertainment. Third Bridge experts say Flutter Entertainment’s projection of a USD 63 billion total addressable market by 2030 is credible, supported by new state openings and growing penetration across the US. The company is already seeing penetration of around 15 percent in mature states, and our experts believe this could reach between or exceed 25 and 30 percent over time, drawing parallels with the UK and Australian markets.

Flutter has optimised its new state launch approach, allowing it to capture low-churning cohorts early which leads to less reliance on promotions. Cross selling between sportsbook and iGaming will be key to retaining customers and increasing wallet share.

While higher taxes remain a risk to profitability, Third Bridge experts believe the impact is manageable for Flutter. The company’s scale, operational experience, and focus on product led rather than promotion led growth give it resilience compared to smaller rivals.

The competition between DraftKings and FanDuel remains a cat and mouse race, with FanDuel often the first to innovate through products such as Same Game Parlay and YourWay, with perhaps a 1-2 year runway for DraftKings to catch up. DraftKings has improved its product offering, particularly in iGaming, but FanDuel’s global scale through Flutter provides slight structural advantages in pricing, risk management, and marketing efficiency.

In the financial space, Max Harper, Analyst at Third Bridge made a series of remarks regarding Landsec:Weaker-than-expected profit should be partly balanced by solid rental growth and some guidance upgrades.

Landsec posted a 60% year-on-year drop in pretax profit to GBP 98m, short of the GBP 274.2m expected. The miss mainly reflects capital recycling of low-return assets and losses on disposals. Rental income was decent, rising 5.2%, while occupancy ticked up to 97.7%, close to a ten-year high.

The outlook looks a little brighter. Landsec has lifted its rental income growth target to 4 to 5% by 2026, nudged its 2030 EPS goal up to around c62p, and now expects net debt to EBITDA to fall below 7x within two years, vs its previous target of 8x.
Our experts suggest Landsec’s push toward a higher-quality mix of retail, residential and top-tier offices will be expensive, but should leave the business better placed for the long run vs similar landlords such as British Land.