Original-Research: Smartbroker Holding AG (von GBC AG): BUY
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Original-Research: Smartbroker Holding AG - from GBC AG
17.09.2026 / 13:00 CET/CEST
Dissemination of a Research, transmitted by EQS News - a service of EQS
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Classification of GBC AG to Smartbroker Holding AG
Company Name: Smartbroker Holding AG
ISIN: DE000A2GS609
Reason for the research: Research Note
Recommendation: BUY
Target price: 17.80 EUR
Target price on sight of: 31.12.2027
Last rating change:
Analyst: Matthias Greiffenberger, Cosmin Filker
Operating profitability has improved and forecasts and price target
confirmed
Smartbroker Holding AG delivered a marked improvement in operating
performance in the first half of 2026 and exceeded its internal expectations
at both revenue and earnings level. Consolidated revenue increased by 9.6%
to EUR35.42 million, compared with EUR32.31 million in the previous year and an
internal target of EUR34.70 million. EBITDA after customer acquisition costs
improved significantly from EUR0.06 million to EUR2.20 million, corresponding to
an EBITDA margin of 6.2% compared with 0.2% in the prior-year period.
Despite continued high scheduled depreciation and amortisation, EBIT
improved to EUR-2.98 million and the net loss narrowed to EUR-2.95 million. In
our view, the first-half figures provide increasingly visible evidence that
the investments made in Smartbroker+ are translating into stronger
underlying operating profitability.
The Transaction segment remained the key growth driver, with revenue
increasing by 11.7% to EUR21.00 million. Operational development was
considerably stronger than the new customer figures alone suggest. The
customer base increased to more than 285,000, while assets under management
rose by 43.4% to EUR17.5 billion and therefore grew significantly faster than
the number of clients. Trading activity also increased substantially, with
the number of trades rising by 58.6% to 4.7 million. Smartbroker+ reached a
new monthly record of around 860,000 transactions in June, while the number
of savings plans almost doubled year on year. These figures indicate
increasingly intensive use of the platform and improving monetisation of the
existing customer base. However, gross new customer acquisition of around
31,000 remained below original expectations, while average acquisition costs
increased from around EUR120 to approximately EUR160. A renewed acceleration in
customer growth therefore remains an important factor for the medium-term
scaling trajectory.
The Media segment continued to provide a stable and highly profitable
earnings base. Revenue increased by 6.7% to EUR14.40 million, while segment
EBITDA rose by 18.8% to EUR3.80 million and the EBITDA margin improved to
26.4%. In addition to its direct earnings contribution, the Media business
provides Smartbroker with access to a large audience of financially engaged
retail investors, creating strategic synergies in customer acquisition and
supporting the planned launch of the pension savings account.
The Group also maintains a solid financial position. As at 30 June 2026, the
equity ratio stood at 74.8%. Cash and cash equivalents of EUR18.97 million
compared with bank borrowings of EUR3.47 million, resulting in net cash of
EUR15.50 million. Following the reporting date, Smartbroker additionally
secured a variable working capital credit facility of up to EUR20.00 million.
In our view, the current balance sheet structure therefore provides
sufficient flexibility to finance further product development, customer
acquisition and the planned expansion of the platform.
For FY 2026, we confirm our forecasts of EUR70.00 million in revenue and
EBITDA of EUR0.50 million. The comparatively conservative second-half
assumption reflects higher planned marketing expenditure ahead of the
pension savings account launch as well as the potential normalisation of
exceptionally high trading activity. From 2027 onwards, we expect operating
leverage to become significantly more visible as the growing customer base
increasingly utilises the existing technical, regulatory and personnel
infrastructure. We forecast revenue of EUR83.00 million and EBITDA of EUR11.50
million for 2027, rising to EUR99.00 million and EUR22.00 million respectively
in 2028.
Based on our unchanged DCF model, we confirm our fair value of EUR17.80 per
share. Additional potential from the pension savings account, the heavy
trader offering, the trading API and further account and custody account
types is only partially reflected in our forecasts. We therefore maintain
our BUY rating.
You can download the research here:
https://nwr.eqs-cockpit.com/fncls2.ssx?fn=redirect&u=67a8670d15cc65edb61616dad831a82f
Contact for questions:
GBC AG
Halderstraße 27
86150 Augsburg
0821 / 241133 0
research@gbc-ag.de
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Completion: 17 September 2026 (11:30)
First publication: 17 September 2026 (13:00)
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2400978 17.09.2026 CET/CEST
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