Goldman Sachs believes that accelerating client growth and emerging upside from crypto trading could drive shares of Futu higher. The bank upgraded the Tencent-backed digital brokerage platform to buy from neutral. Analyst Shuo Yang also lifted his price target to $213.39 from $157.85. The new target implies a gain of about 31% from Friday's close. Yang wrote that his rating change reflected a reevaluation of Futu's new client growth and turnover rate, as well as a positive capital market outlook. FUTU 1Y mountain FUTU 1Y chrt The analyst predicted that favorable market expectations will lead to continued client expansion. He thinks Futu will add 802,000 new paying clients in 2026 and 659,000 new paying clients in 2027. "Contrary to market perception, we believe FUTU can maintain growth in favorable periods (e.g. 2026) and capitalize on IPO upcycles for rapid client acquisition," he added. Futu also offers durable and competitive advantages due to its low-fee, convenience-driven discount platform. Against its competitors, Futu offers higher client retention, a higher return on equity, operation in distinct competitive regions and a higher operational efficiency. "FUTU's ability to grow stems from its product and service competitiveness, which drives high client retention and new acquisitions," he said. Yang added that the stock seems well-hedged against Fed rate cuts, with likely limited impact. He also pointed to digital assets as a future growth driver. "FUTU currently offers retail crypto trading but not B2B infrastructure. Therefore, merely shifting existing client AUM between stocks and crypto trading offers limited profit growth due to fee rate differentiation," Yang wrote. "We expect more significant growth to come from crypto trading, thereby attracting new clients and additional AUM." Shares of Futu have surged 68% over the past 12 months.
