Webull CEO's Most Surprising Admission: 'I Expect B2B to Match or Exceed Our Retail Business'

Webull’s CEO Anthony Denier had a lot to say on the March 4 earnings call. But the single most revealing thing he said wasn’t about revenue or AI. It was about his B2B ambitions: “I expect our B2B business to match or exceed our current retail business in the coming years.” For a company that built its entire identity around retail traders, that’s a meaningful pivot worth understanding.

The Numbers Behind the Story

Webull (NASDAQ:BULL) posted $165.2 million in Q4 revenue, up 53% year-over-year, beating estimates. Full-year 2025 revenue came in at $571 million, up 46% from 2024. Customer assets hit an all-time high of $24.6 billion, up 81% year-over-year. Net deposits for Q4 alone were $3.9 billion, up 225% year-over-year.

The EPS miss tells the other side of the story. Reported EPS came in at $0.01 against a $0.05 estimate, largely because marketing and branding expenditure more than doubled to $53.25 million. Denier was unapologetic about it: “The successful marketing campaign was the primary reason for the increased marketing costs during that quarter.” The CFO added that marketing as a percentage of revenue actually fell from roughly 35% in 2024 to around 23% to 24% in 2025, so the absolute dollar increase reflects scale, not inefficiency.

What Denier Is Actually Betting On

The B2B angle is the most underappreciated part of this story. The Meritz Financial Group partnership in Korea has already traded north of $1 billion notional in equity for Korean customers, and Denier expects that volume to grow tenfold by year-end. The logic is compelling: institutional onboarding takes longer, but the economics are stickier once you’re in.

On AI, Vega is gaining real traction. 1.2 million global users per week are using Vega, and approximately 1 in 8 users consulted it before executing a trade. That’s not a vanity metric. Pre-trade AI consultation is a behavior that deepens platform lock-in.

Denier was also candid about prediction markets: “I don’t see prediction markets as part of our core business moving forward.” Despite 162 million prediction contracts traded in Q4, he’s positioning them as a customer reengagement tool, not a revenue pillar.

Early 2026 Signal

Denier offered an unusually direct comment about the current quarter: “January is probably the second best month we’ve ever had as a company since inception. So Q1 is certainly looking strong.” He also noted that market volatility is a net positive for Webull specifically, since active traders concentrate in options during uncertain markets and options carry higher margins than equities.

The stock is down roughly 30% year-to-date despite the operational momentum. Analysts at Rosenblatt and Northland trimmed targets but held their positive ratings. Whether the B2B pivot and AI integration can shift how the market values Webull — as a platform business rather than a traditional brokerage — remains an open question.