Update 1/28: Robnihood has made it to the top of the App Store chart in the U.S. with Reddit right behind it. They also no longer allow buying GameStop stock through the platform, giving rise to other trading apps like Webull, ETrade, and others.
Robinhood, the investing app used by mere mortals, has been at the center of an unprecedented stock market play where retail investors ganged up and took on an investment firm that bet against GameStop (GME).
How's this play out in the world of apps? It's all about Elon Musk.
This battle between r/wallStreetBets and Melvin Capital has been going on since last week, but it's only late last night that we saw it impacting downloads.
Musk, again, played the role of kingmaker, giving Robinhood and Reddit a massive increase in downloads.
It's only been a few weeks since Elon Musk's tweet sent millions towards Signal. Now, in an after-hours tweet, Elon did it again. This time, it's Robinhood that's on the gaining side.
Notice how the tweet doesn't actually say "buy GameStop" and that it happened as soon as the market closed. Yet, Elon's hatred for shorters is not a secret, and many knew exactly what he means. Some even expected it.
Since last night, Robinhood has been inching its way up the top charts on both Apple and Google, and as of the writing of this article, Robinhood is the #2 most downloaded app in the U.S. App Store and #28 on Google Play, where ranks update a bit slower.
We forecast this uplift in ranks, which is the first time Robinhood got so high up the charts, to bring in nearly 700,000 new users to the app today. And a new all-time high for Robinhood.
That's incredible growth for an app that saw spectacular adoption by non-professional investors in 2020. Whether you like the idea of inexperienced investors burning their life savings away or not, this is unprecedented will continue to be the worry of professional traders expecting the kind of stability that's in their control.
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All of this started on Reddit, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that more people have been downloading the app after Elon's tweet.
What do you think U.S. downloads look like today?
They're looking very very very good.
Our forecast is showing downloads at nearly 400,000 today, which is, by far, the most downloads Reddit's seen in a single day in the U.S., much like Robinhood.
There's a lot more to the GameStop short squeeze story that isn't playing out on the App Store, but one thing is clear—Elon Musk is a kingmaker, and he knows it.
What's he going to turn upside down next?
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