Interactive Brokers vs LPL Financial
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KIRA’s take AI analyst
I put Interactive Brokers and LPL Financial side by side, using each one’s latest annual report. Here is what stands out:
- LPL Financial is the larger business, with $17.0B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $6.2B for Interactive Brokers, about 2.7 times as much.
- LPL Financial grew revenue faster (37.2%, against 19.7%).
- Interactive Brokers turned more of its sales into free cash flow (253.7% FCF margin, against −5.8%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Interactive Brokers’s earnings: a P/E of 32.1x against 25.2x for LPL Financial.
Who comes out ahead
Of the 6 measures where higher (or lower) is clearly better, how many each company leads.
Interactive Brokers
IBKR
4/6
Net marginFCF marginNet debt / EBITDAShare count change
LPL Financial
LPLA
2/6
Revenue growth5-year growth
Side by side
Best in the row
| Latest fiscal year | IBKR FY25 | LPLA FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $36.3B | $25.4B |
| Revenue | $6.2B | $17.0B |
| Free cash flow | $15.7B | −$982M |
| Net income | $984M | $863M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 19.7% | 37.2% |
| 5-year growth | 22.8% | 23.7% |
| Share count change | 1.8% | 4.8% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | — | — |
| Operating margin | — | — |
| Net margin | 15.9% | 5.1% |
| FCF margin | 253.7% | −5.8% |
| Return on capital | — | 12.3% |
| Return on equity | — | 20.9% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | −$4.9B | $6.1B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | −0.6x | 3.2x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $134M | $194M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 32.1x | 25.2x |
| Piotroski F-score | — | — |
Ten years
Revenue
Operating margin
Free cash flow
Return on capital
Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.