Poland based CFDs broker XTB SA (WSE:XTB) has reported its financial results for Q3 2026, indicating a fairly major drop-off on both the top and bottom line, for the second consecutive quarter.

Revenues at XTB came in at PLN 623 million (USD $158 million) in Q3 2026, down by 37% from $251 million in Q2 (which, in turn was down from a record $277 million in Q1). Net profit fell by 57% to PLN 214 million ($54 million) in Q3, versus $125 million in Q2 (and a record $135 million in Q1).

We’d also note that in Q3 controlling shareholder Jakub Zablocki sold a fairly large stake in XTB via a secondary market share sale. Mr Zablocki netted $403 million in the sale, taking his interest in XTB down to 27.78%. The early September sale was completed at PLN 160 per share, well above XTB’s current share price of PLN 138.54 (and we’ll see how the shares react tomorrow to the results news).

XTB Trading Volumes Q3 2026

Client trading volumes at XTB came in at $341 billion monthly in Q3 2026, virtually identical to $343 billion monthly in Q2 (although down from $444 billion monthly in Q1). However profitability per USD 1 million traded fell precipitously, to $133 in Q3 versus $238 in Q2 (and $216 in Q1).

Q3 slowdown at XTB

So what caused the large decrease in revenues, and profitability?

XTB said that the the third quarter of 2026 was marked by lower activity in financial and commodity markets compared to Q1 and Q2 of the current year. Elevated volatility persisted across commodity instruments. Due to ongoing geopolitical tensions, CFD instruments based on oil and precious metals played a key role in revenues. There was also substantial activity in the natural gas market, both in the US and in Europe. Conditions were noticeably calmer across stock market indices.

Analyzing the first 9 months of the year, CFDs based on energy commodities and precious metals were by far the most popular instruments. High volatility was particularly evident in the first and third quarters, while stock market indices played a key role primarily in the second quarter.

Result by instrument class

An analysis of the structure of the Group’s gross result from operations in financial instruments in the third quarter of 2026 indicates a clear dominance of commodity-based CFDs. Their share in this result increased to 70.8%, compared to 48.5% in the third quarter of 2025. This was primarily related to the high profitability of transactions in instruments based on gold, crude oil, natural gas, and silver quotes.

The second-largest category in terms of share in the gross result on instruments was other financial instruments, mainly comprising stocks and ETFs. Their share stood at 12.3%, compared to 8.3% in Q3 2025.

In turn, the share of CFD instruments based on indices stood at 12.0%, compared to 32.4% in the corresponding period of the previous year. The result of this category was significantly influenced by the high profitability of transactions in instruments based on the American US 100 index, the Polish WIG20 index, and the German DE 40 index.

Continued growth in new clients

Despite the fall in revenues in Q3, XTB said it saw a steadily expanding client base, and an increasing number of active clients. In the third quarter of 2026, the Group once again delivered strong performance in this area, acquiring 335,704 new clients (compared to 221,762 in the corresponding period of the previous year), representing dynamic growth of 51.4% y/y. The number of active clients also rose for another consecutive quarter, reaching a record 1,566,408 active clients, which marks an increase of 70.3% compared to 919,976 in the prior-year period.

XTB’s client acquisition cost has remained fairly steady over the past several quarters, at between 0.6-0.7 thousand PLN (about $150-175). XTB’s marketing spend in Q3, at PLN 187 million ($47 million) was lower than in Q2 (PLN 200 million) or Q1 (PLN 235 million).

The Management Board’s ambition for 2026 is to acquire an average of at least 250-290 thousand new clients per quarter. As a result of the initiatives undertaken, in the first 27 days of October 2026, the Group acquired over 100.6 thousand new clients. Additionally, from a medium-term perspective (defined as a three-year horizon, i.e., 2027-2029), the Management Board’s ambition is to increase the number of new clients by approximately 30% y/y, while assuming that the average cost of acquiring a client will remain at a similar level as in 2023-2026.

Strategy

The Board’s ambition is for XTB to be associated with the leading all-in-one investment application in Europe, offering clients easy, smart and efficient ways to trade, invest and save, while providing instant access to their money.

The transformation of XTB from a CFD broker to a modern FinTech entity providing a universal investment application has been progressing in recent years. This process will be consistently continued in 2026 and subsequent years, forming the foundation for the Group’s further growth.

International expansion

XTB said that it is increasingly building its presence in non-European markets, consistently pursuing its strategy of creating a global brand. The XTB Management Board places primary emphasis on organic growth: on one hand, increasing penetration in European markets, and on the other, steadily expanding its presence in Latin America and Asia. In line with these efforts, the structure of the Group may be extended to include new subsidiaries. It is worth noting that geographic expansion is a continuous process at XTB, with results distributed over time.

More highlights from XTB’s Q3 2026 results follow below. XTB’s full Q3 2026 results summary can be seen here (pdf).