Sixty-One Per Cent Is a PhoneNarrow moat

XTB (XTB) — moat facet

Mobile overtook the desktop terminal, which changed the customer from a trader into a saver and cut revenue per head by three quarters.

The share of XTB's contract turnover executed on the mobile app went from 57 per cent in the third quarter of 2024 to 64 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2025 and 61 per cent in the second quarter of 2026.1 Desktop fell from 38 per cent to 30 over the same period.2 The company's stated ambition is to be "the leading all-in-one investment application in Europe", and the word doing the work in that sentence is application.3

Desktop against mobile, share of CFD turnover38Q3 24 desktop30Q2 26 desktop57Q3 24 mobile64Q4 25 mobile61Q2 26 mobileRevenue per active client over the same shift: 7 400 zł in 2020, 1 800 zł in 2025
The customer became a saver with a phone, and is worth a quarter as much.

This is a change in what the business is, not merely in how it is accessed. A desktop trading terminal is a professional tool used at a desk in market hours by someone who thinks of themselves as a trader. A phone app is used on a train, prompted by a notification, by someone who mostly thinks of themselves as a saver. The second population is far larger, far cheaper to reach through the marketing channels XTB actually uses, and far less valuable per head: average operating revenue per active client fell from 7 400 złoty in 2020 to 1 800 in 2025 as the base shifted.4

It is also what makes the savings products viable. Investment plans starting at 50 złoty, fractional shares, a multi-currency card, interest paid on idle balances: none of these makes sense as a desktop terminal feature and all of them make sense inside a phone app that also holds the customer's money.

Mobile went from 57 per cent of turnover to 61 in two years.5 That share now decides what the product has to be, and it points away from leverage.

Moat trajectory: Widening

Mobile turnover share rose from 57 per cent to 61 in two years while desktop fell from 38 to 30. That shift is what makes investment plans, fractional shares and a multi-currency card sensible products, and it is the mechanism behind the client growth.

The number that tests this moat
Reported
Mobile share of CFD turnover
61% in Q2 2026, from 57% two years earlier

Mobile turnover share rose from 57 per cent in the third quarter of 2024 to 64 in the fourth quarter of 2025 and 61 in the second quarter of 2026, while desktop fell from 38 to 30. A phone application reaches a saver rather than a trader, which is what makes investment plans, fractional shares and a multi-currency card sensible - and why revenue per active client fell from 7 400 złoty in 2020 to 1 800 in 2025.

Source: XTB results presentation for H1 2026, 28 August 2026 ↗
⚠ Threats to the moat
⚠ THREAT 01
The App Store Sits in the Middle
A mobile-first broker distributes through two companies with no particular commitment to leveraged products.
References
  1. ReportedThe share of XTB's contract turnover executed on the mobile app went from 57 per cent in the third quarter of 2024 to 64 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2025 and 61 per cent in the second quarter of 2026.
    XTB results presentation for the first half of 2026, operational data - quarterly series for Q2 2026, Q1 2026, Q4 2025, Q3 2025, Q2 2025, Q1 2025, Q4 2024 and Q3 2024 in that order: total operating income 992 558, 1 094 018, 609 344, 375 821, 580 597, 580 294, 465 416 and 470 234 thousand złoty; transaction volume in CFD instruments in nominal value 1 029 179, 1 333 410, 1 605 005, 1 118 278, 1 144 554, 937 867, 727 854 and 695 315 million dollars; profitability for USD 1 million of transaction volume 238, 216, 93, 84, 128, 144, 147 and 167 dollars; transaction volume in CFD instruments 1 831 627, 2 323 204, 2 542 526, 2 094 296, 2 321 584, 1 907 974, 1 657 390 and 1 627 978 lots; profitability per lot 484, 439, 208, 152, 229, 277, 253 and 272 złoty; marketing expenses 200 081, 235 429, 179 195, 141 495, 123 322, 141 034, 116 855 and 71 613 thousand złoty with client acquisition cost 0,7, 0,9, 0,7, 0,7, 0,7, 0,7, 0,7 and 0,6 thousand złoty; structure of the gross result in H1 2026 Commodity CFDs 75,3%, Index CFDs 13,9%, Currency CFDs 5,0% and other 5,8%, against H1 2025 Index CFDs 46,3%, Commodity CFDs 33,1%, Currency CFDs 15,6% and other 5,0%; share of CFD turnover by trading platform for the same eight quarters: xStation 30, 29, 29, 27, 35, 37, 36 and 38 per cent, xStation Mobile 61, 60, 64, 62, 59, 56, 56 and 57 per cent and MT4 9, 11, 7, 11, 6, 7, 9 and 8 per cent; own cash 2 934 090 at 30 June 2026 against 1 994 027 at 31 December 2025, up 47,1%, with no bonds; dividend per share of 1,5 for 2021, 4,86 for 2022, 5,02 for 2023, 5,45 for 2024 and 4,07 for 2025, the 2025 dividend being PLN 478,5 million or 75% of standalone net profit with a record date of 15 June 2026 and payment on 24 June 2026 — Q3 2024 - Q2 2026 · publ. 28 August 2026 · source ↗
  2. ReportedDesktop fell from 38 per cent to 30 over the same period.
    XTB results presentation for the first half of 2026, operational data - quarterly series for Q2 2026, Q1 2026, Q4 2025, Q3 2025, Q2 2025, Q1 2025, Q4 2024 and Q3 2024 in that order: total operating income 992 558, 1 094 018, 609 344, 375 821, 580 597, 580 294, 465 416 and 470 234 thousand złoty; transaction volume in CFD instruments in nominal value 1 029 179, 1 333 410, 1 605 005, 1 118 278, 1 144 554, 937 867, 727 854 and 695 315 million dollars; profitability for USD 1 million of transaction volume 238, 216, 93, 84, 128, 144, 147 and 167 dollars; transaction volume in CFD instruments 1 831 627, 2 323 204, 2 542 526, 2 094 296, 2 321 584, 1 907 974, 1 657 390 and 1 627 978 lots; profitability per lot 484, 439, 208, 152, 229, 277, 253 and 272 złoty; marketing expenses 200 081, 235 429, 179 195, 141 495, 123 322, 141 034, 116 855 and 71 613 thousand złoty with client acquisition cost 0,7, 0,9, 0,7, 0,7, 0,7, 0,7, 0,7 and 0,6 thousand złoty; structure of the gross result in H1 2026 Commodity CFDs 75,3%, Index CFDs 13,9%, Currency CFDs 5,0% and other 5,8%, against H1 2025 Index CFDs 46,3%, Commodity CFDs 33,1%, Currency CFDs 15,6% and other 5,0%; share of CFD turnover by trading platform for the same eight quarters: xStation 30, 29, 29, 27, 35, 37, 36 and 38 per cent, xStation Mobile 61, 60, 64, 62, 59, 56, 56 and 57 per cent and MT4 9, 11, 7, 11, 6, 7, 9 and 8 per cent; own cash 2 934 090 at 30 June 2026 against 1 994 027 at 31 December 2025, up 47,1%, with no bonds; dividend per share of 1,5 for 2021, 4,86 for 2022, 5,02 for 2023, 5,45 for 2024 and 4,07 for 2025, the 2025 dividend being PLN 478,5 million or 75% of standalone net profit with a record date of 15 June 2026 and payment on 24 June 2026 — Q3 2024 - Q2 2026 · publ. 28 August 2026 · source ↗
  3. ReportedThe company's stated ambition is to be "the leading all-in-one investment application in Europe", and the word doing the work in that sentence is application.
    XTB Group Management Board report on activities in 2025, client assets and acquisition targets - at the end of 2025 the value of XTB clients' cash exceeded PLN 5,8 billion, up 56,3%, and the nominal value of instruments deposited by clients increased by 99,4% to PLN 27,3 billion, while the nominal value of derivative instruments rose PLN 2,6 billion; client assets by category were clients' funds 5 864, instruments held in brokerage accounts 27 284 and notional value of clients' derivative transactions 12 654, a total of 45 802 million złoty at 31 December 2025 against 27 460 at 31 December 2024 and 17 326 in 2023; in 2025 the Management Board intended to acquire an average of at least 150 000 to 210 000 new clients per quarter and the number of new clients by quarter was 194 304, 167 339, 221 762 and 280 881 against 129 747, 102 569, 108 104 and 158 018 in 2024; in 2026 the Management Board's ambition is to acquire an average of at least 250 000 to 290 000 new clients per quarter, with 246 438 acquired in January and February 2026; in the medium term, 2027 to 2029, the Board will strive for an increase in new clients of approximately 30% year on year while assuming average client acquisition cost at a similar level to 2023-2026; the Board's ambition is for XTB to be associated with the leading all-in-one investment application in Europe; business goals are strengthening the position in Western and Central and Eastern European markets, further geographic expansion into new markets including Latin America and Asia, further development of the institutional client segment through X Open Hub, and expanding the product and service offering; the ESG Strategy for 2024-2027 — FY2025 · publ. March 2026 · source ↗
  4. Moat Explorer calcThe second population is far larger, far cheaper to reach through the marketing channels XTB actually uses, and far less valuable per head: average operating revenue per active client fell from 7 400 złoty in 2020 to 1 800 in 2025 as the base shifted.
    Moat Explorer calculations from XTB's published figures. Correlations across the eight quarters from Q3 2024 to Q2 2026 between operating income (470 234, 465 416, 580 294, 580 597, 375 821, 609 344, 1 094 018 and 992 558 thousand złoty) and, first, CFD turnover in lots (1 627 978, 1 657 390, 1 907 974, 2 321 584, 2 094 296, 2 542 526, 2 323 204 and 1 831 627) giving 0,25, second, CFD notional in dollars (695 315, 727 854, 937 867, 1 144 554, 1 118 278, 1 605 005, 1 333 410 and 1 029 179 million) giving 0,37, and third, profitability per lot (272, 253, 277, 229, 152, 208, 439 and 484 złoty) giving 0,92; the ranges over those quarters are 1,56 times for lots, 2,31 times for notional, 3,18 times for profitability per lot and 2,91 times for operating income. Annually from 2019 to 2025 the correlation between CFD turnover in lots and operating income is 0,96. Market capitalisation of 16 970 million złoty is 144,34 złoty multiplied by 117 569 251 shares, which against trailing twelve-month revenue of 3 071,5 million złoty (2 146,056 less 1 160,891 plus 2 086,324) gives 5,53 times sales, and against trailing net profit of 1 261,4 million (644,199 less 410,052 plus 1 027,240) gives 13,45 times earnings and earnings per share of 10,73. Historic price-earnings ratios are year-end share price multiplied by 117,569 million shares divided by net profit: 8,15, 5,23, 8,31, 4,76, 5,62, 9,66 and 13,10 for 2019 to 2025, with price-to-sales of 1,97, 2,64, 3,16, 2,51, 2,75, 4,42 and 3,93. XTB's 2025 operating income of 2 146,056 million złoty converts to 570,9 million dollars at the National Bank of Poland's 2025 average rate of 3,7588, giving 480 dollars per active client across 1 189 397 active clients against Plus500's 3 268 dollars across 242 440, a ratio of 6,8 times, while Plus500's revenue of 792,4 million dollars is 39 per cent more than XTB's. Client instruments of 43 363 639 thousand złoty across 2 825 700 clients is 15 346 złoty each, against 12 603 at 31 December 2025 and 10 048 at 31 December 2024; 43 363 639 thousand złoty converts to 8,6 billion pounds at 5,03 złoty to the pound, or 3 051 pounds a client, against Trading 212's 25 billion pounds across 4,5 million funded accounts, or 5 556 each. Gross gain on stocks and ETPs as a share of gross gain on CFDs is 0,7 per cent for 2023 (11 050 over 1 622 633), 1,7 per cent for 2024 (30 654 over 1 837 173) and 3,8 per cent for 2025 (78 310 over 2 035 006); as a share of client instruments held, 78 310 over 27 283 557 is 29 basis points. Marketing divided by salaries is 0,44 in 2019 (37 716 over 86 024), 1,42 in 2025 (584 898 over 413 019) and 1,76 in the first half of 2026 (435 510 over 246 964). Revenue per employee is 1,54 million złoty for 2023 (1 618 385 over 1 054), 1,51 million for 2024 (1 873 436 over 1 245), 1,42 million for 2025 (2 146 056 over 1 516) and 2,70 million annualised for the first half of 2026 (4 172 648 over 1 548). Poland's share of operating income is 46,7 per cent in 2023, 52,7 in 2024, 54,4 in 2025 and 57,4 per cent in the first half of 2026 (1 197 033 over 2 086 324). Net interest income is 3,1 per cent of 2024 revenue and 3,6 per cent of 2025 revenue; the share of interest kept is 78 per cent of 140,1 million less 62,1 million, or 56 per cent. Institutional revenue is 2,0 per cent of 2025 operating income (42 524 over 2 146 056) and was 8,7 per cent in 2019 (20 847 over 239 304). Second-quarter 2026 net profit of 1 027 240 less 535 042 is 492 198 against 216 129 a year earlier, a rise of 127,7 per cent, while the sequential fall from 535 042 is 8,0 per cent. The 2018 to 2019 declines are 17,0 per cent in operating income and 43,1 per cent in net profit — FY2019-H1 2026 · publ. September 2026 · source ↗
  5. ReportedMobile went from 57 per cent of turnover to 61 in two years.
    XTB results presentation for the first half of 2026, operational data - quarterly series for Q2 2026, Q1 2026, Q4 2025, Q3 2025, Q2 2025, Q1 2025, Q4 2024 and Q3 2024 in that order: total operating income 992 558, 1 094 018, 609 344, 375 821, 580 597, 580 294, 465 416 and 470 234 thousand złoty; transaction volume in CFD instruments in nominal value 1 029 179, 1 333 410, 1 605 005, 1 118 278, 1 144 554, 937 867, 727 854 and 695 315 million dollars; profitability for USD 1 million of transaction volume 238, 216, 93, 84, 128, 144, 147 and 167 dollars; transaction volume in CFD instruments 1 831 627, 2 323 204, 2 542 526, 2 094 296, 2 321 584, 1 907 974, 1 657 390 and 1 627 978 lots; profitability per lot 484, 439, 208, 152, 229, 277, 253 and 272 złoty; marketing expenses 200 081, 235 429, 179 195, 141 495, 123 322, 141 034, 116 855 and 71 613 thousand złoty with client acquisition cost 0,7, 0,9, 0,7, 0,7, 0,7, 0,7, 0,7 and 0,6 thousand złoty; structure of the gross result in H1 2026 Commodity CFDs 75,3%, Index CFDs 13,9%, Currency CFDs 5,0% and other 5,8%, against H1 2025 Index CFDs 46,3%, Commodity CFDs 33,1%, Currency CFDs 15,6% and other 5,0%; share of CFD turnover by trading platform for the same eight quarters: xStation 30, 29, 29, 27, 35, 37, 36 and 38 per cent, xStation Mobile 61, 60, 64, 62, 59, 56, 56 and 57 per cent and MT4 9, 11, 7, 11, 6, 7, 9 and 8 per cent; own cash 2 934 090 at 30 June 2026 against 1 994 027 at 31 December 2025, up 47,1%, with no bonds; dividend per share of 1,5 for 2021, 4,86 for 2022, 5,02 for 2023, 5,45 for 2024 and 4,07 for 2025, the 2025 dividend being PLN 478,5 million or 75% of standalone net profit with a record date of 15 June 2026 and payment on 24 June 2026 — Q3 2024 - Q2 2026 · publ. 28 August 2026 · source ↗
Sources
Generated September 24, 2026