{"id":9366,"date":"2026-06-26T22:05:55","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T22:05:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/?p=9366"},"modified":"2026-06-26T22:05:55","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T22:05:55","slug":"wall-street-likes-what-draftkings-just-took-away-from-itself","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/?p=9366","title":{"rendered":"Wall Street likes what DraftKings just took away from itself"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

DraftKings (DKNG) turned on its own prediction markets exchange this week, a shift the company has been engineering since last fall.<\/p>\n

For seven months, every contract traded on DraftKings Predictions ran through somebody else\u2019s infrastructure. Now DraftKings owns the plumbing.<\/p>\n

DraftKings stops renting its own product<\/h2>\n

Since DraftKings Predictions launched in December, the platform leaned on CME Group and Crypto.com to list, price, and settle every contract.<\/p>\n

Those exchanges controlled the menu and kept a cut of the economics that came with it.<\/p>\n

DraftKings launched its proprietary prediction markets exchange, DKeX, with integration into its unified DraftKings: Sports & Casino app this week.<\/p>\n

The new exchange runs on the technology and CFTC license DraftKings picked up when it bought Railbird Technologies last October, according to the company\u2019s announcement.<\/p>\n

Owning the exchange means DraftKings now keeps more of the fee on every contract it sells, instead of splitting it with a third party.<\/p>\n

\n

DraftKings launched its proprietary DKeX exchange this week, cutting reliance on CME Group as prediction markets volume topped $11 billion annualized.<\/p>\n

Aaron M&period; Sprecher &sol; Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

DraftKings’ volume made this launch inevitable<\/h2>\n

DraftKings Predictions generated roughly $3.4 billion in annualized consumer volume and $11.3 billion in annualized total trading volume for the week ended June 21. <\/p>\n

That is up sharply from $1.3 billion and $3.1 billion in May, and from $1 billion and $2.3 billion in April, based on the company\u2019s own first-quarter disclosures.<\/p>\n

That growth curve is the real reason DraftKings moved now. Renting exchange capacity made sense when volume was small. At billions of dollars a week, the fee that used to go to CME Group becomes material money DraftKings can keep instead.<\/p>\n

More than 30% of customers have already used the platform\u2019s bundled \u201ccombos\u201d feature, the company shared, a sign the product is sticking rather than just attracting curious first-time traders.<\/p>\n

Analysts are bullish but DraftKings stock is not following<\/h2>\n

DraftKings shares closed at $24.53 the day DKeX launched, down 2.5% on the session, according to Zacks Investment Research.<\/p>\n

Shares pushed as high as $25.46 the next day before fading back near $24.55, based on Robinhood market data, leaving the stock roughly 34% below where it traded six months ago.<\/p>\n

More DraftKings:<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  • BofA reveals $3 billion reason to watch DraftKings now<\/strong><\/li>\n
  • Morgan Stanley reveals new DraftKings stock price target<\/strong><\/li>\n
  • DraftKings Just Turned Profitable, and Prediction Markets Want Its Lunch<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    That gap looks strange next to what analysts are saying. Citizens raised its price target to $36 from $34 this week, citing DraftKings\u2019 plan to become the leading acquirer of prediction-market customers, Investing.com confirmed.<\/p>\n

    Bank of America lifted its long-term market estimate to $1.9 trillion in annual contract volume from $1.3 trillion, Bloomberg noted, though the bank kept a neutral rating and warned that 2026 losses could run as high as $550 million against guidance of $200 million to $300 million.<\/p>\n

    The disconnect is the story here. DraftKings just removed a structural cost and proved its prediction markets business can scale into billions of dollars in weekly volume. Wall Street\u2019s price targets reflect that. The stock, still trading near its 52-week low, does not yet.<\/p>\n

    A similar bet is playing out at FanDuel, which has leaned on CME Group rather than building its own exchange, and at Kalshi and Polymarket, which never needed a betting company\u2019s infrastructure to begin with.<\/p>\n

    Owning the exchange gives DraftKings a cost advantage those rivals will eventually have to answer.<\/p>\n

    The World Cup and an EBITDA-heavy second half will be the first real test of whether that advantage shows up in DraftKings\u2019 margins, or whether the promotional spending needed to win prediction-market customers eats the gain before investors see it.<\/p>\n

    Related: BofA reveals $3 billion reason to watch DraftKings now<\/strong><\/p>\n

    #Wall #Street #likes #DraftKings<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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