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Jane Street achieved an unprecedented milestone, raking in $16.1 billion in trading revenue during the first quarter, fueled by significant market volatility and the rising value of its investments in prominent AI firms such as Anthropic, according to insider sources.
Throughout this period, the firm more than doubled its profits to $10.3 billion, with revenues soaring over 40% compared to the same timeframe last year. This achievement further solidifies Jane Street’s dominance in high-frequency trading, outpacing major Wall Street investment banks and competitors like Citadel Securities and Hudson River Trading.
The firm’s impressive results were largely driven by its medium-frequency trading strategies, which involve holding positions for durations ranging from several minutes to a few days, utilizing advanced technological tools. Additionally, Jane Street’s investment in AI companies, including Anthropic and Nvidia-backed cloud infrastructure provider CoreWeave, provided a significant boost.
Back in 2025, Jane Street set a record by generating $39.6 billion in net trading revenue, as reported by Reuters in April.
Periods of market volatility typically play to the strengths of trading desks at large financial institutions and algorithmic trading firms, as investors look to adjust their portfolios to mitigate risks.
Worries about the impact of artificial intelligence on software companies and the uncertain outcome of the Iran war have rattled financial markets in the first quarter, triggering repeated bouts of selloffs that kept trading desks busy.
Market jitters intensified in March following the outbreak of the US–Israeli war with Iran. Concerns over oil supply disruptions from a blockage of the Strait of Hormuz, which carries one-fifth of global oil, stoked stagflation fears.
Riding on volatility
Jane Street, which has 3,500 employees and was launched in 2000, provides market liquidity by buying and selling a range of financial products, including ETFs, equities, bonds, options, commodities and currencies on exchanges and trading venues worldwide.
The firm, which to date has not taken on any outside capital, currently has direct market access to more than 200 trading venues across the globe. Jane Street’s capital structure allows the firm to take larger positions when providing liquidity and hold such positions through periods when such risks pay off.
Over the past few years, the market maker has gained market share rapidly against other trading firms, as it gained an edge through its real-time pricing tools that have been built over 25 years by leveraging data and research.
The firm identifies and acts on opportunities across the full range of holding periods and risk profiles, from fleeting pricing inefficiencies in the market to committing capital to positions over a longer timeframe.
Jane Street’s latest quarterly trading haul comes as the largest US banks also reported booming trading revenue during the March quarter. JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, and other top banks enjoyed big gains in their respective trading businesses.