** Shares of Robinhood Markets HOOD.O up 6.4% to $122.97 early Weds after striking deal to take over a regulated exchange run by Miami International Holdings MIAX.N to expand into prediction markets

** In announcement late Tues, HOOD will acquire a 90% stake in LedgerX, which was previously part of FTX, and will introduce a futures and derivatives exchange in a joint venture with Susquehanna International Group

** The move comes as the prediction markets business attracts mainstream interest, with players like Intercontinental Exchange ICE.N, CME Group CME.O and CBOE CBOE.Z also planning to enter the space

** HOOD recently traded at about 47x forward earnings, below its 2-yr avg of about 64x, per LSEG Datastream data

** With the moves on the session, HOOD stock has surged ~230% YTD, far outpacing the Nasdaq's .IXIC ~20% rise

** 18 of 25 brokerages covering HOOD rate stock "strong buy" or "buy", 6 rate "hold" and 1 recommends "sell"; median PT of $155 up from $120 on Aug 26

(Lance Tupper is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed are his own)

((lance.tupper@tr.com 1-646-279-6380))