StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.01 EPS

StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE) announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.01, Zacks reports. The firm had revenue of $129.73 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $708.24 million. StoneCo had a return on equity of 22.19% and a net margin of 22.92%.

Here are the key takeaways from StoneCo’s conference call:

• Positive Sentiment: TPV growth accelerated to 4% year over year as retention initiatives began to take effect, while retail deposits rose 22% and the credit portfolio more than doubled to BRL 3.8 billion.
• Negative Sentiment: Credit provisions increased to BRL 188 million, cost of risk remained elevated at 21.5%, and larger-ticket exposures in the dedicated lending desk experienced defaults amid increased bankruptcy filings.
• Negative Sentiment: Stone maintained its 2026 guidance but acknowledged a tougher-than-expected backdrop, with higher-for-longer interest rates creating an estimated BRL 300 million-plus pretax headwind and management now targeting the lower end of its ranges.
• Positive Sentiment: Government-backed credit programs, which guarantee roughly 75% of defaults under the FGI Pix program, are enabling more competitive pricing and should help reduce credit risk toward the high-teens range over time.
• Positive Sentiment: The company integrated Pagar.me into the Stone platform to combine online and physical commerce, expand digital transaction volumes, and support additional credit and cross-selling opportunities; it also returned BRL 4.3 billion to shareholders in the first half.

StoneCo Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:STNE opened at $10.10 on Friday. StoneCo has a one year low of $9.08 and a one year high of $19.95. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $10.45 and a 200-day moving average of $11.87. The company has a market capitalization of $2.51 billion, a PE ratio of 4.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.27 and a beta of 1.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BTIG Research cut their price objective on StoneCo from $22.00 to $15.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on StoneCo from $20.00 to $16.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of StoneCo from $15.00 to $13.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 28th. Citigroup downgraded shares of StoneCo from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $18.00 to $11.00 in a report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of StoneCo from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, StoneCo has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $14.30.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Silvio Morais sold 21,000 shares of StoneCo stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.91, for a total value of $208,110.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 11.25% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On StoneCo

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of STNE. State Street Corp increased its stake in StoneCo by 23.0% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,714,651 shares of the company’s stock worth $114,101,000 after purchasing an additional 1,440,760 shares in the last quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda raised its holdings in shares of StoneCo by 1,054.8% during the fourth quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda now owns 5,236,620 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,450,000 after acquiring an additional 4,783,158 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of StoneCo during the third quarter valued at approximately $58,017,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of StoneCo by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,239,977 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,130,000 after acquiring an additional 75,434 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of StoneCo by 1,004.5% in the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,934,964 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,618,000 after acquiring an additional 1,759,782 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.19% of the company’s stock.

About StoneCo

StoneCo Ltd. is a financial technology company serving businesses and consumers in Brazil. Through its Stone and Ton brands, the company provides electronic payment processing and point-of-sale solutions, including card acceptance, digital payments, payment links and related tools for merchants of varying sizes.

StoneCo also offers financial services designed to support small and medium-sized businesses, such as digital banking, working-capital products and other business management tools.