Klarna shares sink as weak guidance overshadows Q2 beat

Klarna shares sink as weak guidance overshadows Q2 beat

Tue, August 18, 2026 at 5:26 PM GMT+3 1 min read

• KLAR -2.19%

Klarna Group PLC (NYSE:KLAR) shares fell 20.5% Tuesday morning after the buy-now-pay-later company issued full-year guidance that fell short of analyst estimates, overshadowing a second-quarter earnings beat.

The company reported second-quarter revenue of $1.04 billion, up 27% year-over-year and above the $994 million analysts had expected. Gross merchandise volume rose 18% to $36.6 billion, while transaction margin dollars climbed 42% to $446 million.

For fiscal 2026, Klarna guided revenue of $4.08 billion to $4.16 billion, well below the $4.42 billion analyst estimate. The company also cut its GMV outlook to $149 billion-$151 billion, down from a prior forecast of more than $155 billion.

Adjusted operating income guidance of $280 million-$300 million came in above the $161 million estimate.

Third-quarter guidance also missed expectations, with Klarna projecting revenue of $940 million to $980 million versus estimates of $1.11 billion, and adjusted operating income of $5 million to $15 million against a $52.8 million estimate.

Klarna said active consumers grew 8% year-over-year to 120 million, while its merchant base expanded 54% to more than 1.2 million. Provisions for credit losses stood at 0.52% of GMV.

"Over 120 million consumers now use Klarna, and each is using it for more of their everyday spend, revenue per active consumer grew 24%," said Sebastian Siemiatkowski, CEO and co-founder of Klarna.

"That deepening engagement is why transaction margin dollars grew 42%, well ahead of revenue and volume. We measure our progress in transaction margin dollars."