StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE) announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 2nd. The company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.02, Zacks reports. StoneCo had a net margin of 15.38% and a return on equity of 21.55%. The company had revenue of $675.42 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $704.26 million.

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

• Solid 2025 results: adjusted gross profit was BRL 6.319 billion (+13.5% YoY) and adjusted EPS showed double-digit growth, with ROE expanding to 26%, demonstrating stronger profitability and capital efficiency.
• Shareholder-friendly capital allocation: the company returned BRL 3 billion during 2025, executed significant buybacks (BRL ~1.8bn H2/BRL 1.3bn in Q4), approved BRL 2 billion of repurchases for 2026, and plans to distribute the ~BRL 3 billion Linx proceeds in 2026.
• Guidance and strategy for 2026–27 emphasize continued earnings expansion and a shift toward banking and credit (2026 adjusted gross profit BRL 6.6–7.0bn; adjusted basic EPS BRL 10.8–11.4), with mid-single-digit TPV growth assumed and AI/ cross-sell initiatives prioritized to deepen client relationships.
• Credit portfolio is scaling but showing higher short‑term credit costs: portfolio reached BRL 2.8 billion (up 23% QoQ) with Q4 credit revenues of BRL 238 million, while provisions (BRL 110 million), NPLs (15–90 days 4.43%; >90 days 5.21%) and a cost of risk of ~17% have increased, which pressures near-term profitability.

StoneCo Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of StoneCo stock opened at $13.84 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $15.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $16.48. StoneCo has a 12-month low of $9.83 and a 12-month high of $19.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market cap of $3.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.05, a PEG ratio of 0.23 and a beta of 1.78.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On StoneCo

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Neuberger Berman Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of StoneCo by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 16,959 shares of the company’s stock worth $251,000 after purchasing an additional 741 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp acquired a new stake in shares of StoneCo during the fourth quarter worth about $246,000. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of StoneCo by 10.0% in the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 13,995 shares of the company’s stock valued at $224,000 after purchasing an additional 1,273 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of StoneCo in the 4th quarter valued at about $215,000. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of StoneCo in the 4th quarter valued at about $211,000. 73.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on STNE shares. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of StoneCo from $19.50 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Weiss Ratings raised StoneCo from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Zacks Research upgraded StoneCo from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Santander downgraded StoneCo from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $22.00 price objective on shares of StoneCo in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $17.44.

About StoneCo

StoneCo Ltd., commonly known as Stone, is a Brazilian financial technology company that provides integrated digital payment solutions and related financial services to merchants. Through its cloud-based platform, Stone enables businesses of all sizes to accept a variety of payment methods, including point-of-sale (POS) terminals, mobile card readers and e-commerce gateways. In addition to payment acceptance, the company offers value-added services such as working capital loans, digital banking products and automated billing tools designed to help merchants manage cash flow and streamline operations.

Since its founding in 2012 by André Street and Eduardo Pontes, Stone has focused on serving over half a million merchants across Brazil’s retail, restaurant and services sectors.