Klarna Group plc

Klarna reported second quarter 2026 results that beat the high end of its guidance on every line, with volume up 18%, revenue up 27%, and transaction margin dollars up 42% to $446 million. Adjusted operating income reached $91 million, up $62 million year-on-year, and net income was positive at $9 million. The company raised its full-year transaction margin dollar outlook to $1.62 billion to $1.65 billion, or 1.09% of GMV, up from the 1.04% guided in May, while lowering its GMV outlook to $149 billion to $151 billion from above $155 billion due to softer German consumer spending and currency movements. Klarna also announced that it is the partner for Apple Upgrade, a new device leasing program available from Apple, and that JPMorgan Payments went live on August 6, ahead of peak season. The company said CFO Niclas Neglen and CMO David Sandstrom will transition out of their roles in early 2027, with a search underway for a New York-based CFO.

Klarna Group will serve as the leasing and financing provider for Apple's new Apple Upgrade program in the United States. The partnership integrates Klarna into one of Apple's core hardware ownership offerings, expanding Klarna's exposure to US Apple customers. The role places Klarna more directly in consumer electronics financing beyond its existing buy now, pay later services.

Klarna's flexible payment options are now available on J.P. Morgan Payments' commerce platform, allowing merchants on the platform to offer the plans to their customers. The integration expands Klarna's reach to a wide swath of merchants, as J.P. Morgan Payments is the largest merchant acquirer in the U.S., processing $2.6 trillion in merchant payment transactions annually. Klarna Chief Commercial Officer David Sykes said the combination of J.P. Morgan Payments' reach and Klarna's conversion power is a genuine competitive advantage now available to every merchant on the platform. The company noted that more than one in four Americans say they are more likely to complete a purchase when flexible payment plans are available at checkout. Klarna stock edged up 0.2% in late Thursday morning trading.

Apple lost $426 billion in market capitalization over two days after reporting its best third quarter in five years. Net sales grew 16.4% year over year, driven by a 21.7% increase in iPhone sales and an 18.1% overall increase in product sales, marking the first third quarter since fiscal 2021 where products outpaced services growth. Despite the strong results, the stock fell 7.4% on July 31 as Wall Street reacted to concerns that June price increases on Mac, iPad, Apple TV, HomePod, and Vision Pro may have pulled forward demand ahead of the September iPhone 18 Pro launch, and that consumers facing inflationary pressures could resist higher prices. Apple guided for just 9% to 11% year-over-year net sales growth for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026, suggesting some caution about consumer demand. Rising memory chip costs and supply chain constraints are also pressuring margins, though Apple is introducing a leasing program with Klarna starting at $17.99 per month to make purchases more affordable.

Apple shares fell nearly 2% in Thursday's regular-session trading ahead of its scheduled earnings report. Analysts expect June-quarter revenue to increase 15.5% to approximately $108.65 billion, potentially representing Apple's strongest growth for that quarter in five years, with estimated iPhone sales growth of 20.8% providing the largest contribution. Profit is expected to rise 18.1%, though gross margin is forecast to decline to approximately 47.9% amid higher component expenses. Separately, Apple introduced Apple Upgrade, a U.S. leasing program administered by Klarna, offering one- or two-year leases for iPhones and Apple Watches and longer terms for Macs and iPads, with monthly payments starting at $17.99 for an iPhone and $11.99 for an Apple Watch.

Klarna Group has been selected as the leasing provider for Apple Upgrade, Apple's new hardware leasing program in the United States. The program supports financing for Apple hardware across in-store and online checkout channels, covering iPhone, Mac, iPad, and Apple Watch with options to trade in, upgrade, buy out, or return devices at the end of each term. This partnership places Klarna deeper into recurring device cycles and reinforces its positioning as a partner capable of supporting complex, multi-channel checkouts for global platforms. The stock closed at $18.71 and is down 34.5% year to date, framing the Apple partnership against a backdrop of recent share price pressure.

Klarna will be the leasing provider behind Apple Upgrade, a new hardware leasing program from Apple in the United States. The program offers 12- and 24-month leasing options for iPhone and Apple Watch, and 24- and 36-month options for Mac and iPad, with the ability to trade in an existing device to lower monthly payments. At lease end, customers can upgrade to a new model, purchase the device, or return it. The leasing option is available now on the Apple Store online, in the Apple Store app, and at Apple Store locations in the US.

Apple is teaming up with deferred payment processor Klarna to launch a new lease-to-own program called Apple Upgrade, set to debut next Tuesday, July 28. The program will allow consumers to pay for iPhones, iPads, Macs, and Apple Watches over multi-year periods, with lease terms of up to 24 months for iPhones and Apple Watches and up to 36 months for Macs and iPads. At the end of the leasing period, devices can be kept or returned, and upgrades to new devices will be available. The move comes as Apple battles supply chain issues and rising memory chip prices, and recently announced price hikes, with the new program designed to make those higher prices more palatable to consumers.

Southwest Airlines has entered an interline partnership with Air Premia and a long-term payment collaboration with Klarna Group plc, extending its network to over 120 U.S. destinations for Korean travelers and offering U.S. customers flexible payment options including installments and financing. The Air Premia deal opens East Asian access to Southwest's domestic network, while the Klarna agreement broadens the airline's payment ecosystem. These moves are part of Southwest's strategy to reach more customers through more channels, alongside expanded Expedia distribution, though they do not materially alter near-term reliance on fare product rollouts and cost control. The company's narrative projects $34.5 billion in revenue and $2.3 billion in earnings by 2029, requiring 6.1% annual revenue growth and a $1.5 billion earnings increase from $817.0 million.

The global Buy Now Pay Later market is projected to grow from $10.22 billion in 2025 to $116.94 billion by 2035, at a compound annual growth rate of 27.60%. Online channels held a 66.50% share in 2025, while point-of-sale in-store BNPL is the fastest-growing segment at a 25.50% CAGR. Large enterprises accounted for more than 61% of the market in 2025, and the retail and consumer goods end-use segment dominated with over 71% share. North America represented more than 29.30% of global revenues in 2025, with the United States contributing approximately 84.73% of that regional total. Key players include Klarna, Affirm, Afterpay, PayPal, and Sezzle.

Zacks Investment Research has identified Jabil Inc., CECO Environmental Corp., and Klarna Group plc as the three best earnings acceleration stocks to buy for the second half of 2026, based on a screen of accelerating quarter-over-quarter EPS growth rates. The screen required that the last two quarter-over-quarter percentage EPS growth rates exceed the previous periods' growth rates, and that the projected EPS growth rate for the upcoming quarter exceeds that of prior periods, narrowing a universe of roughly 7,735 stocks down to just three. Jabil, a global provider of engineering, manufacturing, and supply-chain solutions, carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and an expected current-year earnings growth rate of 30.1%. CECO Environmental, which provides industrial air quality, water treatment, and energy transition solutions, also holds a Zacks Rank #1 and has an expected current-year earnings growth rate of 120.2%. Klarna Group, a digital bank and flexible payments provider, is rated Zacks Rank #1 with an expected current-year earnings growth rate of 105.1%.

Flix and Klarna announced an expansion of their strategic partnership, bringing Klarna's Buy Now, Pay Later and flexible financing solutions to 21 Flix markets. The rollout includes major European hubs such as the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Poland, Switzerland, and Austria, building on an existing footprint in the U.S. and Sweden. Passengers can now choose to pay in full, in interest-free installments, or via longer-term financing directly in the Flix booking checkout flow. Klarna will also eliminate foreign exchange fees, allowing travelers to pay in their local currency without conversion costs.

Klarna applied to federal and state regulators to establish a U.S. bank subsidiary. If approved, Klarna Bank USA would be an FDIC-backed institution chartered in Utah and led by Gary Harding, former CEO of Milestone Bank and Prime Alliance Bank. CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski said the move is a natural next step to bring a fairer, more transparent approach to the U.S. market. The charter would allow Klarna to bring banking operations in-house, fund loans with customer deposits, and reduce reliance on third-party partners. The application follows Klarna's recent launch of high-yield savings accounts and marks its latest push to become a broader consumer bank.

A Swedish court has ordered Alphabet's Google to pay almost $2 billion to Klarna's Pricerunner unit in a long-running competition case over Google's comparison shopping service. The Patent and Market Court in Stockholm dismissed most of Pricerunner's original 80 billion Swedish kronor claim, but Judge Linda Kullberg described the award as the largest ever ordered in a Swedish competition case. Klarna shares rose 5.3% in premarket trading after the ruling. Pricerunner argued that Google abused its dominant search position for more than a decade by favoring its own comparison shopping service, and Klarna said the award compensates for lost revenue and higher consumer costs. Google disagreed with the ruling and said it will consider its legal options, while pointing to platform changes made in 2017 that it says support hundreds of comparison shopping services across Europe. The case is tied to the European Commission's 2017 decision to fine Google 2.4 billion euros for illegally using its search dominance, and a Berlin court last year ordered Google to pay 573 million euros to two German price-comparison websites.

U.S. stock futures pointed lower on Wednesday as investors awaited remarks from Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh and monitored peace talks between the United States and Iran. Shutterstock shares plunged 28% after Getty Images abandoned its planned merger, citing unacceptable regulatory conditions from the U.K.'s Competition and Markets Authority. Intuitive Machines climbed 7.4% after NASA awarded it a contract worth up to $148.3 million to deliver a Nova-C lunar lander by 2028, the company's sixth task order under the Commercial Lunar Payload Services program. Grindr surged 7.6% after Morgan Stanley upgraded the LGBTQ+ dating platform to Overweight and raised its price target to $18, citing strong user engagement. Klarna Group gained 6% after a Swedish court awarded its subsidiary PriceRunner approximately $1.97 billion in antitrust damages against Alphabet's Google. Oklo advanced 4.8% after the U.S. Department of Energy approved the Documented Safety Analysis for the Groves Isotope Test Reactor, moving it into final pre-startup review ahead of a July 2026 startup. ServiceNow rose 4% after Guggenheim upgraded the enterprise software company to Buy, citing durable recurring revenue growth. Nike fell nearly 4% after forecasting continued sales declines in the first half of fiscal 2027, overshadowing better-than-expected fourth-quarter revenue. Alcoa slipped 4.7% after agreeing to acquire South32's bauxite, alumina and aluminum assets for $4.1 billion.

Klarna Group shares jumped 6% on Wednesday after a Swedish court awarded its subsidiary PriceRunner $1.97 billion in antitrust damages against Google. The court found that Google illegally manipulated search results to favor its own comparison-shopping service, stifling competition. Klarna acquired PriceRunner in 2022 and has since expanded its product discovery capabilities across 13 markets, building a database of over 100 million products and 500 million merchant listings. This data powers Klarna's Shopping Search app inside ChatGPT and underpins its agentic commerce strategy, transforming the company from a buy-now-pay-later provider into an AI-driven retail platform.

Visa, Bank of New York Mellon, and Stripe are among the financial firms partnering to launch a new stablecoin called Open USD. The venture, named Open Standard, plans to issue the U.S. dollar-denominated stablecoin and integrate it into their systems once it goes live later in 2026. Earnings from the reserves backing Open USD will be shared among the partners, which also include BlackRock, Klarna Group, Chime Financial, Alphabet, and Coinbase Global. Zach Abrams, CEO of Stripe-owned Bridge, will serve as Open Standard's interim CEO. Major stablecoin issuers Tether, Circle Internet, and PayPal are not part of the new venture.

Klarna Group plc is partnering with European shared mobility platform Bolt to integrate its payment options directly into the Bolt app, starting with Sweden, Germany, Finland, and Norway. Users will be able to pay for car rides and scooter trips using Klarna’s Pay in Full feature or customized monthly installment plans, with secure tokenization enabling automated billing on future trips after a one-time account link. The rollout is expected to be completed across these markets by late June 2026. The deal extends Klarna’s reach beyond retail and e-commerce into transportation services, tapping into Bolt’s network of more than 200 million customers across 50 countries. It aligns with Klarna’s strategy of increasing payment frequency and engagement through recurring transactions, while supporting revenue diversification as active consumers rose 21% year over year to 119 million and Gross Merchandise Volume increased 33% in first-quarter 2026.

Klarna Group plc has launched FDIC-insured savings accounts in the United States, offering an interest rate starting at 3.28% APY. The accounts are held by WebBank, carry no monthly fees or minimum deposit requirements, and are fully integrated into the existing Klarna app. This move brings a successful European model to the American market, where Klarna has already managed over $12.3 billion in consumer deposits across eleven other regions. The new savings product includes automated tools such as round-ups, scheduled transfers, and custom savings goals, aiming to challenge traditional banking by providing competitive rates directly where its millions of US users already manage their daily spending. CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski emphasized that Klarna is positioning itself as a comprehensive financial hub, enabling users to manage their entire financial picture, from the Klarna Card to savings, in one place.