Aug 13, 2026 earnings call — New brand as 'bank for entrepreneurs'
Credit portfolio reached BRL 3.8 billion, 2x larger than 1 year ago.
Revenue $0.7B (est $0.7B) · EPS $0.47 (est $0.46)
Key quotes
"This quarter, we launched our new brand positioning, Stone, the bank for entrepreneurs."
"During this quarter, we also began disbursing government-backed loans, which already account for roughly BRL 300 million of our portfolio, while credit cards reached BRL 400 million."
"TPV growth accelerated to 4%, an early signal that the retention initiatives we launched this year are beginning to work, though there is still a lot of work to be done."
Analyst Q&A 9
provision for liquidated issuer; government loans outlook
Q (Eric Ito · Bradesco BBI): He asked for color on the BRL 200 million one-time allowance for issuers in distress and what caused it. He also asked about government-backed loans reaching BRL 330 million and whether that changes credit guidance.
A: Management said the provision was made for an issuer liquidated by the Central Bank that hasn't paid cash flows for over 90 days, and they provisioned for accounting prudence. They expect networks to ultimately settle these amounts, expect recovery historically, and said the cost-of-risk guidance (mid- to high-teens) still stands, though short-term fluctuations may occur.
"We are adjusting this effect in our results because we understand it's just a temporary effect arising from our accounting standards and not our view on the recovery." — Diego Salgado (CFO)
hitting 2026 guidance with lower take rates
Q (Daniel Vaz · Safra): He asked how the company can reach the low end of 2026 gross profit guidance given slower take rates, PIX mix, lower cash interest income, and whether COGS will be the upside to meet guidance.
A: They said gross profit was flat in H1 because credit provisions grew with the credit portfolio, and they expect growth to accelerate in H2 from credit card TPV, PIX, and churn initiatives. They warned Selic is higher than assumed (about 14% versus assumed 12.5%), which is a headwind (rates alone are north of BRL 300 million for 2026), but the guidance ranges remain unchanged and they aim for the lower end.
"So rates alone are a headwind north of BRL 300 million for 2026." — Diego Salgado (CFO)
big loan losses in dedicated desk
Q (Antonio Gregorin Ruette · BofA): He asked what caused the large delinquencies in the dedicated desk, why they targeted those clients, and whether they have reduced loan sizes or changed originations going forward.
A: They said delinquencies were concentrated in higher-ticket exposures (average ticket around BRL 700,000) and partly due to higher judicial recoveries in the market. To respond, they are shifting originations toward government-backed credit lines and reducing maximum ticket sizes on the dedicated desk; a cited example was a large client filing for bankruptcy protection and being moved immediately from Stage 1 to Stage 3.
"And the second thing, we are minimizing the amount of maximum tickets on the dedicated desk so that we don't have exposure to any single clients that can hurt the portfolio or create volatility going forward." — Mateus Schwening (CEO)
why SMB churn is harder to fix
Q (Neha Agarwala · HSBC): She asked why it has been harder to win back SMB clients versus micro merchants and whether SMB churn will improve by 3Q. She also asked if PIX and merchant incentives will put pressure on take rates.
A: They said micro merchant offers and distribution are simpler, while SMBs span many offerings and channels so fixes require more testing and careful calibration and are therefore gradual. On take rates, they said margins are falling on the margin due to mix (PIX growth) and some pricing moves, but they price client relationships holistically, bundling payments and credit rather than pricing products stand-alone.
"These changes when we talk about SMB, there are no silver bullets, and they require by design, a lot of testing and careful calibration before we roll out." — Mateus Schwening (CEO)
communication with larger SMB clients
Q (Arnon Shirazi · Citi): He asked how communication with larger SMB clients is improving and whether integration (e.g., Pagar.me) and better offers will reduce churn soon or over a longer period.
A: They said communication is improving but it's harder to reach larger SMBs than micro merchants and it's a longer journey than a single quarter fix. Improvements will be gradual and the impact will show through lower churn over time.
"It's going to be a gradual process that will certainly come with lower churn." — Diego Salgado (CFO)
why transaction revenue fell despite TPV rising
Q (Renato Meloni · Autonomous): He asked why net revenue from transaction activities fell 11% sequentially while TPV rose, and whether pricing mix or accounting reallocations explain it.
A: Diego said the decline was due to lower revenues from incentives the company receives from card networks; some incentives occurred in Q1 but not in Q2, so this is a short-term fluctuation. He added you should not expect the same one-off effect in coming quarters.
"Basically, we had lower revenues from incentives that we get from the card networks related to our activities as credit card issuer." — Diego Salgado (CFO)
drivers of lower financial expenses
Q (Pedro Leduc · Itau BBA): He asked to explain the drop in financial expenses and the strategy on own versus third-party capital, and what levers could affect expenses in coming quarters.
A: They said two effects drove the change: a slightly lower average Selic this quarter and more client deposits deployed in the operation. They also noted the mix of own and third-party capital has been stable, buybacks roughly match capital generation, and they expect assets to grow faster than deposits which could pressure financial expenses going forward.
"But most importantly, we had more deposits from clients on average deployed on the operation." — Diego Salgado (CFO)
government guarantees and provisioning timing
Q (Guilherme Grespan · JPMorgan): He asked how government-backed programs (especially PEAC) allocate loss risk and how that affects provisioning and timing between default and government reimbursement.
A: They said program structures vary by target public and company size, but on PEAC the government guarantees roughly 75% of the defaulted amount, so loss given default is about 25% and upfront provisioning is lower. They explained the guarantee can be collected on the 91st day after default, so coverage for Stage 2 and 15-90 day NPLs will drop significantly, while Stage 3 is less affected.
"But on average, especially on PEAC, the government guarantees roughly 75% of the defaulted amount." — Diego Salgado (CFO)
credit growth appetite; D&A accounting change
Q (Kaio Penso Da Prato · UBS): He asked whether the current credit landscape means slower growth for the dedicated and automated desks, and asked for color on the drop in D&A and what to expect going forward.
A: They said they remain cautious given the tough macro, but still see room for profitable growth because their share of wallet in credit is still small and many clients' sales flow through their platform; they are shifting toward lower-risk government programs and reducing dedicated-desk ticket sizes. On D&A, Diego said it was just an accounting change merging two balance-sheet lines into P&L with no effect on profit and loss.
"We estimate that our share of wallet within our own client base at credit is still at around mid-single digits." — Mateus Schwening (CEO)