Klarna cuts 2026 GMV outlook on weaker German spending

Klarna Group plc (NYSE: KLAR ) stock is trading lower Tuesday after the company reported second-quarter results that beat estimates but issued 2026 sales guidance that missed expectations.

Earnings Snapshot Klarna reported earnings of 1 cent per share, beating the consensus estimate for a loss of 5 cents per share.

Revenue rose 27% year over year to $1.042 billion, beating the $993.39 million analyst estimate.

Gross merchandise volume, or GMV, increased 18% to $36.6 billion.

U.S.

GMV rose 27%.

Transaction margin dollars climbed 42% to $446 million, representing 42.8% of revenue.

The transaction margin expanded by more than 4.5 percentage points.

Adjusted operating income jumped 214% to $91 million.

Provisions for credit losses improved to 0.52% of GMV from 0.56% a year earlier.

The company also said CFO Niclas Neglén and CMO David Sandström will step down from their roles in early 2027 after six and nine years, respectively.

Both executives will remain in their positions through the transition, while Klarna has begun searching for a New York-based CFO.

Consumer, Merchant Growth Accelerates Active consumers increased 8% to 120 million, while the merchant base grew 54% to more than 1.2 million.

Average revenue per active consumer rose 24%.

Klarna Memberships reached 2 million paying subscribers, eight times the year-ago level.

Subscription revenue surged more than 600%.

Klarna Card active users climbed to 6.5 million across 16 countries from 1.3 million a year earlier.

J.P.

Morgan Payments went live with Klarna earlier this month, allowing its merchants to offer Klarna's payment products.

Merchants offering Fair Financing increased 107% to 256,000.

Klarna and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL ) also launched the Apple Upgrade device leasing program in the U.S., adding another growth channel for Klarna.

Management expects the partnership to generate positive adjusted operating income in 2026 and said it could be "very accretive over time." 2026 Sales Outlook Misses Estimates During the earnings call, Klarna executives flagged continued weakness in German consumer spending, particularly in discretionary retail.

The company said softness that emerged late in the second quarter has persisted into the third quarter.

Klarna now expects Germany, its largest market by volume, to post only marginal growth and assumes the market will remain soft rather than recover this year.

The company lowered its GMV outlook to $149 billion to $151 billion from more than $155 billion.

Klarna cited about $600 million of currency translation effects and a more cautious outlook for German volumes.

Its U.S. assumptions remain unchanged.

For 2026, the company expects revenue of $4.08 billion to $4.16 billion, missing the $4.415 billion analyst estimate.

Klarna raised its transaction margin dollar forecast to $1.62 billion to $1.65 billion, or about 1.09% of GMV.

Adjusted operating income is expected to range from $280 million to $300 million, representing 6.9% to 7.2% of revenue.

For the third quarter, Klarna expects GMV of $35 billion to $36 billion, revenue of $940 million to $980 million and transaction margin dollars of $340 million to $360 million.

The company expects third-quarter adjusted operating income of $5 million to $15 million as it invests in major payment service provider launches and related marketing.

KLAR Price Action: Klarna shares were down 20.55% at $15.50 at the time of publication on Tuesday, according to Pro data.

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