NEW YORK, Feb 26, 2026, 07:28 EST — Premarket
- Nu Holdings slid roughly 4% ahead of the open, with shares reacting to the quarterly numbers posted late Wednesday.
- Nu reported a roughly 50% jump in fourth-quarter net income, while revenue was up 45%.
- Analysts focused on costs, credit charges, and a reduced tax rate that boosted profit.
Nu Holdings Ltd (NYSE:NU) dropped 4.3% to $15.93 before the bell Thursday, slipping from its $16.65 finish in the prior session. (Public)
Nubank shares dropped early, following its latest earnings. Investors aren’t hesitating right now to hit fast-growing lenders that let expenses get away. Nu keeps insisting it can handle both growth and spending.
The stakes are higher at this point, with the company pushing further into lending even as it preps for a potential U.S. launch. If expenses get bumpy for a few quarters, or if credit quality slips, investors may rethink how to value the whole narrative.
Nu’s Form 6-K showed fourth-quarter net income coming in at $894.8 million, with total revenue climbing to roughly $4.9 billion. Customer count hit 131 million, spanning Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia. Monthly average revenue per active customer (ARPAC) landed at $15, and cost to serve per active customer was unchanged at $0.8. The company noted “near-term upward pressure” on its efficiency ratio as investments ramp up, and referenced conditional OCC approval in January tied to its U.S. strategy.
Nu shares bounced around following the results—up roughly 4% before sliding 5.5% after hours, according to Reuters. CFO Guilherme Lago credited the profit jump to steady customer gains and more revenue per user, telling Reuters: “This brings positive leverage to revenue.” While JPMorgan noted the benefit of a reduced tax rate, Citi flagged that higher risk costs and operating expenses “mud the picture.” Lago pointed out that delinquencies typically tick up in the first quarter, calling it “natural seasonality.” (Reuters)
Nu’s credit portfolio leans hard on cards—a blessing when things look rosy, but it quickly flips to a risk if consumer confidence dips. No surprise, then, that “cost of risk,” analyst-speak for credit losses, pops up repeatedly in their research notes.
The risk here is straightforward. If those tailwinds from taxes and expenses disappear and credit losses pick up heading into 2026, the profit beat loses its punch. And a harder push in the U.S.? That could just rack up costs before any bump in revenue shows up.
Traders are eyeing whether that premarket slip signals a broader shakeout for Latin American digital lenders, or if it’s just fast money reacting to a single volatile quarter. The numbers are only part of the story.
Regular trading in New York kicks off at 9:30 a.m. ET. Investors are watching for analyst notes in the days ahead—updates that will dive into expenses, credit patterns, and how much Nu can actually deploy without sacrificing returns.
