Klarna turns a profit for first time since IPO in September

Klarna has broken even for the first time since its $15 billion New York initial public offering (IPO) last September, it announced on Thursday.

The Swedish FinTech posted net income of $1 million in the first quarter of 2026, up from a $90 million loss in the same period last year. Its revenue was also up 44 per cent year-on-year, now sitting at $1 billion, while active customer numbers grew to 119 million, a 21 per cent increase from last year.

Klarna’s previous inability to turn a profit led its stock price to fall over 70 per cent since its IPO, and markets have reacted quickly to the good news: at time of writing, the stock is up 12.4 per cent since the start of the week, and more than 20 per cent from the day before its announcement.

Klarna primarily relies on buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) loans for its revenue, but is increasingly focusing on its other offerings, including debit cards and bank accounts.

BNPL loans are generally low margin and heavily dependent on consumer spending, making them less appealing as a growth strategy than more stable interest income that can be earned through current accounts. Klarna’s chief executive and cofounder, Sebastian Siemiatkowski, said in the company’s Q4 2025 report that customers who use Klarna for more than just payments generate $107 each, three times higher than the rest of its customer base.

The company also appears to be increasing customer revenue across the board, reporting that customers who first used Klarna in 2022 brought in $12 in their first year, while the same cohort bring in $52 per user today.

“Klarna addresses the entire consumer wallet: Pay Now for everyday spending and saving, Pay Later our charge card equivalent at 0% interest for mid-size ticket spending, and POS instalments (Fair Financing) for big-ticket purchases,” said Siemiatkowski. “In Q1 we executed well across all the business, driving every line of our P&L and compounding growth across our global network.”

In its announcement, Klarna also issued Q2 guidance, expecting revenue of between $960 million and $1 billion, with adjusted operating income of $30 million to $50 million, slightly below Q1’s $68 million.



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