Klarna Group plc (NYSE: KLAR) reported second quarter 2026 results on August 18, posting revenue of $1.042 billion, up 27% from the same period last year. The company swung to net income of $9 million, compared with a net loss of $53 million in the second quarter of 2025, as gross merchandise volume rose 18% to $36.6 billion.
Klarna describes itself as a global digital bank and flexible payments provider, with consumers able to pay using its products online, in-store, and through Apple Pay and Google Pay. The company counted 120 million active consumers and more than 1.2 million participating merchants in the 12 months ended in the quarter.
#Transaction Margin and Adjusted Operating Income Both Expand
Transaction margin dollars, the metric Klarna says it uses to measure its progress, rose 42% to $446 million and reached 42.8% of revenue, up more than 4.5 percentage points from a year earlier. Adjusted operating income climbed 214% to $91 million.
Operating income was $27 million, compared with an operating loss of $46 million in the second quarter of 2025. Provisions for credit losses fell to 0.52% of GMV, from 0.56% a year earlier.
"Over 120 million consumers now use Klarna, and each is using it for more of their everyday spend, revenue per active consumer grew 24%," said Sebastian Siemiatkowski, CEO and co-founder of Klarna, in the earnings release. He said the company measures its progress in transaction margin dollars, which grew faster than both revenue and volume in the quarter.
#Active Consumers and Merchant Base Continue to Expand
Active consumers reached 120 million, up 9 million year over year, with revenue per active consumer up 24%. Klarna Memberships reached 2 million paying subscribers, eight times the total a year earlier, with subscription revenue up more than 600%.
The Klarna Card reached 6.5 million active users across 16 countries, up from 1.3 million a year earlier. The company said it launched new membership plans last week built around cashback and other benefits.
Merchant participation rose 54% year over year to more than 1.2 million. J.P. Morgan Payments, which the release describes as the largest U.S. merchant acquirer, processing $2.6 trillion in payments annually, began offering Klarna's payment options automatically earlier this month. Merchants offering Klarna's Fair Financing product rose 107% year over year to 256,000.
About 90% of Klarna's funding comes from consumer deposits, which the company said it continues to extend and diversify through forward flow agreements. Outside the United States, transaction margin reached 54% of revenue, with the U.S. figure at 23%, which the company attributed to its earlier stage of growth in that market.
A sharper way to see the markets in just 5 minutes.
Same news, different lens. We cut through the noise and hand you the overlooked ideas and the deeper read the crowd misses. Join 38,000+ investors seeing the markets differently.
#Klarna Raises Full-Year Guidance On Stronger Transaction Margin
Klarna updated its full-year 2026 guidance, projecting GMV of $149 billion to $151 billion, down from its prior outlook of more than $155 billion. The company attributed the change to about $600 million in currency translation effects and a more measured view of volumes in Germany, its largest market.
The company raised its transaction margin dollar guidance to $1.62 billion to $1.65 billion, from more than $1.61 billion previously, and projected adjusted operating income of $280 million to $300 million, compared with $65 million for all of 2025.
For the third quarter, Klarna projected GMV of $35 billion to $36 billion, revenue of $940 million to $980 million, and adjusted operating income of $5 million to $15 million, which it attributed partly to planned investment funding new product launches.
Klarna said its guidance and outlook constitute forward-looking statements subject to risks and uncertainties, and that actual results could differ materially from its projections. The company said investors should review the risk factors in its filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Management said the third quarter will be an investment period, with spending on significant payment-platform launches expected to precede the volume those launches generate, resulting in lower adjusted operating income quarter over quarter.