Klarna Earnings Show First Billion-Dollar Quarter
Klarna earnings reported a first $1.1 billion quarter and doubled banking customers, likely refocusing trader positioning toward banking revenue growth.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Reported first $1.1 billion quarter as revenue rose 38% year-over-year.
- Banking customers doubled to 15.8 million, signaling a strategic shift toward consumer banking.
- Company swung to a loss while guiding for H2 margin improvements and continued revenue growth.
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Klarna earnings for Q4 2025 (KLAR), reported on Feb. 19, 2026, marked the company’s first billion-dollar quarter. Revenue rose 38% year-over-year as banking customers doubled and U.S. revenue accelerated, while the company swung to a loss, highlighting a strategic shift toward consumer banking.
Record Quarter and Margins
Klarna reported revenue of $1.082 billion in Q4 2025, exceeding its guidance of $1.07 billion. Gross merchandise value (GMV) reached $38.7 billion, up 32% year-over-year and above the company’s forecast. Transaction-margin dollars after provisions rose 17% to $372 million. Provisions for credit losses declined to 0.65% of GMV from 0.72% in the prior quarter.
Despite revenue growth, Klarna swung to a loss, with earnings per share at negative $0.02. The company improved efficiency, with revenue per employee reaching $1.24 million in fiscal 2025, about 3.6 times the 2022 level. Headcount fell 49% since 2022, and operating expenses declined 8% since Q4 2022, even as revenue more than doubled over that period.
Banking Adoption, U.S. Growth, and Outlook
Klarna’s banking customers doubled to 15.8 million, a 101% year-over-year increase. These customers generated $107 in revenue per user, compared with $30 for the average consumer. Consumer deposits rose 37% to $13 billion. Active Klarna Card users jumped 288% year-over-year to 4.2 million, adding 1.9 million accounts since Q3 2025. Fair Financing GMV expanded 165% year-over-year, accelerating from 139% in Q3.
The company reported 118 million active consumers in its press release, while management cited 180 million on the earnings call, both reflecting a 28% increase year-over-year. Merchants grew 42% to 966,000, adding 115,000 in the quarter. U.S. revenue rose 58% year-over-year, with 29 million U.S. consumers—about 11% of the population—using Klarna in the past 12 months.
Management expects continued revenue growth in 2026, transaction-margin improvements in the second half, and adjusted operating-income margins above 6.9%. First-quarter 2026 results are tracking modestly ahead of Q4 2025, driven by banking products expanding absolute volume. CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski said, "We've been executing on a clear plan: acquire customers through seamless payments, then deepen those relationships into banking."
Klarna will publish full fiscal-year 2025 financial statements on Feb. 26, 2026.
