Klarna stock plunges 20% on lowered guidance amid retail slowdown

Klarna’s stock cratered after the Swedish fintech posted fourth-quarter results that managed to be simultaneously record-breaking and deeply disappointing. Revenue hit $1.08 billion for the quarter, up 38% year over year and slightly above consensus. The stock dropped anyway, falling roughly 23-27% to an all-time low in the $13.80 to $14.53 range. The culprit wasn’t the top line. It was everything underneath it: a $26 million net loss, credit provisions that ballooned 59% year over year, and forward guidance that landed below what Wall Street was expecting. For a company that IPO’d at $40 per share just months ago, the math is getting uncomfortable. Record revenue, record anxiety Klarna’s Q4 2025 numbers tell a story of a company growing fast into a headwind. Gross merchandise volume reached $38.7 billion, a 32% jump from the prior year. The guidance for Q1 2026 made things worse. Klarna projected revenue of $900 million to $980 million, a range whose midpoint sits right around the consensus estimate of roughly $965 million. The full-year GMV target of $35.5 billion to $36.5 billion for 2026 also failed to inspire confidence. Shares debuted at $45.82 on September 9, 2025, after pri...