Zip Shares Plunge 37% Despite 86% Earnings Surge on Margin Fears

The stock of the Sydney-headquartered buy now pay later provider Zip Co is seeing a sell-off on Thursday despite reporting a strong half-year results before the market opened.

Zip’s share price crashed even with the company’s announcement that for the six months that ended on December 31, 2025 cash earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization rose to $124.3 million, up by 85.6% year-on-year as its US and ANZ businesses saw significant growth.

Strong Half

The US arm’s total transaction volume (TTV) reached US $4.1 billion, up by 44.2% year-on-year. 

The US TTV now accounts for 75% of the company’s TTV of  $8.4 billion, which also increased by 34.1%. TTV in Australia and New Zealand is up by 9.7%.

Revenue in the US likewise rose by 46.4% to US $292 million. The ANZ business, on one hand, saw its revenue and Australian receivables return to growth.

Zip Group CEO and managing director Cynthia Scott said that the company also completed its  $100 million on-market share buyback in a bid to maximise long-term shareholder value.

“Zip continues to increase profitability at scale, driving cash earnings growth of 85.6% and significant operating margin expansion during the half. Momentum accelerated across both markets, underpinned by continued strategy execution, deeper customer engagement, strong holiday trading and expanded channel partnerships,” Scott said in a statement.

“We are well-positioned to continue executing against our FY26 strategic priorities and delivering profitable growth at scale.”

Down by Nearly 37%

Despite the company’s strong first-half growth, the revenue margin is down from 8.2% to 7.9%. Net bad debts also increased from 1.6% to 1.7% of the TTV albeit the firm said that this aligns with management targets and strategic settings for supporting strong unit economics. 

Zip’s share price closed at $1.79, down by 36.77% from the previous day’s $2.82.