Sydney — March 5, 2026, 18:19 AEDT
- According to an ASX filing, Zip Co will kick off its on-market buy-back on March 6.
- The company’s investor page showed shares trading at A$1.765 Thursday afternoon.
- Just weeks ago, Zip’s stock suffered its sharpest single-day drop in over ten years, following a half-year earnings miss. Now the move lands.
Zip Co Ltd shares held steady Thursday, pausing at A$1.765 by 1:51 p.m. AEDT, just a day before the company kicks off its planned A$50 million on-market buy-back, according to a filing. More details are posted on the company’s investor relations page. Yourir 1
Timing is key here—Zip is working to shift the narrative following its steep February selloff, when investors hammered “buy now, pay later” stocks on signs of cooling growth. BNPL, or point-of-sale credit, allows consumers to break up purchases into instalments, usually interest-free if paid promptly.
Zip doesn’t have many fast options, but a buy-back is one. Reducing the share count could nudge up earnings per share, assuming credit losses and funding costs don’t get out of hand.
Zip rolled out the buy-back program on Feb. 20, outlining plans for it to last up to 12 months—with potential adjustments, suspension, or an early end all on the table. “It demonstrates confidence in the strength of our balance sheet,” group CEO Cynthia Scott said in the release. 2
The Appendix 3C listed March 6 as the proposed start date and March 5, 2027, as the end. Barrenjoey Markets and Third Party Platform were named as brokers, with the share cap set at 92,161,082.
Zip plans to limit its price to a maximum 5% premium to the volume-weighted average price from the last five sessions—a typical benchmark in trading circles. The company also said the program’s total can’t top 10% of issued capital across a 12-month span.
Zip’s February result continues to ripple through the market. The shares tumbled 34.4% on Feb. 19—marking their sharpest drop since mid-November 2014—after first-half cash operating earnings came in below the Visible Alpha consensus. The company also pointed to second-half cash earnings roughly in line with the first half. “Although Zip delivered solid first-half cash earnings, guidance for flat growth in the second half caught investors off guard,” said Marc Jocum, senior product and investment strategist at Global X ETFs. 3
Zip goes head-to-head with Block’s Afterpay in Australia, while in the U.S., it contends with a patchwork of installment lenders. The American market has been reacting to credit quality concerns, as households deal with increased borrowing costs.
Still, the buy-back doesn’t offer much protection. If bad debts climb, if U.S. customer growth loses steam, or if consumers pull back, Zip might have to dial down buy-backs or hold onto cash instead.
