NEW YORK, Feb 19, 2026, 05:58 (EST) — Premarket
- Klarna Group plc slipped roughly 1.6% in premarket, last quoted at $18.95.
- The buy-now, pay-later lender will post its Q4 numbers before the U.S. market opens.
- Morgan Stanley lowered its price target, pointing to U.S. execution issues and the March lock-up expiration.
Klarna Group plc slipped 1.6% to $18.95 before the bell Thursday, drawing fresh attention to the buy-now, pay-later firm just before its fourth-quarter results.
Klarna plans to release its Q4 2025 earnings before the bell and will stream a webcast at 8:30 a.m. ET. Shareholders can submit questions in advance via Say Technologies, ahead of the call.
Earnings land as the next big hurdle for the company, which only hit the New York Stock Exchange in September, debuting at $40 a share.
Morgan Stanley’s James Faucette trimmed Klarna’s price target down to $23 from $39, sticking with an Equal Weight call. He cited the need for Klarna to deliver “a few quarters of clean U.S. Fair Financing execution.” In his note, Faucette also mentioned a lock-up period ending March 9 that could unlock more shares for trading. Klarna’s valuation, he said, was weighed against competitor Affirm. TipRanks
Loan performance is likely to draw close investor scrutiny. The provision for credit losses — funds earmarked for potentially sour loans — can shift rapidly as consumer finances come under pressure.
Cost discipline is front and center, too. Klarna chief Sebastian Siemiatkowski says the headcount sits near 3,000 today, but he’s looking to trim that to below 2,000 by 2030, citing both a pause in hiring and a bet on AI to boost output. “Occasionally, we hire somebody here and there,” he said. Business Insider
Klarna investors have until Feb. 20 to move for lead-plaintiff status in a securities class action over the company’s IPO disclosures, according to a shareholder rights law firm. The pending suit has triggered a rush of notices lately.
The stock’s been touchy ever since its debut. Any sign that credit costs are outpacing sales, or that the U.S. launch of longer-term instalment loans is hitting bumps, could keep shares under the gun.
