New York, March 9, 2026, 15:12 EDT
Nu Holdings, the listed parent of Nubank, slipped in New York trading on Monday, with shares down 0.75% at $14.47 in afternoon trade after touching an intraday low of $14.12.
The move matters because Nu is coming off a quarter that looked strong on the surface. Fourth-quarter net profit rose 50% to $894.8 million and revenue climbed 45% to $4.86 billion, yet the stock fell 5.5% in after-hours trading on the results day as analysts questioned costs and credit trends. 1
Chief Financial Officer Guilherme Lago told Reuters the profit gain was helped by more customers, more revenue from each active user and a stable cost to serve. Chief Executive David Vélez said the U.S. banking market looked highly competitive but still had openings in some subsegments, as Nu works through the approvals needed to launch there. 1
Nu ended 2025 with 131 million customers across Brazil, Mexico and Colombia after adding 17 million over the year. In its quarterly release, the company called 2026 an inflection year and said investment in platform build-out, artificial intelligence and the U.S. opportunity could lift its efficiency ratio — a measure of operating costs against revenue — in the near term. 2
That is where the debate sits. JPMorgan analysts said the profit beat was largely driven by a lower-than-expected tax rate, while Citi said cost of risk and operating expenses “mud the picture” even as most operating metrics remained solid. 1
Nu is also pushing the brand ahead of a U.S. launch. On March 4, it announced a multiyear deal with Inter Miami CF that will rename the club’s new 26,700-seat home as Nu Stadium when it opens on April 4, and put Nu’s logo on the back of team jerseys from August. Cristina Junqueira, co-founder and head of Nu’s emerging U.S. business, said the venue would “anchor our brand in the United States.” 3
Competition is building there, too. Reuters reported on March 5 that Revolut filed for its own U.S. bank charter, underlining that Nu would be entering a market drawing not just traditional banks but a growing queue of fintech challengers; Nu still needs the FDIC and Federal Reserve, alongside OCC conditions, before it can open Nubank, N.A. 4
The risk is that growth spending lands just as asset quality softens. Nu said the share of loans overdue by more than 90 days fell to 6.6% in the fourth quarter, but Lago also said delinquencies usually rise in the first quarter because of seasonality. 2
The company has said it plans to fully capitalize its U.S. bank within 12 months and open it within 18 months if regulatory conditions are met. That leaves a clear timetable for investors to test whether Nu’s next phase brings durable growth, or a heavier cost bill. 5
