SYDNEY, June 17, 2026, 08:04 AEST
- Shares in Zip were last at A$2.88, gaining 1.77% Tuesday before the ASX’s normal session restarted in Sydney.
- Zip US is adding support for Stripe’s Shared Payment Tokens in AI-driven checkout, a move that expands its payments effort in the U.S.
- State Street’s stake in Zip dropped to 7.44% from 8.70%, according to a new filing. Zip’s on-market buyback is ongoing.
Zip Co Ltd shares are back in focus as trading opens Wednesday in Australia, with investors watching the buy-now-pay-later company’s U.S. payments strategy. The stock ended Tuesday up 1.77% at A$2.88, trading 19.23 million shares, above the 14.79 million average volume shown on Google Finance.
ASX remained in pre-open at the time of writing. The exchange’s normal trading window is about 09:59:45 to 16:00 Sydney time, with the open auction scheduled just before 10 a.m.
Investors are watching Zip’s U.S. business after new deal activity. Zip US announced it will work with Stripe’s Shared Payment Tokens, a tool that lets AI agents trigger payments for users without sharing sensitive payment info. It’s basically checkout wiring for “agentic commerce,” meaning software agents handle shopping or payment for people. Zip
Rory Herriman, chief technology and operating officer at Zip US, said Zip wanted to offer “choice, transparency, and confidence.” Stripe’s Kevin Miller, who heads payments, said the new tech means buyers now have “more options in how they pay.” Zip
Zip’s buy now, pay later model relies on big checkout exposure and customers coming back. Stripe calls its Shared Payment Tokens a way in for BNPL players like Affirm and Klarna on agent-driven sales, so Zip ends up competing in a packed, shifting payments field.
Zip shares have been getting a boost from company numbers. Back in April, Zip reported third-quarter cash EBTDA up 41.5% to A$65.1 million. That’s its key earnings gauge, before tax, depreciation and amortisation. Total transaction volume climbed 22.4% to A$4.0 billion as shoppers spent more through Zip’s platform. The company also raised its cash EBTDA outlook for FY26, now aiming for at least A$260 million.
Capital management is still in focus. Zip’s latest filing showed the company bought back 677,066 shares on June 11. That was after it had already purchased 18.82 million shares before that date, all part of an on-market buyback plan for up to A$50 million of ordinary shares. In an on-market buyback, the company buys its own shares on the exchange, typically to return cash to holders or to reduce dilution.
State Street Corporation and affiliated entitles reduced their stake in Zip, according to a substantial-holder notice filed Tuesday. Their voting power dropped to 7.44% from 8.70%, with the change effective June 12. The notice was a straight disclosure of holdings, and did not include a view on Zip’s shares.
S&P/ASX 200 finished nearly unchanged at 8,917.70 on Tuesday. The Reserve Bank of Australia left the cash rate steady at 4.35%, but flagged it could lift rates again if needed. That stance keeps pressure on consumer lenders, who face higher funding costs and more strain on borrowers.
Stripe changes could take a while to impact volume, but credit losses and funding costs could increase sooner. Zip’s third-quarter showed group net bad debts at 1.93% of transaction volume, up from 1.64% a year ago. U.S. losses stayed inside management’s target. More household stress or slower-than-expected AI checkout adoption would leave less margin for mistakes in the rally.
