Klarna Group reports second-quarter profit as BNPL giant pushes into broader banking

Klarna Group plc just did something that would have seemed improbable two years ago: it made money. Again. The Swedish payments company reported a profit beat for the second straight quarter, released on August 18, as it steadily morphs from a buy-now-pay-later specialist into something closer to a full-service digital bank. The numbers behind the turnaround Klarna’s first quarter of 2026 set the stage with some eye-catching figures. Revenue hit $1.0 billion, a 44% jump compared to the same period a year earlier. Gross merchandise volume, the total value of transactions processed through its platform, reached $33.7 billion, up 33% year over year. Perhaps the most telling number: adjusted operating profit came in at $68 million, compared to a barely-there $3 million in the prior year period. For the second quarter, Klarna guided GMV between $35.5 billion and $36.5 billion, with revenue expected in the range of $960 million to $1.0 billion. Full-year guidance stayed intact, with management projecting GMV north of $155 billion and an adjusted operating margin above 6.9%. Beyond buy-now-pay-later Klarna now offers Fair Financing installment plans, which saw GMV surge 138% year over yea...