Finance

Klarna scores global payment deal with Stripe ahead of blockbuster IPO

Published

18 hours ago

January 14, 2025

Business Finance News

“Buy-now, pay-later” firm Klarna aims to return to profit by summer 2023.

Jakub Porzycki | NurPhoto | Getty Images

Klarna has agreed a major new distribution partnership with fellow fintech unicorn Stripe, in a bid to expand reach and add more merchants in the lead-up to its upcoming listing in the U.S.

Klarna’s buy now, pay later (BNPL) service will become available as a payment option for merchants using Stripe’s payment tools in 26 countries, the two companies told CNBC Tuesday.

This isn’t the first time Klarna and Stripe have partnered. In 2021, at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic-fueled fintech craze, Stripe announced Klarna would offer its BNPL plans to the U.S. firm’s merchants.

BNPL plans are installment loans that allow a consumer to buy something online or in store and then pay off their debt, either at a later date or over a period of equal monthly installments. BNPL arrangements have become a popular way for people to spread the cost of everyday purchases.

The new tie-up with Stripe gives Klarna a big boost at a time when it’s gearing up for a hotly anticipated initial public offering. Klarna confidentially filed to IPO in the United States in November. The company could fetch a valuation of as much as $20 billion, according to a Bloomberg News report out last year.

Klarna makes money from the fees that retailers pay on each transaction processed through its platform. In return for giving Klarna visibility as a payment option in its checkout tools, Stripe will get a share of the money Klarna makes from a given transaction.

Klarna declined to disclose financial terms of its deal with Stripe.

“This is really significant for Klarna,” David Sykes, Klarna’s chief commercial officer, told CNBC, adding the company has already doubled the number of new merchants in the three months since it began implementing the new integration with Stripe in October.

“We added 100,000 new merchants in 2024 and we are already seeing that growth rate increase with this agreement.” he added.

Analysts recently valued Klarna, which was founded in 2005, in the $15 billion range. At its peak during the pandemic-led surge in fintech stocks, the company attracted a valuation of $46 billion in a funding round led by SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2 back in 2021.

In 2022, Klarna took an 85% haircut in a fresh round of funding that valued the firm at $6.7 billion.

The deal also has the potential to drive incremental revenue gains for Stripe, too.

BNPL proponents tout these plans as a way to increase the overall level of transactions, as shoppers can buy more items during a shorter term window and then pay them off over a longer timeframe.

A study Stripe ran last year found businesses offering BNPL as a payment method generated up to 14% more revenue from increased conversion and higher average order values.

“We’ve seen BNPL volume grow 172% last year on Stripe, which is much faster than other mainstream payment methods,” Jeanne Grosser, chief business officer of Stripe, told CNBC, adding that the deal with Klarna was a “win-win” for both firms.

Stripe has long been speculated to be a near-term IPO candidate — for its part, though, the company says it’s in no rush. The company, also a victim of a slump in fintech valuations, slashed its valuation to $50 billion in 2023 from $95 billion in 2021. The company’s valuation reportedly rebounded to $70 billion, as part of a secondary share sale.

Finance

JPMorgan Chase (JPM) earnings Q4 2024

Published

2 hours ago

January 15, 2025

Business Finance News

CEO of Chase Jamie Dimon looks on as he attends the seventh “Choose France Summit”, aiming to attract foreign investors to the country, at the Chateau de Versailles, outside Paris, on May 13, 2024.

Lucovic Marin | Getty Images

JPMorgan Chase is scheduled to report fourth-quarter earnings before the opening bell Wednesday.

Here’s what Wall Street expects:

Earnings: $4.11 a share, according to LSEG
Revenue: $41.7 billion, according to LSEG
Net interest income: $23.1 billion, according to StreetAccount
Trading Revenue: Fixed income of $4.42 billion, Equities of $2.37 billion, according to StreetAccount

JPMorgan’s results will be closely watched for signs that industry optimism is warranted.

Banks ended the year with several reasons to be bullish: Wall Street activity has picked up at the same time that Main Street consumers remain resilient, while the election victory of Donald Trump has led to hopes of regulatory relief.

JPMorgan, the biggest American bank by assets, stands to benefit on several fronts.

Last month, executives said that investment banking revenue would surge 45% in the fourth quarter, and that trading revenue would jump about 15%.

Further, the bank said that its latest projection for 2025 net interest income was $2 billion higher than previous guidance, leading analysts to speculate that fourth quarter NII would also top expectations.

While the business is thriving, analysts will likely ask CEO Jamie Dimon about his succession planning after his No. 2 executive, Daniel Pinto, said he was stepping down as chief operating officer in June. Dimon signaled last year that he was likely to step down as CEO within five years.

Another question is how the changing outlook for Federal Reserve rate cuts will impact the bank across its sweeping operations. While Fed officials expect two more cuts this year, economic indicators could cause them to pause.

Finally, analysts may press JPMorgan on what it intends to do with a possible windfall of capital if Trump regulators present a gentler version of the Basel 3 Endgame, as potential nominees have supported. Dimon said last May that share buybacks would be muted because the stock was expensive, but they’ve only climbed since.

Besides JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo and Citigroup are also reporting quarterly and full-year results Wednesday, while Bank of America and Morgan Stanley are due to report on Thursday.

This story is developing. Please check back for updates.

Finance

Goldman Sachs (GS) earnings Q4 2024

Published

3 hours ago

January 15, 2025

Business Finance News

David Solomon, Chairman & CEO Goldman Sachs, speaking on CNBC’s Squawk Box at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland on Jan. 17th, 2024.

Adam Galici | CNBC

Goldman Sachs is scheduled to report fourth-quarter earnings before the opening bell Wednesday.

Here’s what Wall Street expects:

Earnings: $8.22 per share, according to LSEG
Revenue: $12.39 billion, according to LSEG
Trading Revenue: Fixed Income of $2.45 billion, Equities of $3 billion, per StreetAccount
Investing Banking Revenue: $2.01 billion, per StreetAccount

Goldman Sachs is riding a wave of enthusiasm over a rebound in Wall Street deals.

The bank’s shares jumped nearly 50% last year, topping its big bank rivals, as the Federal Reserve’s easing cycle and the November election of Donald Trump boosted expectations for mergers and stock deals.

Goldman’s fourth-quarter results will give investors a preview of what to expect this year, as investment banking and trading fees are both expected to rise by double digit percentages. Investment banking revenue for the industry jumped 29% in the quarter, per Dealogic figures, fueled by rising advisory and equity capital markets activity.

Furthermore, the buoyant stock market late last year should boost results within the firm’s asset and wealth management division, which CEO David Solomon has called the growth engine of the firm.

For Solomon, the setup couldn’t be more different than a year earlier, in the aftermath of a strategic pivot away from an ill-fated foray into consumer finance. Back then, Solomon was under pressure to appease internal stakeholders including Goldman partners as losses tied to consumer finance mounted, and as Wall Street deals dried up because of rising rates and heightened regulatory scrutiny.

JPMorgan Chase is also reporting results Wednesday, along with Wells Fargo and Citigroup, while Bank of America and Morgan Stanley are due to report on Thursday.

This story is developing. Please check back for updates.

Finance

Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, BlackRock Q4 earnings preview

Published

11 hours ago

January 14, 2025

Business Finance News

Wall Street’s biggest financial institutions kick off fourth-quarter earnings on Wednesday, with portfolio names Wells Fargo , Goldman Sachs , and BlackRock set to report results before the opening bell. The rally in financial stocks last year, which really started in October 2023, went into high gear in the run-up to the Federal Reserve ushering in a monetary easing cycle with a jumbo 50-basis-point interest rate cut at its September meeting. It was supercharged in early November after Republican Donald Trump emerged as the winner of the presidential race and the Fed cut rates by another 25 basis points. Following its December meeting, the Fed cut rates by another 25 basis points and projected two more reductions in 2025. Bank stocks, much like the broader market, have come off the boil in the new year as traders pushed up bond yields, signaling they think the Fed may have been too heavy-handed with its rate cuts. While the incoming Trump administration’s stance on regulations is seen as more business-friendly, some of the president-elect’s proposed policies, especially when it comes to trade tariffs, could be inflationary. The labor market has proven more resilient than expected too, raising concerns about sticky inflation. That’s why the market, according to the CME FedWatch tool, sees only one rate cut or maybe none this year. Against that backdrop, there are still individual factors to consider when Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, and BlackRock report their quarters. We’re looking for answers to nine questions. WFC YTD mountain Wells Fargo (WFC) year-to-date performance 1. What is Wells Fargo’s guidance on net interest income? Wells Fargo’s guide on net interest income (NII) — the difference between what the firm makes on loans and what it pays on deposits — will be crucial. Interest-based revenues for Wells took a hit last year as the Fed held rates higher for longer. Not only did this weigh on loan growth, but customers decided to take their deposit money to higher-yielding alternatives. Despite the Fed rate cuts, those higher-yield alternatives are still competing against deposits. The company has taken action, but we’re going to have to see how management deals with those higher funding costs. NII is expected to fall about 1% year over year in 2025 based on FactSet consensus estimates. 2. Will management continue to diversify revenue streams? We’ve praised Wells Fargo’s push into investment banking and other ways of accruing fee-based revenue streams. In recent years, the firm has made a slew of senior-level hires to expand its IB efforts. It’s a way for Wells to not rely so heavily on interest-based revenues like NII, which are at the mercy of the Fed’s policy decisions. Over time, these fee-based revenues can also be higher-margin revenue streams. Last quarter these efforts paid off as revenue from its investment banking division beat analysts’ expectations. An expected easing of regulations by the Trump administration is seen as a positive for dealmaking and initial public offerings (IPOs), which IB operations at Wells Fargo and Goldman Sachs help put together and get paid advisory fees. 3. Any further progress on the regulatory front? It’s unlikely that Wells Fargo executives will reveal too much, but analysts will likely ask about the steps Wells Fargo and CEO Charlie Scharf have taken to appease regulators. Scharf has been cleaning up the bank’s act in hopes of getting the Fed-imposed $1.95 trillion asset cap on Wells Fargo removed. It was placed in 2018 for past wrongdoings that predated Scharf. Any indication of progress on getting rid of the asset cap will be welcome news for shareholders like us. That’s because once the cap is gone Wells will be able to grow its balance sheet and invest further into budding yet lucrative lines of business such as investment banking. Based on recent reporting, there is a belief that the asset cap could be lifted as early as the first half of this year. 4. How does the bank’s expense guide measure up? We want to make sure that management’s strides to cut down on expenses are still taking place. When Scharf assumed the CEO role in 2019, Wells Fargo had one of the most bloated expense bases out of all the big banks. Scharf’s been slashing costs left and right ever since. We want to see more progress in the fourth quarter as well. Operating expenses are expected to be flattish year to slightly higher year over year in 2025, based on FactSet consensus estimates. GS YTD mountain Goldman Sachs (GS) year-to-date performance 5. What’s the state of Wall Street dealmaking? We’re long shares of Goldman Sachs because it’s a great investment banking rebound play. In fact, it’s so good that the Club exited Morgan Stanley entirely this month and plowed the money into starting and building a position in Goldman, a stop on Jim’s career on the Street. Therefore, remarks from Goldman management about the appetite for IPOs, mergers and acquisitions, and other kinds of dealmaking are key during the conference call. That’s because more deals mean more revenue for Goldman’s IB division, which made up a significant portion of overall revenue last quarter. We have already noticed an uptick in M & A, and some of those deals probably would have never come together without a Washington regime change. 6. What’s up with Goldman’s interest in private credit? The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that Goldman has plans to restructure itself to embark further into facilitating various types of financing deals. This will be the first quarter we hear directly from management about it. BLK YTD mountain BlackRock (BLK) year-to-date performance 7. What are BlackRock’s net new assets? It’ll be the first quarter that BlackRock reports as a portfolio stock since being added in late 2024. Net inflows will be a key metric to watch for the world’s biggest asset manager. BlackRock posted a record $11.48 trillion in assets under management (AUM) last quarter, up from $10.65 trillion in the quarter prior. The more assets that the firm rakes in, the more fees it can generate. If management stays disciplined on costs from there, this will help to improve BlackRock’s fiancial performance. 8. What are the firm’s operating margins? This is another important gauge for investors to watch because it measures how much profit BlackRock is generating from its core businesses before interest and taxes. A higher operating margin usually suggests that a company is more efficient in generating profits. Plus, this figure can also give investors a read into how BlackRock is managing its expenses. 9. How is BlackRock’s strategic push going? The asset manager has made a bunch of acquisitions over the past year to boost its presence in fast-growing segments like infrastructure and private credit. It recently completed a $12.5 billion deal to acquire Global Infrastructure partners to create a world-leading infrastructure private markets investment platform. It’s paying $3.2 billion to buy a private markets data provider called Preqin. More recently, BlackRock pushed into private credit with a $12 billion acquisition of HPS Investment Partners. We want to know how all these deals are progressing because they are key to the company’s goal of becoming a larger alternative manager. (Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust is long BLK, WFC, GS. See here for a full list of the stocks.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust’s portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.

Wells Fargo, Blackrock and Goldman Sachs.

Jeenah Moon | Reuters | Justin Sullivan | Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images