By Leo Marchandon
Feb 12 (Reuters) – Dutch payments processor Adyen’s revenue grew more than a fifth in the second half of 2025, but weaker-than-expected transaction volumes and a cautious guidance for 2026 sent its shares falling 15% on Thursday.
Its processed transaction volumes rose 19% to 745 billion euros ($885 billion) in the second half of the year, missing market forecast of 771 billion euros.
Analysts from KBC Securities said in a note that higher fees per transaction partially offset this shortfall, but warned the results and outlook might fail to lift the broader negative sentiment in the payments sector.
Adyen’s net revenue grew 21% on a constant currency basis to 1.27 billion euros between July and December. It forecast similar revenue growth of 20-22% for this year, and said it expected its core profit margin to exceed 55% by 2028, versus 53% in 2025.
The company, which processes payments for major businesses such as Uber and H&M, saw strong growth in its unified commerce segment. In-store terminal transactions increased 26% year-on-year to 173 billion euros in the second half, driven by expanded partnerships with clients including Starbucks and Uber.
Amsterdam-based Adyen said on Thursday it was expanding its Starbucks partnership from Mexico to Switzerland, Austria and Britain, rolling out payment solutions in 943 stores across Europe.
Finance chief Ethan Tankowsky told Reuters that Adyen’s existing customers were driving short-term growth, while new clients via gradual geographic expansion contribute to longer-term momentum.
Adyen’s payment volumes are also an advantage when training artificial intelligence, Tankowsky said. “It’s not just having data, but having data structured in the right way and being able to leverage it in real time.”
The company is in “deep discussion” with retailers about ways to use agentic AI in commerce, and plans to hire around 600 people as it expands internal automation efforts, he said.
While automation already boosted margins in 2025, Adyen is planning new AI products that could open doors for market expansion, which will require strategic hires, Tankowsky added.
($1 = 0.8420 euros)
(Reporting by Leo Marchandon in Gdansk, editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak)
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