Australian Buy-Now-Pay-Later Company Zip Sees Stock Crash After Earnings Miss

Zip Co, an Australian financial services company offering buy-now-pay-later payment options, saw its stock price collapse nearly 40% after reporting weaker-than-expected earnings. The company's cash operating earnings fell short of analyst predictions, marking the worst single-day performance in over nine years.

An Australian financial technology company experienced a devastating stock market collapse on Thursday after delivering disappointing earnings results that failed to meet Wall Street expectations.

Zip Co, which provides buy-now-pay-later payment services, watched its share price tumble nearly 40% following the release of its six-month financial performance through December 31. The company generated cash operating earnings of A$124.3 million (equivalent to $87.61 million), which came in below analyst forecasts of A$128.4 million according to Visible Alpha consensus data.

The dramatic sell-off sent Zip’s stock price plummeting as low as A$1.743 during trading, representing the company’s worst performance since early May 2025. This marked the steepest single-day percentage decline the company has experienced since mid-November 2014.

Adding to investor concerns, Zip Co indicated that its second-half performance would likely mirror the results from the first six months of the fiscal year. According to analysis from Citi, this guidance suggests full-year cash operating earnings of approximately A$248 million, which would fall short of the A$260.6 million that analysts had been anticipating.

In other corporate developments, the company announced it would continue evaluating market conditions before making any decisions about potentially listing its shares on a United States stock exchange, stating such a move would only occur when it serves shareholders’ best interests.