Adyen Revenue Climbs 23% After Rocky First Half

Adyen says the second half of 2022 was much stronger than the first.

The Dutch payments firm on Thursday (Feb. 8) released half-year financial results showing a 29% jump in processing volume and a 23% increase in net revenues.

The company’s stock plummeted last summer after it announced that hiring costs and slower growth in the U.S. had led it to miss its internal targets.

Since then, Adyen has tried to win back investors, holding an event in November in which it promised greater transparency by sharing quarterly trading updates.

“By broadening and deepening the insights shared, we hoped to impress upon you that we have been proceeding with a clear vision,” the company wrote in a letter to shareholders.

“H2 validated our ability to execute on our long-term approach while also addressing your pressing feedback. As a result of this discipline, we scaled our global team to its most far-reaching to date and grew with our customers across each pillar.”

Adyen works with a number of high-profile companies — among them Microsoft, Instacart and Subway — as an all-in-one processor that delivers payments over online, mobile and in-store channels, with its infrastructure connected to payment methods like Visa and Mastercard.

The company had long been popular among investors, with its revenue climbing by at least 26% every six months since going public in 2018.

Then came the half-year earnings report in August 2023, the results of which sent its stock down 44%. Adyen had said its earnings miss was the result of hiring costs — it was adding staff while other FinTechs were cutting — and lagging growth in the U.S.

“In some areas, the business grew at a lower rate than anticipated,” the company said in a letter to shareholders. “This was the case for our North American net revenue … an increasingly important contributor in recent years.”

The company said Thursday that North America continues to be an important market, noting in the shareholder’s letter the opportunity presented by the “digital sophistication” of the region.

“While it has long been dominated by card payments, the landscape is becoming more complex due to new payment methods, digital wallets, and regulatory changes — making it a dynamic environment ripe for innovation as businesses seek to keep pace,” Adyen said.