Marqeta Posts Second Straight Profitable Quarter as Growth Cools
Marqeta swung to $7.6 million in net income even as total payment volume growth slowed to 32% and the company guided to a sharper deceleration in the second half of 2026.
Marqeta (MQ) reported a second consecutive quarter of GAAP profitability, with net income of $7.6 million in the quarter ended June 2026, following $7.8 million in the prior quarter and reversing losses in each of the three quarters before that. The card-issuing platform's total payment volume rose 32% year-over-year to $120 billion, extending a run of double-digit growth even as the pace softened from 33% in the first quarter and 36% at the end of 2025.
The profitability milestone arrived alongside a broader deceleration across the income statement. Gross profit growth slowed to 17% year-over-year, down from 19% in the prior quarter, 22% two quarters back and 27% three quarters back, marking a third straight quarter of slowing gross profit expansion even as transaction volume held up. Gross margin, at 69%, came in roughly flat from a year earlier but slipped about two points from the 71% posted in the prior quarter.
Adjusted EBITDA margin reached 21%, up two points year-over-year and the highest level in the trailing five quarters, continuing a steady climb from 18% and 19% in the two quarters ended 2025. Adjusted EBITDA growth itself decelerated to 31% year-over-year from 66% in the prior quarter, a normalization the company attributed to tougher comparisons after prior-year growth rates as high as 236%. Adjusted operating expense growth ticked up to 12% from 9%, while one-time costs tied to a CEO transition and retention bonuses fell to $0.7 million from $2.0 million a year earlier.
Marqeta guided full-year net revenue growth of 12% to 13% and gross profit growth of 11% to 12%, with third-quarter guidance narrower still at 6% to 8% net revenue growth and 5% to 7% gross profit growth. Both ranges sit well below the 17% to 19% growth actually delivered in the first two quarters of 2026, signaling a guided slowdown in the back half of the year.
The quarter's results were reported under a one-for-four reverse stock split effective June 30, 2026, which retroactively restated historical share counts and per-share figures across prior periods. The board also authorized a new $150 million share repurchase program on August 3, 2026, the company's first such disclosure in the past four quarterly releases.
The buyback activity showed up in the balance sheet. Cash and restricted cash fell to $954.1 million from $1,017.9 million at the start of the six-month period, driven by $93.9 million in share repurchases and a $46.5 million reduction in funds payable and amounts due to customers. Total stockholders' equity declined 6% sequentially to $715.6 million from $762.0 million, and total assets dropped to $1.39 billion from $1.53 billion.
Restricted cash tied to TransactPay, the European program-management business Marqeta acquired in 2025, also drew down, falling to $260.4 million from $306.9 million at the end of 2025 and $280.3 million in the prior quarter, pointing to a sequential decline in segregated customer float.