Inter&Co Hits Record US$81m Profit as Bad Loans Rise

Earnings · Brazil

Inter&Co posted a record quarterly profit and its best return on equity yet, while bad loans climbed to a fresh high and the shares gave up an early slide to close little changed.

Key numbers behind Inter&Co’s Q2 2026

Inter&Co’s own earnings release for the quarter shows net income of R$421 million, or US$81 million, the strongest profit in the bank’s history. On the company’s own chart of quarterly earnings, profit has risen in every quarter since the start of 2023.

Return on equity reached 16.3%, up from 15.5% in the first quarter and 240 basis points higher than a year earlier. Every real figure in this article is converted at R$5.20 to US$1, the rate implied by the company’s own dollar conversion in the release.

The gross loan portfolio reached R$51.9 billion (US$10.0 billion) at the end of June, 29% higher than a year earlier, on a deliberate push into consumer and small-business credit. Total assets passed R$100 billion (US$19.2 billion) for the first time, and funding reached R$77 billion (US$14.8 billion), up 24%.

The super‑app counted 45.3 million total clients and 26.4 million active clients at the end of June. Growth is concentrated in Brazil, though the bank has been adding cross‑border users through its payments, shopping and investment tools.

The R$421 million (US$81 million) compares with R$315 million (US$61 million) in the second quarter of 2025, a rise of 34%, and with R$395 million (US$76 million) in the first quarter of 2026, a rise of 7%. The company’s press release describes the 34% as a quarter-on-quarter gain, but its own earnings release states plainly that the increase is measured against the year-earlier quarter.

Inter&Co says the quarter delivered its internal “Rule of 50”, a target it set at its Owners’ Day in May for net revenue growth plus return on equity to exceed 50. The company publishes the shortfall itself: the slide prints “Rule of 50 = 48%”, built from net revenue growth of 31.7% and a return on equity of 16.3%, and charts a path of 37.6% in 2023, 45.8% in 2024, 45.0% in 2025 and 48.0% in the second quarter of 2026 against a target of about 50% for 2026 to 2029. Nothing is hidden. What overreaches is the press release’s claim that the rule has already become a reality.

Asset quality: the sore spot in an otherwise bright quarter

Behind the record profit, the sore point is loan delinquency. Loans more than 90 days overdue reached 5.3% of the gross book in the second quarter, the highest reading in the nine quarters the bank discloses, up from 5.1% in the first quarter and 4.6% a year earlier.

Early-stage arrears, of 15 to 90 days, rose in step to 4.8% from 4.6% and from 4.1% a year earlier. The bank says the increases are concentrated in private payroll loans and credit cards.

Two qualifications matter, but they cannot simply be subtracted from the rise they qualify. The headline ratio climbed 70 basis points over the year, from 4.6% to 5.3%. Inter&Co says private payroll lending alone accounts for 53 basis points of the yearly rise, but that bridge is drawn on the expanded loan portfolio, which went from 4.4% to 5.0% — a different base from the gross-book ratio quoted above. Private payroll is a product the bank launched recently and whose collection systems it describes as not yet fully optimised.

The bank also changed its credit-card write-off policy during the quarter. It says that one-off adjustment added 30 basis points to the 90-day ratio, with no effect on provisions or the cost of risk. Because the two explanations are measured on different bases, adding them together and comparing the 83-basis-point total with the 70-basis-point rise does not work.

Provisioning still covers the problem loans comfortably. The coverage ratio stood at 134% at the end of June, down from 143% a year earlier, while the all-in cost of risk rose to 5.9% from 5.0%.

Taken together, the picture is of a franchise that has grown fast into lower‑income and small‑business lending. The level of bad loans is covered and disclosed, but it is rising in a country where credit cycles can turn quickly.

For many Latin America watchers, that tension feels familiar. Brazil has lived through long periods where credit is both the engine of inclusion and the trap door of crisis.

A super‑app bank like Inter&Co, born digital and riding the hopes of a more frictionless financial life, is now learning the old lesson: when household budgets are squeezed and informal jobs wobble, even the slickest app is still fighting the hard gravity of delinquency.

How the market handled a record quarter

Inter&Co published the figures after the New York close on 5 August 2026 and held its call the following morning. Total net revenue was R$2,637 million (US$507 million), below the FactSet consensus of US$513.3 million. The company’s own release converts the same figure at a slightly stronger rate and puts it at US$509.5 million.

The first reaction was negative. INTR opened at US$5.40 on 6 August against a previous close of US$5.71, and traded as low as US$5.32 during the morning, a fall of 6.8%.

The selling did not hold. The stock ended the day at US$5.72, up 0.2%, on volume of 7.7 million shares against a recent average nearer 3 million.

For foreign investors watching from New York or London, the round trip says something about how Latin American financials trade. The first instinct on a higher bad-loan print is to sell; the second look weighs it against a record profit and a 16% return on equity.

The wider question is not one quarter’s delinquency figure. It is the bank’s expansion from a small lender into a nationwide player with R$51.9 billion (US$10.0 billion) of loans, much of it to consumers who live from pay cheque to pay cheque.

How Inter&Co compares with its own past and with peers

Inter&Co’s Q2 2026 performance marks a clear break from its early‑stage years. On the company’s own quarterly series, net income has risen from R$11 million (US$2 million) in the first quarter of 2023 to R$421 million (US$81 million), and return on equity from single digits to 16.3%.

The first quarter of 2026 brought net profit of R$395 million (US$76 million) and a 15.5% return on equity. That pace contrasts with more mature Latin American banks, which tend to deliver steadier but lower growth.

From a risk perspective, Inter&Co sits closer to other growth‑heavy regional lenders than to conservative incumbents. A 90-day bad-loan ratio of 5.3% and a cost of risk of 5.9% are not unusual among institutions pushing into underserved segments, but they sit above the levels of large universal banks.

Q2 2026’s numbers – record profit, high ROE, elevated NPLs – crystallise that dual identity and explain why the stock can swing so sharply on each new data point.

Frequently Asked Questions

What was Inter&Co’s net profit in Q2 2026?

Inter&Co reported net income of R$421 million, or US$81 million, in the second quarter of 2026. That is its highest quarterly profit to date and 34% above the R$315 million (US$61 million) reported a year earlier.

How many customers does Inter&Co serve through its super‑app?

The company’s Q2 2026 release describes Inter&Co as a super‑app providing financial and digital commerce services to more than 45 million customers, largely in Brazil. Its earnings release puts the exact figure at 45.3 million total clients and 26.4 million active clients.

What happened to Inter&Co’s share price after the Q2 2026 results?

INTR opened 5.4% lower on 6 August 2026 and fell as much as 6.8% during the morning, as investors weighed revenue below the FactSet consensus and a higher bad-loan ratio. It ended the day at US$5.72, up 0.2%.

Sources: Inter&Co, Inc., 2Q26 Earnings Release, filed on Form 6-K, 5 August 2026 (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission), Inter&Co, Inc., 2Q26 Earnings Presentation, filed on Form 6-K (SEC), Inter&Co Delivers Record Second Quarter (company press release). Share prices are Nasdaq closes from EODHD; the revenue consensus is FactSet, via MarketScreener

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