AAPL

TSLA

AMZN

META

AMD

NVDA

PEP

COST

ADBE

GOOG

AMGN

HON

INTC

INTU

NFLX

ADP

SBUX

MRNA

Markets

Stock Market Today, May 18: Nu Holdings Rises After Record Q1 Results Ease Profitability Concerns

May 18, 2026 — 05:08 pm EDT

Written by

Josh Kohn-Lindquist for

The Motley Fool->

Nu Holdings (NYSE:NU), a Latin American digital banking and financial services provider, closed Monday at $12.29, up 0.78%. The stock moved as traders continued to reassess Nu’s recent record Q1 results against rising credit provisions and margin pressures. Investors are watching how profitability holds up as loan growth and digital banking expansion continue. Trading volume reached 59.4 million shares, nearly 11% above its three-month average of 53.3 million shares. Nu Holdings IPO'd in 2021 and has grown 19% since going public.

How the markets moved today

S&P 500 slipped 0.07% to finish Monday’s session at 7,403, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.51% to close at 26,091. In digital banking and financial technology, peers were mixed: SoFi Technologies closed at $15.71, up 0.64%, while PagSeguro Digital ended at $9.18, up 3.61%.

What this means for investors

Nu’s stock dropped roughly 10% last week after it narrowly missed analysts’ expectations with its Q1 earnings. However, the company inched higher today, in part due to news that Coatue Management raised its Nu holdings from 29 million shares to 40 million in the latest quarter. Furthermore, while Nu’s earnings were slightly disappointing, the company’s long-term outlook remains impressive.

In Q1, Nu:

- grew customers by 13%

- saw average revenue per active customer rise to $16 from $12

- reached a record efficiency ratio of 18%

- raised its net income by 56%

- delivered steady credit quality

Trading at 19 times earnings, Nu remains a promising growth stock in my eyes, despite its short-term focused earnings “miss.”

Should you buy stock in Nu Holdings right now?

Before you buy stock in Nu Holdings, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Nu Holdings wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $469,293!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,381,332!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 993% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 207% for the S&P 500. Don't miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors.

See the 10 stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of May 18, 2026.

Josh Kohn-Lindquist has positions in Nu Holdings and SoFi Technologies. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Nu Holdings. The Motley Fool recommends PagSeguro Digital. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.