By Brazil Stock Guide – Nu Holdings (NYSE: NU) reported a 41% rise in first-quarter profit, as revenue surpassed $5 billion for the first time and its Mexican operation reached break-even, strengthening the company’s case that its digital banking model can expand beyond Brazil.
Nubank posted net income of $871 million in the first quarter of 2026, with return on equity of 29%. Revenue rose to $5.3 billion, supported by stronger customer engagement, higher monetization and continued expansion in credit.
The digital bank ended March with more than 135 million customers, after adding about 4 million clients in the quarter. Brazil remains the core market, with more than 115 million customers, while Mexico surpassed 15 million and Colombia approached 5 million.
Credit in focus
The main pressure point was asset quality. Nubank’s credit portfolio rose 40% from a year earlier to $37.2 billion, led by credit cards, unsecured loans and secured lending. Credit-loss provisions reached $1.79 billion, reflecting seasonality, portfolio growth and product mix.
Early-stage delinquencies rose. The 15-to-90-day NPL ratio increased to 5.0%, from 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Nubank said the move was broadly consistent with the normal first-quarter seasonal pattern and also reflected intentional expansion into higher-risk segments. The 90-plus-day NPL ratio improved slightly to 6.5%.
Risk-adjusted net interest margin fell to 9.5%, from 10.5% in the previous quarter, showing that credit growth is becoming a more important test for the investment case.
Mexico matters
Mexico was the clearest strategic highlight. Nubank said the business reached break-even in the quarter and became the country’s third-largest financial institution, with more than 15 million customers.
That changes the reading of the operation. Mexico is no longer just a growth option or an expensive land grab. It is beginning to show the same pattern that made Brazil work: fast customer acquisition, rising monetization and improving efficiency.
The company said its Mexican customer base has grown roughly sevenfold in four years, while average revenue per active customer has nearly doubled and the efficiency ratio has improved by 78 percentage points. That suggests Nubank has moved from simply adding users to proving that the model can generate operating leverage in a second large market.
The next step is deeper banking. Nu México already offers cards, deposits, loans and a digital account. It has also started the process of converting into a bank, which could allow it to expand credit and offer more financial products. For investors, Mexico is becoming the first real test of whether Nubank can build another major profit pool outside Brazil.
AI push
Nubank also highlighted artificial intelligence as a central part of its strategy. Its proprietary NuFormer models are already used for credit decisions in Brazil and Mexico, and in unsecured lending in Brazil. The company said its AI Private Banker tools now serve more than 15 million monthly active users.
The message is that AI should allow Nubank to approve, price and personalize credit faster and with more precision. The risk is that better models do not eliminate the credit cycle. As lending becomes a larger part of the business, investors will watch whether growth remains disciplined.