Brazilian Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro won 47.3% of the vote in Brazil's first round of presidential elections.
Incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won only 44.8%.
Brazilian voters and investors seem to prefer Bolsonaro to win.
Pagbank (NYSE:PAGS), the Brazilian fintech stock and digital bank, flew higher Monday morning, soaring 21.7% through 11:50 a.m. ET.
You can thank the voters of Brazil for that.
Missed Nvidia in 2009? This Rare Signal Is Flashing Again. In 2009, a "Double Down" signal flashed for a little-known chipmaker called Nvidia. For the first time in years, that same "Total Conviction" signal is flashing for a company 1/100th the size of Nvidia. Continue »
Brazil wrapped up its first round of voting for a new President Sunday night. With 98% of votes counted, conservative candidate Flávio Bolsonaro -- son of the former President Jair Bolsonaro and a Brazilian senator in his own right -- won 47.3% of the vote to incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's 44.8%.
Bolsonaro the younger didn't win the election outright; he'd have needed more than 50% of the vote for that. He does seem well-positioned to win the presidency, however, when a second round of voting concludes on Oct. 25. As The Wall Street Journal reports, "other right-wing candidates" won about 5% of the votes in the first round. Those voters are more likely to shift their votes to Bolsonaro than to Lula. If even half of them do so, it's likely to put Bolsonaro over the top.
The Journal says voters are upset about high taxes and Lula's "stewardship of the economy." Investors seem to think that change is needed, and that a Bolsonaro presidency will be good news for Brazilian business. And since PagSeguro conducts 99.1% of its business in the country, investors also assume that what's good for Brazil will be good for PagSeguro stock.
It wouldn't take much to prove them right.
Valued at just 6.2 times trailing earnings, PagSeguro stock is priced to move. Analysts already forecast the company will grow earnings by more than 10% annually over the next five years. At its current price, this stock could perform well... whoever wins the election.
Before you buy stock in PagSeguro Digital, 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 PagSeguro Digital 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 $361,650!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,437,517!*
Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 936% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 213% 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 October 5, 2026.
Rich Smith has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends PagSeguro Digital. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.