Nu Holdings: 3 Key Takeaways for Long-Term Investors

On its third-quarter 2026 earnings call, held on Nov. 12, 2026, Nu Holdings (NYSE:NU) announced net income of $1.1 billion on gross revenue of $6.3 billion. The digital financial platform continues to scale its core banking model in Brazil while gaining market share in Mexico and Colombia. Low operational costs and proprietary risk data allow the business to compound returns as customer engagement grows. Three key takeaways from management explain how the business compounds value.

1. Conservative Underwriting Underpins Credit Expansion

Management expands credit by assuming economic conditions will deteriorate rather than relying on favorable macroeconomic forecasts. Credit underwriting, the process of evaluating borrowers' default risk, relies on conservative modeling to ensure loans remain profitable even during market stress.

We don't necessarily take a macro position about the economy. We just simply assume that the future is going to be much worse than the past because unfortunately, that's what we've seen since we began in 2013.
-- David Velez Osorno, Founder, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman

2. Primary Account Status Protects Returns and Lowers Risk

Serving as the main financial hub for 60% of active users gives the bank priority when customers pay their debts. Primary account status generates rich transaction data for credit models and keeps deposit funding costs low.

We're the primary relationship for the majority of our customers, for 60% of our customers. And so that's a very strategic position because we get that positive selection.
-- David Velez Osorno, Founder, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman

3. International Expansion Scales Within Strict Expense Limits

Management introduced accounts in the U.S. and multicurrency accounts globally while capping initial spending. The efficiency ratio, a measure of operating expenses relative to net revenues, absorbs these new product rollouts within defined budgetary bounds.

Under our current plans, Nu U.S. and Nu Global together remain within our commitment of up to 100 basis points of efficiency ratio impact in each of 2026 and 2027.
-- David Velez Osorno, Founder, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman

Looking Ahead

Revenue growth and the expansion of active user bases drive core operations across Latin America. Net interest margin, or NIM, which measures the difference between interest income earned and interest expenses paid, reflects underlying portfolio performance as fourth-quarter lending expands.

We expect risk-adjusted NIM to keep its underlying economic strength into Q4. We see no reason why that would be shifting.
-- Rob Livingston, Chief Financial Officer

Low operating costs, rich transaction data, and expanding market share in Mexico and Colombia position the platform for long-term growth. Management prioritizes organic customer acquisition over large-scale mergers and acquisitions (M&A) to preserve capital efficiency.

The bar would have to be extremely high for us to do a full M&A. I wouldn't say it's impossible, but it's a very, very, very high bar. And again, our preference continues to be organic growth.
-- David Velez Osorno, Founder, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman

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