Adyen shares remain under pressure after record drop

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Shares in Adyen remained under pressure on Friday a day after a profit warning wiped €18bn from the market capitalisation of one of Europe’s largest payments companies.

The Dutch group alarmed investors on Thursday after disclosing that its US business was facing tougher competition and it intended to press ahead with an aggressive hiring plan this year.

Rising costs and a squeeze on margins left Adyen’s first-half profits well below analysts’ expectations. Shares in the group, which has been hailed as a rare tech success in Europe, closed down 39 per cent on Thursday — their biggest one-day drop.

In volatile trading early on Friday, the shares fell a further 6 per cent. The group counts Singapore’s Temasek, BlackRock and Vanguard among its biggest shareholders.

Hannes Leitner, analyst at Jefferies, said the results were “below expectations on all fronts” and that signs of slowing growth in the US were a particular concern.

Adyen’s resolve to keep hiring marks it out from big competitors, including San Francisco-based Stripe, that have cut staff as pricing pressure in the US market intensifies.

Chief financial officer Ethan Tandowsky said on Thursday that the group would continue with its hiring plans for this year, but said the recruitment drive would slow in 2024.