DLocal Limited (DLO) Stock Price & How to Invest

dLocal is a cross-border payment platform built for emerging markets. Global merchants (think ride-hailing, streaming, e-commerce, SaaS, and on-demand delivery companies) integrate a single dLocal API to accept payments from and send payouts to customers across more than 40 countries in Latin America, Africa, and Asia, without setting up a local entity in each one. dLocal acts as the merchant of record, handling local regulations, tax, currency conversion, and connections to more than 900 local payment methods (cards, bank transfers, cash vouchers, and digital wallets). It makes money by taking a small cut, its take rate, of the total payment volume it processes, so its economics scale with volume. In Q1 2026 total payment volume reached about $14.1 billion (up 73% year over year), revenue was about $335.9 million (up 55%), gross profit was about $119 million, and net income was about $42 million. Pay-ins crossed $10 billion in a quarter for the first time.

dLocal was founded in 2016 in Montevideo, Uruguay by Sebastian Kanovich and Sergio Fogel, and listed on the Nasdaq under the ticker DLO in June 2021, raising roughly $617 million at a valuation that made it one of Latin America's most valuable fintech startups. Pedro Arnt, formerly the long-time chief financial officer of MercadoLibre, was appointed chief executive in March 2024, with Kanovich moving to the board and heading commercial and M&A. A defining feature of the business is high net revenue retention, reported around 145% to 149% in late 2025, which means existing merchants tend to expand to more countries and more volume over time. The counterweight, and the story that has dominated the stock, is that the net take rate has been declining as very large enterprise clients contribute a bigger share of volume and negotiate lower fees.

The dominant risk is take-rate compression: revenue and gross profit are growing far slower than payment volume because large enterprise clients, who make up a rising share of the mix, negotiate lower fees, and investors openly question how low the take rate can go. Emerging markets add currency volatility (a weaker Brazilian real, Argentine peso, or Nigerian naira can drag reported results), plus capital controls, tax changes, and shifting local payment regulation. Client concentration is real, so losing or repricing one large merchant can move numbers noticeably. Competition is intensifying from global platforms (Adyen, Stripe, PayPal) and regional specialists (EBANX, PayU, Rapyd), which pressures pricing. The stock has also proven volatile, falling sharply after Q1 2026 despite record revenue because margins and sequential revenue disappointed.

A simple financial snapshot. These are approximations and refresh quarterly; for current figures see DLocal Limited's investor relations page or your broker.

• Total payment volume (Q1 2026): ~$14.1 billion, up ~73% year over year
• Revenue (Q1 2026 quarterly): ~$335.9 million, up ~55% year over year
• Net income (Q1 2026): ~$42 million (down ~10% year over year)
• P/E ratio: ~19x trailing, ~13x forward
• EV/EBITDA: ~12x (EBITDA margin ~23%)
• Market cap: ~$3.7 billion (stock ~$12-$13 per share)

Figures are approximate and tied to the asOf date; verify live numbers before acting. DLO trades at a lower P/E than many fast-growing fintech peers, which reflects investor caution about declining take rates rather than doubt about volume growth. The gap between rapid payment-volume growth and much slower profit growth is the single most important thing to watch, because it tells you whether the business is monetizing that volume or giving pricing away to win it.

There are three common ways to get DLO exposure. Buy shares (or fractional shares) directly at any major broker. Hold an ETF that includes it, which spreads the position across many companies. Or build it into a focused thematic basket, so DLO sits alongside other stocks that express the same thesis.

Walnut takes the basket route. Describe a thesis where DLO fits (for example “AI infrastructure” or “dividend-growth large-caps”) and the AI proposes 5 to 6 constituents with target weights. You review the plan and fund it through your own broker when you're ready.

dLocal is a profitable, fast-growing cross-border payments platform that processed roughly $14 billion of total payment volume in Q1 2026 (up 73% year over year) while revenue grew 55% to about $336 million, but the market is focused on whether its take rate can hold as volume shifts toward large, price-sensitive clients. The main driver is total payment volume growth compounding across more merchants, countries, and payment methods; the risk is that gross profit and net income grow far slower than volume because the fee per dollar processed keeps declining. If you believe emerging-market digital commerce keeps expanding and dLocal defends its niche against Adyen, Stripe, and regional rivals, the question becomes sizing and how much emerging-market and fintech exposure you already hold.

Whether DLO is worth buying today depends more on your time horizon and what you already hold than on any single call. We walk through valuation, what would have to go right, and the risks in is DLO a buy?, and where the stock could go from here in the DLO stock forecast.

For income investors, whether DLO pays a dividend and how the payout looks is covered in does DLO pay a dividend?