(MENAFN- The Rio Times) StoneCo just posted a no-drama third quarter-and that is precisely the point. Adjusted net income reached R$641 million ($118 million), up 13% from a year earlier, while revenue from continuing operations rose 16% to R$3.57 billion ($0.6 billion).

After a period of experimentation, the company looks firmly focused on the plain work of acquiring payments, serving small businesses, and extending working-capital loans when the risk makes sense.

The customer story explains the numbers. Among micro, small, and midsize merchants-Brazil's most dynamic but historically underserved segment-StoneCo's active payments clients climbed to 4.72 million, an 18% increase.

Transaction volume in this group hit R$126.4 billion ($23 billion), up 11%, boosted by Pix, Brazil's instant-payment system, which has become a habit for street-corner retailers and national chains alike.




StoneCo's Back-To-Basics Third Quarter Signals Market Discipline In Brazil's Fintech
Banking is becoming the glue. Active banking clients rose 22% to 3.46 million, with deposits at R$9.02 billion ($1.6 billion).

That pool of low-cost funding supports a cautiously rebuilt credit arm: the loan book expanded to R$2.3 billion ($0.43 billion) quarter on quarter.

Crucially, loans overdue more than 90 days stood at 5.03%-not trivial, but consistent with a lender that is learning to say no when economics don't add up.

There is also a quiet simplification happening. StoneCo agreed to sell software unit Linx to TOTVS for R$3.05 billion ($0.56 billion), stripping away distractions so investors can judge performance on fundamentals: client growth, take rates, funding mix, and credit losses.

Fewer moving parts tend to reward firms that price risk well and keep costs light-traits that usually thrive when markets, not ministries, set the pace.

Why this matters to readers outside Brazil: this is the country's fintech laboratory at scale. A sprawling small-business economy, rapid uptake of real-time payments, and disciplined independent players are pushing down transaction frictions that once felt baked into daily life.

If the current mix holds-simple products, prudent underwriting, and less corporate sprawl-merchants should get more reliable tools and financing, and investors a profit stream driven by operating discipline rather than accounting quirks.

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