Zip Co Ltd (ASX: ZIP) shares are marching higher today.
Shares in the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) buy now, pay later (BNPL) stock closed yesterday trading for $4.01. In late morning trade on Friday, shares are swapping hands for $4.06 apiece, up 1.3%.
For some context, the ASX 200 is up 0.2% at this same time.
Zip shares have been on a tear since plumbing one-year closing lows of $1.19 on 7 April, with the stock now up 237% from those lows.
Here's the latest from the ASX 200 BNPL company.
Image source: Getty Images
Zip shares expanding US footprint
Overnight, Zip announced that its United States segment is expanding its partnership with programmable financial services business Stripe.
The US is a key growth market for the company, and Zip shares could gain long-term support with the company's payment services now available through Stripe's optimised checkout interfaces.
Those interfaces include Elements, Checkout, and Payment Links, which Zip said will empower US merchants to drive incremental sales while engaging with a broader, financially underestimated customer segment.
Management highlighted that with a no-code setup, merchants can readily enable Zip directly from their Stripe Dashboard, enabling Zip's pay in instalments payment method in their Stripe checkout experience.
Among the benefits, merchants will receive full payment upfront while Zip manages customer repayments.
Commenting on the expanded partnership that could help boost Zip shares, Joe Heck, US CEO of Zip, said:
Through our expanded partnership with Stripe, we are accelerating Zip's US growth by making flexible payments available to more merchants and customers than ever before. This integration showcases the strength of Zip's offering and reinforces our commitment to building solutions that scale.
What's the latest from the ASX 200 BNPL stock?
Zip shares closed up 4.3% on Monday following the release of the company's first-quarter (Q1 FY 2026) results.
Highlights included cash earnings before tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBTDA) of $62.8 million, up 98.1% from Q1 FY 2025.
Total transaction volume (TTV) of $3.9 billion was up 38.7% year on year, while total income of $321.5 million was up 32.8%.
The company's US segment was a particularly strong performer, with quarterly TTV growth of 47.2%. This led Zip to upgrade its full-year FY 2026 guidance for US TTV growth to above 40%.
Zip shares will also have gotten a boost with management doubling the company's on-market share buyback from $50 million to $100 million.
"Zip continues to deliver sustainable, profitable growth at scale, with record cash earnings of $62.8 million up 98.1% year on year," CEO Cynthia Scott said on Monday.
