Why StoneCo Stock Crashed Today
What goes up must come down -- and boy, oh, boy is StoneCo(NASDAQ:STNE) stock ever coming down fast today!
Shares of the Brazilian e-commerce software company took off like a rocket earlier this month after conservative candidate Flávio Bolsonaro outpolled incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva 47.3% to 44.8% in the first round of voting in Brazil's presidential election. But the more important run-off election wrapped up last night, and Lula pulled off an upset, winning 51.8% of votes cast to Bolsonaro's 48.2%.
Missed AI's "Act 1"? Act 2 Could Be 14x Bigger. Most investors think they missed the AI boat because they didn't buy Nvidia in 2005. But according to our analysts, we're only at the end of "Act 1"—the R&D phase. "Act 2" is the global rollout. Continue »
Investors are furious, and they're taking out their ire on every Brazil-related stock they can find. StoneCo stock is down 30.5% as of 10:15 a.m. ET.
Image source: Getty Images.
Election Brazil 2026
This news gets worse -- because the election may not even be over. Bolsonaro is refusing to concede defeat and is challenging the election results, alleging abuse of power to suppress voting in key Bolsonaro-leaning districts. While this raises the slight chance that conservatives may still win, the opposite result still seems likely, and various South American heads of state have already made their calls to congratulate the incumbent on his victory.
What does any of this have to do with StoneCo?
Although incorporated in the Cayman Islands, StoneCo is a Brazilian company. Investors had hoped a change in administration might help shore up Brazilian finances, lower debt and tax costs, and generally improve the business climate. That could still happen under a Lula administration -- which will now last into 2030 -- but investors don't seem optimistic.
Keep fingers crossed, though. It wouldn't take much improvement -- by anyone -- to turn this stock into a buy. StoneCo stock costs a cheap 4.2 times earnings, and Wall Street analysts expect it to grow earnings more than 16% annually over the next five years.
Should you buy stock in StoneCo right now?
Before you buy stock in StoneCo, consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and StoneCo wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Consider when Netflixmade this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $355,124!* Or when Nvidiamade this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,296,254!*
Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 901% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 210% for the S&P 500. Don't miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor , and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors.
*Stock Advisor returns as of October 26, 2026.
Rich Smith has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy .
Why StoneCo Stock Crashed Today was originally published by The Motley Fool
