Adyen grows net revenue 23% and lowers its margin target to invest behind Talon.One and Orb
The Amsterdam payments company kept its growth forecast, but will spend more on people and products after strong demand for its new loyalty and billing tools. It has also dropped its medium-term margin objective.
Adyen, the Amsterdam-based payments company, published its third-quarter 2026 business update on Wednesday 28 October. Net revenue rose 23% to €738.1 million, or 22% in constant currencies, and processed volume grew 30% to €451.1 billion.
The company kept its forecast of 21% to 23% net revenue growth in constant currencies for 2026. But it now expects an EBITDA margin of 50% this year, as it accelerates investment behind Talon.One and Orb, two software companies it recently acquired. It is also discontinuing its medium-term EBITDA margin objective.
Growth across all three pillars
According to Adyen's business update, the quarter reflected wider use of Adyen by existing customers, new enterprise merchants and the first-time consolidation of Talon.One and Orb. The number of transacting payment terminals on the platform reached 878,000, up 25% year on year.
Digital, Adyen's largest business, grew net revenue 16% to €387.4 million, or 14% in constant currencies, on processed volume up 28%. The company named travel and mobility and content and subscriptions as strong areas.
Unified Commerce, which combines in-store and online payments, grew net revenue 29% to €250.5 million, or 27% in constant currencies, on volume up 22%. Adyen said this came despite a subdued retail environment and included revenue from Talon.One. It now supports 499 customers that process at scale across both channels.
Platforms, which serves software platforms and the smaller businesses that use them, grew fastest. Net revenue rose 46% to €100.2 million, or 44% in constant currencies, and volume rose 55%. Adyen now has 46 platform customers processing more than €1 billion a year, up from 37 in the previous quarter and 31 a year ago. Active business customers on these platforms rose 48% to 312,000.
Why Adyen is spending more
Adyen bought Talon.One, a Berlin-founded loyalty and promotions software company, and Orb, a usage-based billing platform. In the update, the company said customer interest in the combined offer of payments, loyalty, billing and financial products had been "substantially stronger and broader than anticipated".
Adyen said Orb gives it an early entry point with fast-growing, AI-native businesses. Since Orb joined, Adyen has won the payment volumes of several Orb customers, including Route and Wasabi Technologies. Talon.One lets merchants combine in-store and online loyalty programmes.
Hiring and margins
The extra investment shows up in headcount. Adyen added 177 net new employees on an underlying basis in the quarter, plus 399 people who joined through the two acquisitions, bringing the total to 5,596 full-time equivalents. It now targets 1,000 to 1,100 net new hires in 2026 including the acquisitions, while keeping its underlying target of 550 to 650. The company said recent hiring focused on specialised technical and sales roles, particularly in the United States, and that pay increasingly relies on equity.
As a result, Adyen expects an EBITDA margin of 50% in 2026 and has dropped its medium-term EBITDA objective "to retain flexibility". It said it remains confident in the operating leverage of its business model over time. Capital expenditure is expected at 7% of net revenue this year and to return towards historical levels after 2026. New financial objectives for 2027 will come with the second-half results in February.
In prepared remarks for the business update call, published by Investing.com, management said Talon.One and Orb contributed about 2 percentage points of constant-currency growth in the quarter, and that the company moves decisively when it sees high-conviction growth opportunities.
What it means for European founders and investors
Adyen is one of the few European fintechs that operates at global scale, and its update matters well beyond payments. The strong growth in Platforms shows how much payment volume now runs through vertical software, from booking tools to shop systems. For SaaS founders, embedded payments and financial products are a serious revenue line, and Adyen is competing hard to power them.
The Orb deal also shows where payment companies see the next market: AI-native businesses that charge by usage rather than by subscription. Startups that build billing, pricing or revenue tools for these companies are in a space that large players are now buying into. Talon.One's path from Berlin startup to part of Adyen is another example of a European software company finding an exit with a European strategic buyer.
For investors, the key change is the margin. Adyen is choosing growth and product breadth over short-term profitability, and has removed a medium-term target that the market used as a guide. The February results will show what that means for 2027. More fintech and startup coverage is on our Europe page and in our report on Revolut's UK personal loans.
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