Bakkt Q2 Earnings Call Highlights

Bakkt reported $80.8 million in second-quarter GAAP net income and ended the period with $50.7 million in cash and restricted cash and no long-term debt. The company maintained its full-year transaction-volume target of approximately $2.5 billion, despite generating about $169 million in the quarter and $410 million in the first half. Payments contributed to transaction volume for the first time following the May infrastructure integration, while trading activity declined. Management expects cross-border payments, the Bakkt Widget and embedded-finance products to drive growth, with margins potentially higher in emerging-market payment corridors than in major-currency stablecoin transactions. Bakkt is targeting approximately 25,000 Agent monthly active users by year-end and expects co-branded cards and Neobank-as-a-Service to launch in the fourth quarter, subject to approvals. The company also expects to reach adjusted EBITDA breakeven sometime in Q4 2026, depending on client activation timing and scale.

Bakkt NYSE: BKKT reported second-quarter GAAP net income of $80.8 million, or $1.94 per diluted share, while management outlined plans to scale transaction activity across its markets, financial-agent and international strategic-investment businesses. Chief Financial Officer Karen Alexander said the company ended the quarter with $50.7 million in cash and restricted cash and no long-term debt. She noted that the quarter’s GAAP results included a fair-value remeasurement related to Transchem, while Bakkt also excluded $3.6 million in transaction-related advisory fees from adjusted EBITDA because it does not expect those costs to recur at the same level.

Bakkt reported Total Transacting Volume, or TTV, of about $169 million for the second quarter and approximately $410 million for the first half of 2026. Management maintained its target of roughly $2.5 billion in TTV for the full year, which would require a substantial acceleration during the second half.

Chief Commercial Officer Daniel Ishag said second-quarter TTV declined principally because of lower trading activity. However, payments contributed to the measure for the first time after the company integrated its payments infrastructure on May 1. “The initial production volume is an important proof point,” Ishag said, adding that it demonstrated the payments infrastructure was operating in-house and processing institutional and cross-border transactions. Bakkt said it now has six live commercial offerings: trading infrastructure, stablecoin over-the-counter services, digital-asset over-the-counter services, stablecoin on- and off-ramping, cross-border payments through the Gyzer API, and the Bakkt Widget, an embeddable on- and off-ramp for partners. The company also said it consolidated onboarding across its product suite and launched wire and ACH funding during the quarter. Bakkt’s platform supports access across more than 63 countries, 19 currencies and 10 public blockchains, according to Ishag. Management expects payments to become a larger growth contributor as client integrations move through compliance, technical and launch stages. Bakkt said its full-year TTV outlook is not solely dependent on a recovery in trading activity, citing expected activations across payments, the widget and embedded-finance products.

Margin Potential Varies by Product and Corridor During the question-and-answer session, CEO Akshay Naheta said transaction economics differ materially by activity. Stablecoin-related volume involving the U.S. dollar, euro and British pound tends to generate slim margins, ranging from a few basis points to the low teens in basis points,...