Brazilian e-commerce software company StoneCo (STNE +24.14%) stock took off like a rocket Monday, soaring 24.8% through 10:50 a.m. ET.
You can thank the voters of Brazil for that.
Image source: Getty Images.
Election Brazil 2026
Brazil wrapped up its first round of voting for a new President last night, with conservative candidate Flávio Bolsonaro -- son of the former President Jair Bolsonaro and a Brazilian senator in his own right -- outpolling incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva47.3% to 44.8%, with 98% of votes counted.
Bolsonaro the younger didn't win the election outright; he'd have needed more than 50% of the vote to do so. He does seem well-positioned to win the presidency, however, when a second round of voting is held on Oct. 25. As The Wall Street Journal reports, "other right-wing candidates" won about 5% of the votes in the first round. Those voters are more likely to vote for Bolsonaro than for Lula. If even half of them swing their votes to Bolsonaro, it's likely to put him over the top.
What does any of this have to do with StoneCo?
Although incorporated in the Cayman Islands, StoneCo is a Brazilian company, and investors are presumably thinking today that a Bolsonaro victory will be good for Brazilian stocks. As the Journal points out, voters are upset about high taxes and Lula's "stewardship of the economy." Investors seem to agree and think that change will be good for the economy and for StoneCo stock.
It wouldn't take much to prove them right.
Priced at just 3.6 times trailing earnings, StoneCo stock is priced to move. With analysts already forecasting the company would grow earnings more than 16% annually over the next five years, this stock could perform well... whoever ends up winning the election.
