Adyen's rising costs

Shares of Adyen, the Dutch payments company, dropped 10% on Thursday after it reported margins that missed expectations because of higher expenses (travel, hiring). Despite that, the CFO tells Axios they're still in hiring mode.

Why it matters: Adyen's stock has held up remarkably well this year compared to other fintechs, in part due to strong cash flows. But in the current climate, investors are sensitive to rising costs, and the reaction to Adyen's earnings serve as a case in point.

What to watch: Whether concerns about Adyen's rising costs begin to affect its aggressive growth plans.

• The company hired 400 during the first half of the year, and plans to hire at a similar pace through the remaining half, CFO Ingo Uytdehaage says.
• The company is also expanding its offerings beyond payments and into banking-as-a-service, as well as its own point-of-sale system — expansions that make a major difference in revenue for a while.

Of note: "We've always had an organic growth strategy and we continue to pursue that organic growth strategy," Uytdehaage says. An acquisition "would come with a lot of opportunity costs [while] integrating the company into our tech stack. We have little to no time."