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The Dismissal Announced by Stone in March Affects More Than 300 Employees, Opens the Initial Phase of the Management of Mateus Scherer, and Occurs Soon After the Sale of Linx to Totvs, with Artificial Intelligence Taking on a Decisive Role in an Attempt to Simplify Processes and Reignite the Financial Market Now
The mass dismissal announced by Stone marks an operational turn that combines cost-cutting, internal reorganization, and a bet on technology. The move affects more than 300 employees, about 3% of a workforce estimated at 14,000 people, and opens a delicate phase for the company in light of the market.
The announcement came right after the completion of the sale of Linx to Totvs in February 2026, a transaction associated with R$ 3.08 billion that may be allocated for dividends or share buybacks. Under the new CEO, Mateus Scherer, Stone is trying to prove that its strategic realignment can increase efficiency without deepening the loss of investor confidence.
The New Phase of Stone Began With Cuts and Simplification
The plan for dismissing employees was communicated internally as part of the beginning of a new era at Stone. The central message is one of simplifying processes, adjusting structure, and increasing operational efficiency. The mass dismissal did not appear as an isolated episode, but as the first concrete gesture of management wanting to reorganize the company right at the start of the new leadership.
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This type of move carries greater weight because Stone is not a peripheral company. The firm has built a strong presence in the payments market and gained national prominence in the financial technology sector. When a company of this size cuts hundreds of positions while talking about productivity and automation, the reading shifts from being purely labor-related to also being strategic.
At the same time, the decision reveals a sensitive point. Cutting more than 300 people right at the beginning of a new administration can be interpreted as an attempt to speed up change, but it can also be read as an acknowledgment that the previous model needed swift correction. In a pressured market, the manner of change weighs almost as much as its content.
Stone, therefore, enters a moment where it needs to deliver two simultaneous messages. Internally, it wants to show discipline. Externally, it needs to convince that the dismissal is not just a short-term cost reduction, but part of a deeper operational redesign.
The Sale of Linx Put Cash in the Company and Increased Pressure
The sale of Linx to Totvs, completed in February 2026, changed the level of pressure on Stone. The deal released R$ 3.08 billion, with expected allocation for dividends or share buybacks, and this raised market expectations for what the company would do next. After selling a billion-dollar asset, the pressure for strategic direction becomes much greater.
This context helps explain why the dismal has gained so much weight. It did not happen in a neutral environment, but right after a transaction that reorganized the cash and increased the need for signaling to investors. When the company sells Linx, the market starts to ask more vigorously what its focus will be, what its capital discipline will be, and how Stone intends to sustain competitiveness moving forward.
The sale also changes the company’s narrative. Previously, there was a broader structure, with different areas of operation. After Linx, there is less room for ambiguity. Stone needs to show what it wants to be in practice, and the restructuring with dismissions emerges as part of this repositioning.
It is precisely for this reason that the market tends to scrutinize the cuts closely. If the company sells a relevant asset, distributes or buys back capital, and simultaneously reduces personnel, investors expect a clear counterbalance: more focus, more margin, more productivity, and a more coherent story for the upcoming quarters.
Artificial Intelligence Has Become the Central Promise of the New Narrative
Stone signaled that it intends to intensify investments in artificial intelligence to keep pace with the sector’s digital transformation and improve services and customer experience. In theory, the logic is straightforward: automate tasks, simplify workflows, accelerate responses, and maintain competitiveness in a rapidly changing market. Artificial intelligence has entered as a promise of operational gains and technological repositioning.
But this promise carries execution risk. Speaking about artificial intelligence after a dismal of more than 300 employees can sound like a vision for the future or an elegant justification for downsizing. The difference between one reading and another depends on what follows. If automation improves product, service, and efficiency, the narrative gains strength. If it appears merely as a discourse of modernization without concrete delivery, distrust increases.
There is also a significant symbolic point. Stone has built a career linked to practical payment solutions, devices, and customer relationship management. When it shifts the center of discourse to artificial intelligence, it tries to show that it does not want to be seen merely as a traditional payment processing company, but as a firm capable of competing for relevance in a new technological layer.
This movement, however, requires more than new vocabulary. The market does not usually reward abstract promises, especially in companies that have just undergone restructuring and personnel cuts. Stone will have to prove that artificial intelligence is not just a presentation embellishment, but a real part of its new competitive capability.
The Market Wants Efficiency, and the Union Has Already Responded With Confrontation
The effects of the dismission have not been restricted to the financial reading. The Union of Technology Workers of São Paulo, SINDPD-SP, reacted with discontent, criticized the lack of dialogue, and indicated possible legal action to seek the reinstatement of those dismissed. This shows that the restructuring has already been born into dispute, not consensus.
This union reaction adds a layer of wear to the transition. Whenever a company announces mass cuts while simultaneously talking about simplification and technology, doubts arise about criteria, communication, and the social responsibility of the process. Stone is now dealing not only with investors observing numbers but also with an institutional reaction that could prolong the reputational cost of the decision.
Financially, the company has faced noticeable challenges in the trajectory of its shares, although it reported an adjusted net profit of R$ 707 million in the last quarter of 2025, with a 12% increase compared to the previous period. This data helps explain the current tension. The numbers show some capacity for reaction, but they are still not enough to eliminate market pressure.
The central question at this point is simple: Stone needs to convince that the cuts, the sale of Linx, and the bet on artificial intelligence belong to the same plan and not a series of improvised responses to pressure. The market tends to accept hard restructuring when it sees direction. What it punishes is cuts without a consistent narrative and a narrative without results.
The dismission of more than 300 employees has placed Stone at a clear crossroads. After selling Linx for billions, changing leadership, and promising progress with artificial intelligence, the company now needs to prove that its strategic change is more than a short-term adjustment to please the market. The next stage will not be convincing through announcements, but through performance.
In your view, is Stone making a necessary correction or just trying to buy time in front of still-skeptical investors?
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