Toast Tumbles 3.23% on $680M Surge in Volume Ranking 162nd as Q2 Earnings Shine with $1.9B ARR and $161M EBITDA

On August 5, 2025, Toast (TOST) traded with a 3.23% decline, despite a 69.3% surge in trading volume to $680 million, ranking it 162nd in market activity. The stock’s performance contrasted with strong financial metrics reported in its Q2 2025 earnings, including a record 8,500 net new locations and a 31% year-over-year rise in annualized recurring run-rate (ARR) to $1.9 billion. Adjusted EBITDA reached $161 million, reflecting improved operational efficiency and revenue growth across core and international markets.

Toast’s Q2 results underscored its expanding footprint, with total locations increasing 24% year-over-year to 148,000. The company’s partnership with American Express, aimed at enhancing personalized hospitality experiences, and the launch of Toast Go® 3—a more compact and durable handheld device—highlighted its focus on innovation. International expansion accelerated with the first Australian customer, Graze Craze, marking a strategic step beyond the UK, Ireland, and Canada.

Financially, Toast demonstrated robust profitability, with GAAP net income and Adjusted EBITDA growing to $80 million and $161 million, respectively, compared to prior-year periods. Gross payment volume (GPV) climbed 23% to $49.9 billion, indicating strong transactional growth. The company also outlined updated guidance for 2025, projecting higher Adjusted EBITDA and non-GAAP gross profit, reflecting confidence in its market position and product offerings.

The strategy of purchasing the top 500 stocks by daily trading volume and holding them for one day delivered a 166.71% return from 2022 to the present, outperforming the benchmark return of 29.18% by 137.53%. This underscores the role of liquidity concentration in short-term stock performance, particularly in volatile markets. The returns generated from this strategy far exceed the performance of a buy-and-hold approach, indicating that liquidity-driven strategies can be potent in capturing short-term market movements.