By Matt Grossman 



  StoneCo Ltd. shares traded higher Wednesday morning a day after the company reported better-than-expected first-quarter revenue. 


  The company's stock rose more than 19% to $31.98 in the first half hour of trading, after closing Tuesday at $26.70. 


  StoneCo, a digital-payments platform with a focus on Brazil, said Tuesday that its first-quarter revenue was 716.8 million Brazilian reais ($130.3 million), compared with analysts' expectations of 685 million reais, according to FactSet. 


  Payment volume rose in the first quarter despite the effects of Covid-19, which began to affect Brazil late in the period, StoneCo said. 


  The company has also reduced its workforce during the pandemic, a move it said it has implemented alongside other cost-management and operational-efficiency initiatives. 


  Write to Matt Grossman at matt.grossman@wsj.com