Affirm Holdings Inc

Affirm Holdings Inc. is entering its earnings report with its Affirm Card business showing explosive growth, reaching $2.13 billion in volume for recent quarters, up 146% year over year, with active card users rising to 4.4 million and card penetration hitting 17% of Affirm's active client base. The company is moving into everyday spending through partnerships with Google Pay, Apple Pay and Stripe, with wallet volume of $1.7 billion over the trailing 12 months and transactions per user growing 50% to 6.7 yearly. Affirm reported GAAP operating profitability for the first time as a public company in its most recent quarter, and investors now want to see if faster card usage can translate into sustainable profitability growth without hurting credit performance. Wall Street forecasts quarterly EPS of around $0.35, management has guided transaction volume of around $13.15 billion to $13.45 billion, and Oppenheimer recently lifted its price target to $100 from $87, suggesting Affirm might post results at or above the high end of projections.

Affirm Holdings reclaimed investor confidence in the second quarter, driven by a 146% year-over-year surge in Affirm Card gross merchandise volume to $2.13 billion and a 130% increase in active cardholders to 4.4 million. Spyglass Capital Management highlighted the fintech company as a top contributor in its Q2 2026 investor letter, noting that quarterly results exceeded revenue and earnings expectations. The stock's sentiment recovered following a US-Iran ceasefire and a more stable macroeconomic outlook, after a difficult start to the year tied to geopolitical risks and consumer weakness fears. Affirm's management also outlined a positive growth outlook and profitability framework at its May investor forum. The shares closed at $73.25 on July 30, 2026, with a market capitalization of $24.53 billion.

The global Buy Now Pay Later market is projected to grow from $10.22 billion in 2025 to $116.94 billion by 2035, at a compound annual growth rate of 27.60%. Online channels held a 66.50% share in 2025, while point-of-sale in-store BNPL is the fastest-growing segment at a 25.50% CAGR. Large enterprises accounted for more than 61% of the market in 2025, and the retail and consumer goods end-use segment dominated with over 71% share. North America represented more than 29.30% of global revenues in 2025, with the United States contributing approximately 84.73% of that regional total. Key players include Klarna, Affirm, Afterpay, PayPal, and Sezzle.

Affirm CEO and PayPal co-founder Max Levchin said his company maintains a very high bar for mergers and acquisitions, even as PayPal reportedly attracts a takeover offer exceeding $53 billion from Stripe and Advent International. Speaking on Yahoo Finance's Power Players podcast, Levchin noted that while Affirm is a large public company that does evaluate deals, it is hard to justify the dilution or cash expense when organic growth is strong. He added that M&A generally has a low probability of success, so the threshold to dilute shareholders is extremely high. The comments come as Stripe, valued at $180 billion, reportedly bid $60.50 per share for PayPal, a premium to recent trading but far below PayPal's 2021 record near $300.

Jim Cramer told investors that Affirm Holdings is going straight to $100, calling CEO Max Levchin the smartest guy on Earth and praising the company's latest quarter. Cramer noted the stock had been roaring, up about 30% from its early April lows but still down 13% for the year, and described the post-earnings dip as a great opportunity. He highlighted that Affirm is now a very profitable business with a much more powerful network.

Affirm Holdings has partnered with Bed Bath & Beyond to offer its buy now, pay later solution across the retailer's brands, including Bed Bath & Beyond, Overstock and buybuy BABY. Eligible shoppers can pay in biweekly or monthly installments with no late or hidden fees. The agreement expands Affirm's presence in the home retail market, where purchases often involve higher ticket sizes. As of March 31, 2026, Affirm's active merchants were around 515,000, up 43.8% year over year, and gross merchandise volume grew 35% in the third quarter of fiscal 2026.

Piper Sandler double upgraded Block to Overweight from Underweight and initiated coverage of PayPal with a Neutral rating. Block's price target was raised to $100 from $58, while PayPal's was lowered to $42 from $46. The firm also rated Affirm, American Express, Capital One Financial, Mastercard, and Visa as Overweight with respective price targets of $103, $396, $254, $597, and $394. Analyst Bill Carcache cited company-specific drivers for constructive cases, noting PayPal's low valuation is balanced by unresolved take-rate and transaction margin pressure.

Wall Street saw a flurry of analyst rating changes on Tuesday. Piper Sandler upgraded Block to Overweight from Underweight with a $100 price target, while Oppenheimer downgraded Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to Underperform from Perform, citing unappealing valuations despite raised estimates. Among other notable moves, Goldman Sachs upgraded Tradeweb Markets to Buy from Neutral with a $146 target, and BofA downgraded Logitech to Underperform from Neutral with an $86 target. New coverage initiations included Piper Sandler launching on Visa, MasterCard, Capital One, Affirm, and American Express with Overweight ratings.

Intuit shares jumped 5% to $267.72 in the last trading session on higher-than-average volume. The company recently reported strong third-quarter fiscal 2026 results, with revenue rising 10% year over year, driven by higher adoption of QuickBooks Online, payments, payroll, and assisted tax offerings. Management also raised its full-year revenue and earnings guidance. The Global Business Solutions segment saw revenue increase 15% year over year, with QuickBooks Online accounting revenue climbing 22% and Online Ecosystem revenue growing 19%. Intuit is expanding its AI-driven expert platform and has formed strategic partnerships, including a multi-year agreement with Affirm and joining the Federal Reserve's FedNow Service.

Wells Fargo analyst Jason Kupferberg maintained a Buy rating on Affirm Holdings with a price target of $89. Earlier, on June 4, William Blair reiterated an Outperform rating on the shares without disclosing a price target. Analyst Andrew Jeffrey described Affirm as one of William Blair's top digital finance ideas, citing strong conviction in the company's long-term growth story. The firm noted that Affirm is growing its share in the buy now and pay later market, which remains in the early development stage, and sees Affirm on track to establish clear leadership within the massive US card payments market estimated at roughly $9 trillion. William Blair believes this dominance will result in improved profitability and strong returns on invested capital.

Affirm has partnered with Backcountry to offer its pay-over-time option across Backcountry and its affiliated online brands, including Competitive Cyclist, MotoSport, Steep & Cheap, and Level Nine Sports. The agreement extends Affirm's presence into the outdoor recreation category, where high-ticket gear purchases make transparent installment payments relevant for shoppers and merchants. The deal adds another vertical to Affirm's merchant network, though it is unlikely to shift near-term focus on funding costs, credit performance, and the risk of losing a large enterprise merchant partner. Affirm recently expanded a US$2.2 billion forward flow agreement with CPP Investments, underpinning roughly US$8 billion of loan volume, which can support higher transaction volumes from new partnerships like Backcountry.

The 20 consumer finance stocks tracked by StockStory reported a satisfactory first quarter, with revenues beating analysts' consensus estimates by 1.9% and next quarter's revenue guidance coming in 0.7% above expectations. Credit Acceptance posted revenues of $406 million, up 1.4% year on year but missing estimates by 13.1%, while Sallie Mae delivered the best performance with revenues of $560 million, down 3.6% year on year but beating estimates by 3.9%. Nelnet was the weakest, with revenues of $353.2 million, down 7.1% year on year and missing estimates by 20.4%. Ally Financial reported revenues of $2.18 billion, up 5.5% year on year and beating estimates by 1.8%, and Affirm posted revenues of $1.04 billion, up 32.6% year on year and beating estimates by 4.3%. Share prices of the group have been resilient, rising 7.2% on average since the latest earnings results.