Affirm (NASDAQ:AFRM) Upgraded to Strong-Buy at Piper Sandler

Key Points

• Piper Sandler upgraded Affirm to “strong-buy”, adding to a broadly positive Wall Street outlook. Overall, analysts rate the stock a Moderate Buy with a consensus price target of $87.60.
• Affirm reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings of $0.30 per share versus $0.17 expected, while revenue rose 32.7% year over year to $943.95 million. The company also posted improved profitability metrics, including a 9.63% net margin.
• Insider selling was notable, including a 100,000-share sale by COO Michael Linford for about $8.0 million. Despite that, institutional investors remain heavily involved, owning about 69.29% of the stock.

Affirm (NASDAQ:AFRM - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities researchers at Piper Sandler to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on AFRM. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $87.00 price objective on shares of Affirm in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Susquehanna raised their price objective on Affirm from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Affirm from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Stephens boosted their target price on Affirm from $55.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, BTIG Research restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Affirm in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $87.60.

Affirm Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AFRM opened at $81.55 on Monday. Affirm has a 52 week low of $42.10 and a 52 week high of $100.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 74.14, a PEG ratio of 4.64 and a beta of 3.70. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $68.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $62.91. The company has a quick ratio of 11.32, a current ratio of 11.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39.

Affirm (NASDAQ:AFRM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.17 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $943.95 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $995.27 million. Affirm had a net margin of 9.63% and a return on equity of 11.17%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 32.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.01 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Affirm will post 1.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Affirm

In other news, Director Noel Bertram Watson sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total value of $130,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 36,076 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,344,940. This represents a 5.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Michael Linford sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.04, for a total value of $8,004,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 117,984 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,443,439.36. The trade was a 45.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 104,000 shares of company stock valued at $8,244,000 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 11.01% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Affirm

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Affirm by 83.4% in the fourth quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 48,504 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,610,000 after acquiring an additional 22,054 shares in the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Affirm by 1,161.2% during the third quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 171,269 shares of the company's stock worth $12,516,000 after purchasing an additional 157,689 shares in the last quarter. Capelight Capital Asset Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Affirm during the fourth quarter worth $4,912,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Affirm by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,501,387 shares of the company's stock valued at $408,433,000 after purchasing an additional 329,312 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Affirm by 60.7% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 771,800 shares of the company's stock valued at $56,403,000 after purchasing an additional 291,500 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.29% of the company's stock.

Affirm Company Profile

Affirm Holdings, Inc is a financial technology company that provides point-of-sale consumer lending and payments solutions for online and in-store purchases. Its core product is a buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) platform that enables consumers to split purchases into fixed, transparent installment loans with no hidden fees. Affirm offers a range of financing options through merchant integrations, a consumer-facing mobile app and virtual card capabilities, and tools for merchants to offer alternative payment methods at checkout.

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