JPMorgan Chase & Co. Issues Positive Forecast for Affirm (NASDAQ:AFRM) Stock Price

Key Points

• JPMorgan raised its Affirm price target to $105 from $90 and maintained an “overweight” rating, implying 24.64% upside from the prior close. Analysts overall rate the stock “Moderate Buy,” with an average target of $97.69.
• Affirm reported a strong quarter, including 33.1% year-over-year revenue growth and EPS of $4.62 versus the $0.35 consensus estimate. However, revenue of $1.07 billion missed expectations, and much of the earnings beat reflected a one-time tax benefit.
• Shares rose to $84.24, while institutional investors own 69.29% of the company. Despite improving operating metrics and analyst support, Affirm’s high valuation and an executive share sale remain potential concerns for investors.

Affirm (NASDAQ:AFRM - Get Free Report) had its target price increased by equities researchers at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $90.00 to $105.00 in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "overweight" rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 24.64% from the company's previous close.

AFRM has been the topic of several other research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Affirm from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Affirm from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Affirm from $93.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Affirm in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $88.00 price objective on shares of Affirm in a report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $97.69.

Affirm Stock Performance

Affirm stock traded up $6.75 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $84.24. The company had a trading volume of 9,416,305 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,210,522. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $77.37 and a 200 day moving average of $64.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39, a current ratio of 11.32 and a quick ratio of 11.32. The firm has a market cap of $28.21 billion, a PE ratio of 76.58, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 3.71. Affirm has a one year low of $42.10 and a one year high of $100.00.

Affirm (NASDAQ:AFRM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 27th. The company reported $4.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $4.27. The company had revenue of $1.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.11 billion. Affirm had a return on equity of 11.17% and a net margin of 9.63%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.20 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Affirm will post 1.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Affirm news, COO Michael Linford sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.04, for a total transaction of $8,004,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 117,984 shares in the company, valued at $9,443,439.36. This represents a 45.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 11.01% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Affirm

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AFRM. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in Affirm by 7,715.3% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 29,932,275 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,440,977,000 after acquiring an additional 29,549,277 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in shares of Affirm by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 23,145,942 shares of the company's stock worth $1,722,797,000 after buying an additional 104,239 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Affirm by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 21,710,914 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,615,953,000 after buying an additional 507,224 shares in the last quarter. Durable Capital Partners LP boosted its stake in Affirm by 12.3% in the second quarter. Durable Capital Partners LP now owns 7,389,337 shares of the company's stock valued at $510,899,000 after buying an additional 808,455 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its position in Affirm by 26.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,641,965 shares of the company's stock valued at $412,315,000 after acquiring an additional 1,187,665 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.29% of the company's stock.

Key Affirm News

Here are the key news stories impacting Affirm this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strong operating performance: Affirm reported 33% year-over-year revenue growth, 36% gross merchandise volume growth and a 49% increase in adjusted operating income. Expanding margins, stable credit performance and a 103-basis-point decline in funding costs to 5.8% supported profitability. Affirm: Ignore The Ludicrous $1.6 Billion, Own The Real Story
• Positive Sentiment: Headline earnings beat estimates: Fiscal fourth-quarter EPS was $4.62 versus consensus estimates of roughly $0.33-$0.35, compared with $0.20 a year earlier. The earnings release and related coverage also pointed to better-than-expected GMV and continued momentum in the BNPL business. Affirm Stock Jumps After Earnings
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support improved: BMO Capital Markets raised its price target to $101 and assigned an outperform rating, while Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed its overweight rating with an $88 target. Morgan Stanley also increased its target to $80, although it maintained an equal-weight rating.
• Positive Sentiment: International expansion: Affirm and Shopify launched Shop Pay Installments in Australia, extending Affirm’s exclusive partnership to another market and potentially broadening transaction volume over time. Affirm and Shopify launch Shop Pay Installments in Australia
• Neutral Sentiment: Fiscal 2027 outlook: First-quarter revenue guidance of approximately $1.2 billion was broadly in line with consensus, limiting the possibility of a major near-term forecast surprise.
• Negative Sentiment: Quality of the EPS beat is a concern: The unusually large GAAP profit primarily reflected a one-time tax allowance release rather than recurring earnings power. Revenue of $1.07 billion also fell short of the approximately $1.11 billion analyst estimate, making underlying operating metrics more important to investors.
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation and mixed ratings: With a high earnings multiple and a recent Zacks downgrade from strong buy to hold, some investors may question whether the operational gains are fully reflected in AFRM’s valuation.

About Affirm

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

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