Monness initiates Affirm stock with buy rating on underwriting strength

Affirm signed an exclusive, multi-year deal with Sam's Club, Walmart's warehouse club chain, to become its pay-over-time provider. The service will launch online soon and in physical stores in 2027. Affirm lost Walmart's BNPL partnership to Klarna in 2025, which impacted its revenue. Affirm's stock closed down 1.51% on the announcement. Affirm's Q3 revenue grew 33% YoY to $1.04B, with GMV up 35% to $11.6B. Klarna's stock has fallen 56% since its IPO.

Affirm (AFRM) signed a multi-year deal with Sam's Club, Walmart's subsidiary, to become its pay-over-time provider. The stock closed down 1.51% at $72.40 on the announcement day. Affirm lost Walmart to Klarna in 2025, which contributed 5% of its GMV and 2% of adjusted operating income. The company is set to report fiscal first-quarter results on November 5.

Affirm stock fell 10.3% to $69.85 after hotter-than-expected CPI data raised Fed rate hike fears, increasing funding costs for its loans. Goldman Sachs cut its price target to $103. The NASDAQ slid 2%, and fintech peers also declined, with Affirm being the most affected due to its borrowing-dependent model.

Affirm Holdings (AFRM) saw its price target raised by Goldman Sachs to $115 from $106, citing strong Q4 results with revenue up 33% to $1.2B and operating income up $89M. The company's growth is driven by increased interest-bearing loans and the Affirm Card, with active cardholders doubling. However, risks include credit quality and competition in the BNPL space. Hedge fund holdings declined, and short interest is modest.

Affirm (AFRM) stock rose 5.5% premarket after launching an AI model for instant loan approvals, improving transaction completion rates by 3.4%. The system uses 14 years of proprietary data. Chief Accounting Officer Siphelele Jiyane sold $1.95M in shares. Analysts have a 'Moderate Buy' rating with a $98.78 price target, above the current $71.58. Q2 earnings beat estimates with $4.62 EPS and $1.07B revenue.

Affirm Holdings Inc (AFRM) shares rose 5.5% premarket after launching an AI model for real-time loan approvals. The model, live in the U.S., uses machine learning to analyze credit history, approving more loans with better performance. According to the company, it increased completed purchases by 3.4% compared to a control group. The technology aims to responsibly expand credit access without compromising repayment rates.