Why shares of Affirm Holdings were down over 16% in July

This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

What happened

Wild fluctuations in the share price of fintech company Affirm Holdings (NASDAQ:AFRM) continue. After skyrocketing in value following its IPO in January, Affirm has been trending downwards, and a widespread tech growth-stock sell-off in the spring didn’t help. Shares were down 16.4% during the month of July, valuing the buy-now, pay-later company at a market cap of just over $17 billion at the end of the month.

So what

Affirm had started to make up some ground in June after it announced a partnership with e-commerce software giant Shopify (NYSE:SHOP). Specifically, Affirm will be powering the Shop Pay Installments service, giving potentially many tens of thousands of merchants the ability to offer flexible payment terms to consumers and capitalizing on the fast-growing, buy-now, pay-later (BNPL) movement.

But Affirm isn’t alone in this nascent industry. PayPal Holdings (NASDAQ:PYPL) has a similar product, and fellow BNPL upstarts Klarna and Afterpay are also making waves. Though it’s growing fast, Affirm still operates at a loss, so it’s no surprise shares took another leg down in July in volatile trading action.

However, the stock came roaring back on the first trading day of August after Square (NYSE:SQ) announced on Aug. 1 it’s acquiring Affirm’s peer Afterpay (OTC:AFTP.F) for $29 billion. Affirm nearly made up all the ground it lost in July following Square’s announcement.

Now what

Speculation is swirling that Affirm could become an acquisition target as well. Digital payment and financial service technologists are quickly adding new capabilities to their suite of services to attract new users, and Affirm’s torrid pace of growth (83% year-over-year increase in gross merchandise volume to $2.3 billion, in the first quarter of 2021) would be a valuable asset to the right firm.

For now, though, Affirm is still independent and finding lots of new partnerships to unlock its full potential. Whether it becomes a takeover target, this is a top name in fintech to keep an eye on. Affirm will announce results on Sept. 9, in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2021.

This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

The post Why shares of Affirm Holdings were down over 16% in July appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Here’s why Affirm Holdings was up big on Monday
• Why the Afterpay (ASX:APT) share price is in the green today
• Afterpay (ASX:APT) share price is higher despite the sharp ASX 200 selloff
• As markets fall, big business fights back against disruptive growth stocks
• Why the Afterpay (ASX:APT) share price is crashing 9% on Wednesday

Nicholas Rossolillo and his clients own shares of PayPal Holdings, Shopify, and Square. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and has recommended Affirm Holdings, Inc., PayPal Holdings, Shopify, and Square. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended the following options: long January 2022 $75 calls on PayPal Holdings, long January 2023 $1,140 calls on Shopify, and short January 2023 $1,160 calls on Shopify. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended PayPal Holdings. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

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