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The Atomos Limited (ASX: AMS) share price has been on a tear this past week, rising 15% on the back of positive financial results released to the market on Monday.

The ASX video technology company, which specialises in the development of monitor recorders for video content creators, has seen its share price surge from 93.5 cents at the beginning of this week to $1.08 at the time of writing.

These most recent gains add to a solid period of growth for shareholders. While not quite back to pre-COVID levels yet, the Atomos share price has soared more than 85% higher since the beginning of November.

What does the company do?

Atomos develops recording equipment for video professionals and digital content creators. It aims to create high quality, affordable products to help users easily create and edit high-resolution video. Its products are used on all sorts of projects, from wedding videos and web and TV commercials all the way up to feature films.

Atomos’ video monitors are currently the only ones in the world capable of recording in Apple’s ProRes RAW codec. A ‘codec’ is essentially a program that allows for faster file transmission through data compression. This technology gives small-time content creators the ability to easily record and share video in up to 8K quality.  

What was in the company’s financial results?

Atomos reported record half-yearly sales of $32.8 million for the first half of FY21. Although this was only an increase of 1% over the prior comparative period, it was a significant uplift versus the second half of FY20, when the company only generated $11.8 million in sales.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) also came in at a record $3 million, an increase of 210% over the prior comparative period. This was due to disciplined cost savings during COVID-19, particularly from general administration and marketing expenses.

What’s the outlook for the rest of FY21?

Like many companies operating in this current uncertain business climate, Atomos was hesitant to commit to firm earnings guidance for the remainder of FY21. However, the company said it expected “good progress” in the second half, building on the positive momentum already generated this year.

Commenting on the first-half results, Atomos executive chair Christ Tait said:

The record results that we have delivered across all financial metrics, highlight the fact that we have emerged from COVID-19 as a leaner and more efficient business.

Heading into 2H’21, we have a solid tailwind of sales momentum which will be further enhanced by new RAW enabled cameras coming to market, the result of substantial work by our product and development team, along with the roll-out of several new products including our streaming range.

More reading

• The Atomos (ASX:AMS) share price is on fire today, up 12%
• Why Atomos, Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, Coca-Cola Amatil, & Nearmap are racing higher

Rhys Brock owns shares of Atomos Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of Atomos Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Atomos Ltd. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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In late morning trade the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on course to end the week on a disappointing note. At the time of writing, the benchmark index is down 0.7% to 6,835.5 points.

Four ASX shares that have not let that hold them back are listed below. Here’s why they are surging higher:

Cochlear Limited (ASX: COH)

The Cochlear share price has jumped 8% to $220.40 following the release of a better than expected half year result. The hearing solutions company’s performance improved so much that its underlying net profit of $125.3 million fell only a touch short of its record half year profit from FY 2020. Looking ahead, it has provided full-year underlying net profit guidance of $225 million to $245 million. This represents a 46% to 59% increase on FY 2020’s profits.

Goodman Group (ASX: GMG)

The Goodman share price is up 2.5% to $17.40 following the release of its half year results. For the six months ended 31 December, the global integrated property company reported a 16% increase in operating profit to $614.9 million. This reflects new developments, strong demand, and 3% like-for-like net property income growth. In light of this strong half, management has upgraded its full year operating profit guidance. It now expects 12% growth in FY 2021 compared to previous guidance of 9% growth.

Lovisa Holdings Ltd (ASX: LOV)

The Lovisa share price has zoomed 16% higher to $12.80. Investors have been buying the fashion jewellery retailer’s shares after investors overlooked its sharp first half profit decline and focused on its strong start to the second half. During the first half, as was widely expected, Lovisa recorded a 26.7% decline in profit after tax of $19.6 million. Positively, during the first seven weeks of the second half, Lovisa has experienced an impressive 12% increase in same store sales.

Whispir Ltd (ASX: WSP)

The Whispir share price has surged 9% higher to $4.27. The catalyst for this was news that the company has renewed its business partner agreement with telco giant Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS). Whispir and Telstra have agreed to extend their agreement for a further period of three years. This is on the same terms and conditions as their previous agreement.

More reading

• Why the Whispir (ASX:WSP) share price is surging 10% higher today
• Lovisa (ASX: LOV) share price rockets 19% on half year results
• Why the Goodman (ASX:GMG) share price is pushing higher
• Cochlear (ASX:COH) share price in focus after delivering a solid half year result
• 3 exciting small cap ASX shares to put on your watchlist

James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and recommends Whispir Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of Cochlear Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Telstra Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Cochlear Ltd. and Whispir Ltd. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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WAM Capital Limited (ASX: WAM) shares are edging higher in morning trade following the release of the company’s interim results for the first half of the 2021 financial year (H1 FY21).

At the time of writing, the WAM Capital share price has lifted 0.49% to $4.07.

What did the company report?

The Wam Capital share price is in the green today after the asset manager reported an operating profit before tax of $233.4 million. That’s up 144.1% year on year. Operating profit after tax of $166.5 million increased 136.6% from the first half of the 2020 financial year. The company credited the strong performance of its investment portfolio for the results.

WAM Capital said its investment portfolio gained 22.8% during the half year. That’s a 7.1% outperformance over the S&P/ASX All Ordinaries Accumulation Index. (This index also includes company dividends, to give a like-for-like comparison.) For the full 2020 calendar year, WAM Capital’s portfolio gained 9.6%, a 6.0% outperformance of the index.

Over the half-year period ending 31 December, the company said total shareholder return was 26.8%.

WAM Capital Chair Geoff Wilson said:

The December half presented significant corporate opportunities, with WAM Capital announcing takeover offers for Concentrated Leaders Fund (ASX: CLF), Contango Income Generator (ASX: CIE), and amaysim Australia (ASX: AYS). All three offers were net tangible assets (NTA) accretive for WAM Capital’s shareholders.

The company will pay a 7.75 cent dividend, fully franked. That’s unchanged from H1 FY20, and represents an annualised dividend yield of 7.0%.

WAM Capital share price snapshot

Over the past 12 months, the WAM Capital Share price has fallen by around 12%. That compares to a 1% loss on the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO).

The past 6 months have seen an improvement, with WAM Capital shares up 1.2% since 19 August. So far in 2021, the WAM Capital share price is down 7%.

More reading

• Wilson Asset Management (WAM) thinks these 2 ASX shares are a buy
• Should you buy ASX shares that are takeover targets?

Motley Fool contributor Bernd Struben has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The SelfWealth Ltd (ASX: SWF) share price is falling today, down 8% at 69 cents in morning trade.

This comes after the release of the online brokerage company’s half-year financial results (H1 FY21).

What results did SelfWealth report today?

In this morning’s ASX release, SelfWealth reported a 278% increase in total revenue for the half-year. Total revenue of $8.43 million was up from $2.23 million in the previous corresponding half year.

Earnings before income, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) came in at a loss of $372,000, a big improvement from the $1.44 million EBITDA loss in H1 FY20.

The company’s cost of operations soared from $1.45 million in the corresponding half year to $5.25 million in this half.

SelfWealth reported a 208% increase in active traders, reaching 67,349 at the end of the half-year, and a 379% increase in total trades, up to 756,465. The total client cash held of $435 million was up 220 year-on-year.

This morning SelfWealth also released a trading update with some results for January and the first weeks of February 2021.

SelfWealth reports record new numbers in trading update

The company reported it had achieved a record number of new active traders and a record number of trades in its domestic and United States markets. It said that US numbers were growing particularly strongly, with US trades now close to 10% of its total daily trade numbers.

Average daily registrations for the company have also soared in 2021, up from 240 per day in the December quarter to 605 per day in January. So far, that increase is keeping pace this month, with an average of 855 daily registrations in February.

29 January was a record day for the company, with 2,211 registrations on the day. SelfWealth attributed the record numbers to “the peak of the GameStop trading frenzy amidst platform issues and trading restrictions at competing trading platforms”.

SelfWealth share price snapshot

Barring the selloff during the COVID-19 market panic last year, when nearly all shares sold heavily, SelfWealth’s shares have been in an upward trajectory for the past 12 months. The SelfWealth share price is up 329% since this time last year. That compares to a 1% loss on the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO).

So far in 2021, the SelfWealth share price is up 33%.

More reading

• How to buy US shares from Australia right now

Motley Fool contributor Bernd Struben has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The Whispir Ltd (ASX: WSP) share price has been a very strong performer on Friday morning.

At the time of writing, the communications workflow platform provider’s shares are up over 10% to $4.33.

This latest gain means the Whispir share price is now up 188% since this time last year.

Why is the Whispir share price zooming higher today?

Investors have been buying Whispir shares following the release of a positive announcement this morning.

According to the release, the company has renewed its business partner agreement with telco giant Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS).

Whispir and Telstra have agreed to extend their agreement for a further period of three years. Positively, this is on the same terms and conditions as their previous agreement.

The release explains that the agreement allows Telstra to enter into contracts with its customers for the re-sale of the Whispir platform and other services. The agreement also provides the terms under which Telstra can use the Whispir platform and services for its own internal purposes.

What else is supporting the Whispir share price?

The Whispir share price may also be getting a boost today from bargain hunters swooping in following a 7.5% decline on Thursday. The company’s shares dropped following the release of its half year results.

While its results were very strong, it appears as though some investors were expecting an even stronger result or a greater upgrade to its annualised recurring revenue (ARR) guidance.

Management has narrowed its ARR guidance range from between $51.1 million and $55.3 million to between $53 million and $55.3 million. This represents a year on year increase of 21% to 31% over FY 2020’s ARR of $42.2 million.

In addition, Whispir’s CEO, Jeromy Wells, spoke positively about the future and its international expansion.

He said: “While ANZ currently accounts for around 81.9% of total revenues, Asia and North America are key to our longer-term growth strategy and we anticipate these markets will account for 50% of Group revenues by the end of FY23. We are sustainably building our footprint within Asia and leveraging past learnings within North America to ensure we are able to capitalise on our largest market opportunity.” 

More reading

• 3 exciting small cap ASX shares to put on your watchlist
• Why the Whispir (ASX:WSP) share price is on the rise today
• 2 high yield ASX dividend shares to buy today
• Telstra (ASX:TLS) full year dividend for 2021 expected to be 16 cents per share, fully franked
• 3 fantastic ASX shares to buy for strong returns

James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and recommends Whispir Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Telstra Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Whispir Ltd. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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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.

Netflix Inc (NASDAQ: NFLX) raised prices in the US, Canada, and the UK at the end of 2020, and price hikes in other regions could well be in the works, too. But Netflix has more opportunities to grow its subscriber base outside of the US, where it hasn’t offered its service as long and won over the majority of its addressable market.

Price increases are an important piece of Netflix’s revenue growth in the US, but at $13.99 per month for its most popular plan, management may need stronger-than-usual cues from consumers that they’re willing to pay more before it raises prices again.

Netflix’s pricing strategy

Chief operating officer Greg Peters reminded investors how the company thinks about price increases during Netflix’s fourth-quarter earnings call. “We are looking for signals and signs from our members that are telling us essentially that we have added more value,” he said. “So you think about engagement with the service and retention and churn characteristics, acquisition.”

When Netflix sees a meaningful improvement in those numbers following its most recent price hike, it’ll go back and raise prices again. But Netflix may want to pay attention to several other factors before it raises its prices again in the US. As it faces more competition from Walt Disney Co, AT&T Inc, and other media companies shifting content to streaming, it may want to monitor the overall streaming market to determine what consumers can absorb.

Here are three factors for Netflix and its investors to consider when assessing the potential for another price hike in the US.

1. Differentiation

Netflix can’t consider the value it offers consumers in a vacuum; it needs to consider the amount of value it offers that consumers can’t get anywhere else. With more competitors entering the market at lower price points, savvy consumers may be able to replace content from one streaming service with the same or similar content on another.

To that end, Netflix already offers a lot of original and exclusive content. Thirty-nine per cent of its TV catalogue is composed of original series, according to data from Reelgood. That’s more than HBO Max, Disney+, and Hulu. Additionally, 83% of its content library is unavailable on any other streaming platform. Only Disney+ holds more exclusive rights as a percentage of its service.

Those numbers will only continue to climb for Netflix in 2021 as it continues to shift its content investments to originals. In its fourth-quarter letter to shareholders, the company said it has 500 titles currently in post-production.

2. Competitor results

2021 may be an opportunity for Netflix to pay close attention to how its competitors are performing. While management has historically tried to ignore what the competition was doing and focus on its own operations, competitors’ results may provide additional insight into consumers’ willingness to pay for streaming content.

First, Disney will raise the price of Disney+ and its three-service streaming bundle by $1 at the end of March. It’ll also raise the price in Europe by $2, but add additional content under the Star brand. With the sizable audience Disney has built for the service in just over a year, the price hike could provide additional insights into how consumers respond to a modest price increase.

Second, HBO Max is debuting WarnerMedia’s entire 2021 film slate with limited runs on the streaming service. Investors should pay attention to HBO Max activations and retail subscribers, as well as any commentary on churn rates. That could provide insight into consumer willingness to pay a premium price for premium streaming content. HBO Max costs $14.99 per month, $1 more than Netflix’s most popular plan.

It may seem counterintuitive to see positive results for Netflix’s competitors as a positive for Netflix, too. But considering the ongoing shift of time spent watching video from live TV to on-demand streaming, there’s room for multiple winners.

3. Overall willingness to pay for streaming

Netflix already offers one of the most expensive subscription video-on-demand services in the US. Its premium plan, which includes four simultaneous streams and 4K video, is $17.99 per month. Even if Netflix offers more originals and exclusives than its competitors, consumers might not be willing to pay just to access a big catalogue of content.

After all, that’s the idea behind cord-cutting. Consumers simply aren’t willing to pay the premium price for access to premium content. Netflix may offer “incredible entertainment value” as Peters points out, but at some point, consumers simply might not be willing to pay the price tag. 

Still, at less than $20 per month, it’s a far cry from the price of a standard cable bundle. And as cord-cutting accelerates, there’s more room in the budget for streaming. Of course, the goal of cord-cutting is to save money, so Netflix still has to keep its price attractive while providing enough content to convince people they can cancel their cable subscriptions.

It seems very likely Netflix will raise prices in its largest and most valuable market again at some point in the future. Positive signs from the three areas mentioned above mean the media company could raise prices sooner rather than later. Overall, a $1 per month price hike in the U.S. and Canada would translate into about $900 million in additional revenue, which will mostly go straight to Netflix’s bottom line and free cash flow.

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

More reading

• Why investors should look beyond the ASX 200 to US share markets
• What will Netflix do with piles of cash?
• Does Netflix have a competitive advantage?
• Why Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) shares were last year’s worst short bet
• Why Netflix stock jumped to an all-time high today

This article represents the opinion of the writer, who may disagree with the “official” recommendation position of a Motley Fool premium advisory service. We’re motley! Questioning an investing thesis – even one of our own – helps us all think critically about investing and make decisions that help us become smarter, happier, and richer.

Adam Levy owns shares of Netflix and Walt Disney. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and recommends Netflix and Walt Disney. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Netflix and Walt Disney. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The Humm Group Ltd (ASX: HUM) share price is up in early trading after revealing a new buy now, pay later product for small businesses.

Humm is the business that used to be called FlexiGroup. Not only does it offer buy now, pay later but it also has revolving credit and small and medium enterprise (SME) finance.

What is humm’s new BNPL product?

Humm has officially launched hummpro, which it’s calling ‘business now pay later’.

The product has been designed to meet the flexible cashflow needs of SMEs across Australia and New Zealand. Humm wants to help SMEs as they invest and grow with trading conditions returning to pre-COVID-19 levels.

The company said that hummpro suits business owners that want to track their cashflow in one place. Customers can be approved in minutes and can spend seconds later.

Hummpro can be used anywhere that Mastercard is accepted. That means it can be used online, in store and to pay supplier invoices. Management pitched this as a useful feature because other ‘business now pay later’ products require that suppliers are onboarded and integrated into their network to accept payments.

All types of business customers will be able to use this product, including sole traders, companies, partnerships and trusts.

Humm will use its experience with responsible credit decisioning in its commercial business and consumer-focused experiences in the consumer space as it looks for growth opportunities with this new product.

CEO commentary

The humm CEO Rebecca James talked up the new product’s potential to meet sizeable SME needs:

Our research shows that SMEs across Australia and New Zealand are dissatisfied with their traditional credit card and overdraft solutions, so we’ve built a product that removes the hoops they normally have to jump through to access finance. With our quick approval and spend process, and our pay, pause and plan features, we’re providing small business owners with the ultimate control to manage their cashflow.

Close to three million SMEs contribute substantially to GDP across Australia and New Zealand; as the economy starts to rebuild – due in no small part to this critical sector – we see hummpro as the perfect option, providing quick and flexible access to capital to help small business owners invest in a stable future.

Humm FY21 profit expectations

A few weeks ago humm announced that it’s expecting to report cash net profit after tax of $43.4 million, up 25.8% compared to the prior corresponding period.

This was helped significantly by operating expenses falling 11.1% to $87.2 million and the loan impairment expense of $25 million being down 35.3% year on year.

Humm is expected to announce its half-year result on 24 February 2021.

More reading

• Will LimePay IPO drive ASX BNPL shares even higher?
• Leading brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy today
• Why the Humm (ASX:HUM) share price is charging 7% higher today

Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Humm Group Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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Pro Medicus Limited (ASX: PME) shares are climbing in morning trade despite the company announcing its co-founders have offloaded a parcel of their shares. At the time of writing, the Pro Medicus share price is up 2.5% to $46.40.

Co-founders sell shares

The Pro Medicus share price is on the rise regardless of the fact the health imaging company reported its co-founders have sold off a portion of their stake in the business.

According to this morning’s release, Pro Medicus co-founders Dr Sam Hupert and Mr Anthony Hall have each sold 1 million shares. The sale transacted at market close yesterday (18 February) at the price of $45.97 per share.

Pro Medius noted that the offload of shares by the co-founders represents less than 4% of their entire individual holdings. Dr Sam Hupert and Mr Anthony Hall now have 27,137,660 and 27,109,000 ordinary shares respectively after the change.

The company stated that both co-founders do not intend to sell further shares in the foreseeable future.

Words from the chair

Pro Medicus chair Peter Kempen commented on the sale of the shares:

We announced in February 2018 that the Board had encouraged the founders to consider selling up to 3 million shares each, in order to improve the liquidity in the company’s shares. This latest transaction completes that process. The sale, to a number of local institutions, was done “at market” which reflects the very strong underlying demand for the company’s shares.

Mr Kempen added:

Dr Hupert and Mr Hall remain actively engaged in the company and are committed to its future. This is evidenced by the fact that they remain the two key stake holders, with their combined holding post this recent sale being in excess of 52% of the shares on issue.

Pro Medicus share price snapshot

The Pro Medicus share price has been a stellar performer over the past 12 months, jumping by more than 100%. Pro Medicus shares hit a 52-week low of $14.50 in March before accelerating to an all-time high of $47.62 this week.

At the current share price of $46.60, Pro Medicus is a whisker away from breaking that feat again.

More reading

• Pro Medicus (ASX:PME) share price in focus after broker upgrade
• One year on and 50% up, the All Technology Index is booming
• Why Coles, Netwealth, Pro Medicus, & Zip shares are sinking
• Why the Evolution (ASX:EVN) share price crashed despite record results
• Why the Pro Medicus (ASX:PME) share price is getting thumped today

Aaron Teboneras has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and recommends Pro Medicus Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Pro Medicus Ltd. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The 4DS Memory Ltd (ASX: 4DS) share price has plunged in early trade this morning after the semiconductor developer announced its half-year results.

At the time of writing, the 4DS Memory share price is trading down 5.26% at 18.5 cents.

The numbers, what do they mean?

4DS has been building out its patent portfolio as it continues working towards its next-generation memory. Between August to December last year, the company added 6 additional USA patents. All of these were in relation to the company’s interface Switching ReRAM technology.

Progress continues to be made towards the development of the company’s memory. In late December, 4DS’ Second Non-Platform Lot underwent analysis – the results were deemed positive on 1 February, as we reported on.

However, all of these business activities come at a cost. 4DS is still in the development stages of its memory, which means little to no revenue is being derived from operational activities. For the half-year reported, 4DS recorded $29,378 in revenue, down 4% from the prior year.

Meanwhile, the company expanded bottom-line losses by 6% to $3.1 million. Most of the loss is due to the continued investment in research and development – which accounted for $2.13 million of expenditure in the half.

Remind me, where’s the memory up to?

The positive results confirmed on 1 February from the Second Non-Platform Lot produced some key takeaways:

• The company has been able to repeat the results for key memory characteristics (speed, endurance, and retention).
• 19 out of the 21 device wafers were functional, with the nonfunctional wafers developed outside the imec process window.
• Additional process parameters insights were gained.

Now, 4DS is awaiting results from its Second Platform Lot. These wafers commenced production at imec in Belgium on 27 January. Worth noting, this lot is using imec’s memory platform that has the capability to read and write selected bits and bytes.

Furthermore, results from the Second Platform Lot are expected in the second quarter of 2021. 4DS has stated the results from the Second Platform Lot will pave the way for fabricating wafers with chips that are fully functional megabit memories.

4DS share price recap

The 4DS Memory share price has experienced volatility throughout the year. For the shareholders that have held on, however, the returns have been pleasant. In the last 12 months, the 4DS share price has appreciated by 222%. It’s not all smooth sailings, 4DS is more volatile than 75% of Australian stocks over the past 3 months. 

More reading

• Why has the 4DS Memory (ASX:4DS) share price crashed 12% lower?
• 4DS Memory (ASX:4DS): Non-volatile memory, volatile share price

Motley Fool contributor Mitchell Lawler has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The Sezzle Inc (ASX: SZL) share price is trading lower on Friday morning despite the release of an announcement.

At the time of writing, the buy now pay later (BNPL) provider’s shares are down 1% to $10.33.

Despite this decline, the Sezzle share price is still up a remarkable 65% since the start of the year.

What did Sezzle announce?

This morning Sezzle released an announcement relating to a new agreement with a payments giant.

According to the release, the company has signed an agreement with digital banking and payments services company, Discover.

The agreement will allow select US merchants on the Discover Global Network to offer their customers an interest-free BNPL option through Sezzle’s platform. Positively, the process will involve little to no upgrades to their existing payments systems.

The Discover Global Network has more than 48 million merchant acceptance locations and two million ATM and cash access locations around the world. Discover is accepted by 99% of places that take credit cards in the United States. Its brands also include Diners Club International and PULSE.

Agreement to accelerate business development

Sezzle’s Executive Director and President, Paul Paradis, believes the agreement will help accelerate business development.

He commented: “Our partnership with Discover will help to further accelerate our business development efforts by connecting our team with Discover and its established relationships.”

Discover’s Senior Vice President of Global Business Development and Acceptance, Jason Hanson, spoke positively about the agreement.

Mr Hanson said: “Our merchant partners are always a top priority and we know that providing them with additional payment options, such as a buy now, pay later structure, can be beneficial, especially in the current economic environment.”

“We are able to leverage our unique technology capabilities and vast network of merchant relationships to provide Sezzle the ability to grow its business and provide new payment opportunities,” he added.

More reading

• Why is the Splitit (ASX:SPT) share price underperforming Afterpay and Zip?
• Why the Sezzle (ASX:SZL) share price is charging 7% higher today
• Zip (ASX:Z1P) share price is soaring 13%, smashing another record high
• These ASX shares are helping this fund manager smash the market
• Why Mesoblast, Newcrest, Sezzle & Telstra shares are racing higher

James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. recommends Sezzle Inc. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Sezzle Inc. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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