Affirm (NASDAQ:AFRM) Price Target Raised to $96.00

Affirm (NASDAQ:AFRM) had its target price increased by equities research analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada from $80.00 to $96.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “sector perform” rating on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 13.29% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on AFRM. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Affirm from $70.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Zacks Research lowered Affirm from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Affirm in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Affirm from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Affirm from $86.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $96.81.

Affirm Price Performance

AFRM stock traded up $7.25 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $84.74. The stock had a trading volume of 7,974,152 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,199,860. The company has a current ratio of 11.32, a quick ratio of 11.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39. Affirm has a 52 week low of $42.10 and a 52 week high of $100.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 77.04, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 3.71. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $77.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $64.50.

Affirm (NASDAQ:AFRM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 27th. The company reported $4.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $4.27. The company had revenue of $1.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.11 billion. Affirm had a net margin of 9.63% and a return on equity of 11.17%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.20 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Affirm will post 1.24 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Affirm

In other news, COO Michael Linford sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 117,984 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 11.01% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Affirm

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Affirm by 83.4% during the 4th quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 48,504 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,610,000 after acquiring an additional 22,054 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Affirm by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,501,387 shares of the company’s stock valued at $408,433,000 after acquiring an additional 329,312 shares during the last quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Affirm during the first quarter valued at $935,000. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of Affirm by 25.4% during the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 605,521 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,069,000 after purchasing an additional 122,584 shares during the period. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Affirm by 75.9% during the fourth quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 793,941 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,093,000 after purchasing an additional 342,669 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.29% of the company’s stock.

Affirm News Roundup

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.