logo
Affirm soars as strong holiday shopping propels BNPL lender to top estimates

Affirm soars as strong holiday shopping propels BNPL lender to top estimates

Reuters07-02-2025

Feb 7 (Reuters) - Affirm (AFRM.O), opens new tab shares jumped 16% in premarket trading on Friday, after the buy now, pay later lender posted a surprise quarterly profit on the back of a strong holiday shopping season and forecast an upbeat annual revenue.
Retailers offered discounts on everything from apparel to electronics to lure budget-conscious shoppers, while online sales remained strong.
Gross merchandise volume (GMV) - the total dollar amount of all transactions on the Affirm platform - jumped 35% to $10.1 billion in the second quarter ended December 31, exceeding analysts' estimates of $9.57 billion, according to LSEG.
Affirm was on track to add roughly $3 billion to its market capitalization if the gains hold.
In a letter to shareholders late on Thursday, Affirm said the merchandise and consumer electronics categories contributed significantly to growth.
GMV growth from Affirm's top five merchants and platform partners collectively jumped 40%, partly due to increasing demand from consumers for zero-percent financing.
The San Francisco, California-based company's total revenue soared 47% to $866 million, beating estimates of $807.2 million.
"Affirm is on our short list of transformative fintechs that can become big companies over time," William Blair analyst Andrew Jeffrey said.
Affirm reported net income of $80.4 million, or 23 cents per share, in the October-to-December period, compared with a loss of $166.9 million, or 54 cents per share, a year earlier.
Analysts had expected the company to report a loss of 15 cents per share.
"So far other fintech results have been lackluster this quarter, with some posting significant growth guidance but weak profitability. In contrast, Affirm demonstrated that a fintech can have both strong volume growth and excellent profitability margin," BTIG analysts said.
Affirm also forecast fiscal 2025 revenue between $3.13 billion and $3.19 billion, largely above Street expectations of $3.09 billion.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Deloitte promotes five Glasgow staff to partner level
Deloitte promotes five Glasgow staff to partner level

Glasgow Times

timean hour ago

  • Glasgow Times

Deloitte promotes five Glasgow staff to partner level

Deloitte has announced seven new partners in Scotland, including five Glasgow-based staff members, as part of a nationwide round of 60 partner promotions in 2025. Glasgow's newly promoted partners are Jennifer Donnachie, Laura MacDougall, Lyndsay MacGregor, Marc McNulty, and Paul Cowley. Deloitte said the team brings a "wealth of experience" to their new roles, with Mr Cowley marking 28 years at the firm. Ms Donnachie and Ms MacGregor started their careers at the firm as graduates in the Tax team, while Ms MacDougall and Mr Cowley followed the Audit & Assurance route. Read more: Major London contract gives jobs boost for Glasgow engineering firm Across Scotland, Patrick Werner in Edinburgh and Sarah McGavin in Aberdeen have also been promoted. The promotions span a number of areas, including Deloitte's Tax & Legal, Audit & Assurance, and Technology & Transformation businesses. Overall, 495 people have been promoted within Deloitte's Scottish practice this year, including 13 who have been appointed to director. New Deloitte partners Sarah McGavin, Laura MacDougall, and Patrick Werner with Angela Mitchel - practice senior partner for Scotland and Northern Ireland, (Image: Supplied) Read more: Viral Glasgow food stall 'expecting' as team set to open exciting new restaurant Angela Mitchell, practice senior partner for Scotland and Northern Ireland, said: "I'd like to extend my congratulations to this year's partners on their well-earned promotions. "These appointments reflect their expertise, commitment, and leadership, and it is particularly encouraging to see so many of our new partners have started their careers as graduates, highlighting the firm's focus on developing talent from within. "I'd also like to acknowledge all of our people who have been promoted across our Scottish offices this year, including those who have stepped up to director. "Their achievements reflect the depth of talent we are proud to nurture across the business. "As we continue to grow our presence across Scotland, we remain focused on developing the talent and leadership that will shape the future of our business." The announcement follows the recent appointments of Hazel Gray and David Mitchell as senior partners for Aberdeen and Glasgow respectively.

Pakistan likely to hike defence spending but slash overall budget in 2025-26
Pakistan likely to hike defence spending but slash overall budget in 2025-26

Reuters

time2 hours ago

  • Reuters

Pakistan likely to hike defence spending but slash overall budget in 2025-26

ISLAMABAD, June 10 (Reuters) - Pakistan will unveil its annual federal budget for the coming fiscal year later on Tuesday, seeking to kickstart growth while finding resources for an expected hike in defence expenditure following the conflict with India last month. Islamabad will also have to contend with remaining within the discipline of its International Monetary Fund programme and the uncertainty from new trade tariffs being imposed by the United States, its biggest export market. Media reports say the government is likely to present a 17.6 trillion rupee ($62.45 billion) budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1, down 6.7% from this fiscal year. It has projected a fiscal deficit of 4.8% of GDP, against a targeted 5.9% deficit in 2024-25, the reports say. Analysts said they expect an increase of around 20% in the defence budget, likely offset by cuts in development spending. Pakistan allocated 2.1 trillion Pakistani rupees($7.45 billion) for defence in the outgoing fiscal year, including $2 billion for equipment and other assets. An additional 563 billion rupees ($1.99 billion) was set aside for military pensions, which are not counted within the official defence budget. India's defence spending in its 2025–26 (April-March) fiscal year was set at $78.7 billion, a 9.5% increase from the previous year, including pensions and $21 billion earmarked for equipment. It has indicated it will step up expenditure following the May conflict with Pakistan. The government of Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has projected 4.2% economic growth in 2025-26, saying it has steadied the economy, which had looked at risk of defaulting on its debts as recently as 2023. Growth this fiscal year is likely to be 2.7%, against an initial target of 3.6% set in the budget last year. Pakistan's growth lags far behind the region. In 2024, South Asian countries grew by an average of 5.8% and 6.0% growth is expected in 2025, according to the Asian Development Bank. Expansion of the economy should be aided by a sharp drop in the cost of borrowing, the government says, after a succession of interest rate cuts by the central bank. But economists warn that monetary policy alone may not be enough, with fiscal constraints and IMF-mandated reforms still weighing on investment. Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said on Monday that he wanted to avoid Pakistan's boom and bust cycles of the past. 'The macroeconomic stability that we have achieved, we want to absolutely stay the course,' he said. 'This time around we are very, very clear that we do not want to squander the opportunity.' The budget is expected to prioritize expanding the tax base, enforcing agriculture income tax laws, and reducing government subsidies to industry, to meet the terms of a $7 billion IMF bailout signed last summer. Just 1.3% of the population paid income tax in 2024, according to the tax authorities, with agriculture and the retail sector largely outside of the tax net. The IMF has urged Pakistan to widen the tax base through reforms which include taxing agriculture, retail, and real estate. Ahmad Mobeen, senior economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said that he expected the revenue target for 2025-26 will be missed. 'The shortfall will mostly be owing to lack of optimal implementation of announced measures as well as absence of meaningful structural reforms to widen the tax net in general,' said Mobeen. ($1 = 281.8400 Pakistani rupees)

Apple's AI event falls flat as iPhone maker struggles
Apple's AI event falls flat as iPhone maker struggles

Telegraph

time2 hours ago

  • Telegraph

Apple's AI event falls flat as iPhone maker struggles

Apple's flagship annual showcase has fallen flat as the iPhone maker fails to allay concerns that it is falling behind on artificial intelligence. The American tech giant was struck by a sell-off on Monday evening after it became apparent that its keynote presentation, led by chief executive Tim Cook, would only include minor software upgrades. Investors sent the stock price down by as much as 1.9pc during the presentation, wiping as much as $65.3bn (£48bn) off its market capitalisation. It comes amid growing frustration over Apple's failure to keep up with rivals on cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) developments. Last month, Apple's former chief designer Sir Jony Ive seemingly took aim at the company, hitting out at the 'legacy' products on the market and the 'decades old' technology within them. Sir Jony was speaking as he announced he was joining artificial intelligence rival OpenAI, in a $6.5bn (£4.8bn) deal expected to create a new generation of devices that could challenge the iPhone On Monday night, Apple put great emphasis on a range of visual improvements it is making to all of its operating systems. It said iPads would now be able work like traditional Mac computers, with apps able to run in windows. However, Daniel Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, said the event was 'overall a yawner' and that investors' patience was 'wearing thin'. It follows years of setbacks for Apple as it battles to compete on artificial intelligence. While it was one of the first Silicon Valley companies to embrace AI with its voice assistant Siri, rivals have since rapidly overtaken its technology. Last month, Mr Cook admitted on an earnings call that 'we need more time to complete our work on [improved Siri] features so they meet our high-quality bar'. On Monday, Apple failed to announce any major AI updates for Siri. Reports have suggested that progress has been hampered by complications updating Siri using large language models. The most notable AI announcement at the annual showcase was that it would give software developers access to the AI technology that is built into recent Apple devices. Craig Federighi, Apple's software chief, said: 'We think this will ignite a whole new wave of intelligent experiences in the apps users rely on every day. We can't wait to see what developers create.' The company introduced a live translation feature to phone calls. Customers will be able to speak in England to a French person and then hear their words read out in French. Apple said it would also have a call screening feature that will work like a personal assistant, automatically answering calls from unknown people and asking them for information so that a customer can decide whether to take the call. Thomas Monteiro, an analyst at said: 'In a moment in which the market questions Apple's ability to take any sort of lead in the AI space, the announced features felt incremental at best.'

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store