Shares of Affirm Holdings Inc. AFRM, -1.31% are up 2% in premarket trading Friday after Seaport Global analyst Chris Brendler upgraded the stock to buy from neutral and set an $80 price target. He sees the stock as more attractive following a 34% selloff since he initiated coverage of the company 10 weeks back, whereas the S&P 500 SPX, +0.20% has gained 7% in that time. “In our view, this underperformance comes despite increasing evidence that BNPL [buy-now-pay-later] is going to be huge in the US and based on a string of encouraging data points, we expect Affirm to materially exceed near-term expectations,” Brendler wrote in a note to clients. The company offers financial options that let consumers pay in installments, and this trend seems to be reaching a “hyper growth adoption phase in the U.S.,” Brendler continued, which could set Affirm up for success. “We also want to be in front of Affirm’s Shopify partnership which has the potential to significantly accelerate Affirm’s growth,” he wrote. “Recent data suggests the wait is nearly over, and we expect management to provide an update on the upcoming earnings call.”
View Article Origin Here