Founded in 2012, Affirm is a market leader in the buy-now, pay-later space with around $36 billion in transaction volume in fiscal 2025. Affirm offers both zero-interest financing, which is merchant subsidized, and interest-bearing loans, which function as personal loans that are approved on a per-transaction basis. Over 70% of Affirm's transaction volume comes from its interest-bearing loans, which also comprise the majority of its revenue. Affirm operates in the United States, which accounted for more than 95% of its revenue in 2025, but the firm has also expanded to Canada and the United Kingdom.
Amazon.Com Inc
PayPal Holdings, Inc. Common Stock
Shopify Inc. Class A subordinate voting shares
SoFi Technologies, Inc. Common Stock
Upstart Holdings, Inc. Common stock
Peloton Interactive, Inc. Class A Common Stock
Walmart Inc. Common Stock
Apple Inc.
Marqeta, Inc. Class A Common Stock
The chart shows the growth of an initial investment of $10,000 in Affirm Holdings, Inc. Class A Common Stock, comparing it to the performance of the S&P 500 index.
All prices have been adjusted for splits and dividends.
Affirm Holdings, Inc. Class A Common Stock (AFRM) has returned -38.25% so far this year and 41.58% over the past 12 months. Looking at the last ten years, AFRM has achieved an annualized return of -6.52%, underperforming the Benchmark (SPY), which averaged 12.23% per year.
The table below presents the monthly returns of Affirm Holdings, Inc. Class A Common Stock (AFRM) with color gradation from worst to best to easily spot seasonal factors.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | -19.60% | -20.80% | 0.48% | -0.75% | ||||||||
| 2025 | -1.86% | 12.35% | -30.54% | 11.97% | 1.11% | 32.96% | 0.65% | 35.16% | -14.38% | -5.41% | -1.23% | 5.87% |
| 2024 | -15.22% | -8.49% | -0.90% | -14.44% | -6.87% | 0.70% | -6.36% | 56.17% | -6.76% | 7.19% | 58.68% | -15.29% |
| 2023 | 61.58% | -14.72% | -15.90% | -11.96% | 50.71% | 4.11% | 25.50% | 9.24% | 1.41% | -16.86% | 94.41% | 43.68% |
| 2022 | -37.19% | -34.81% | 11.25% | -38.43% | -0.84% | -37.16% | 46.19% | -11.05% | -19.31% | 6.76% | -34.46% | -32.28% |
| 2021 | 9.56% | -6.94% | -25.95% | -3.42% | -15.19% | 6.48% | -15.94% | 66.45% | 26.21% | 37.42% | -22.28% | -21.33% |
The charts below present risk-adjusted performance metrics for Affirm Holdings, Inc. Class A Common Stock (AFRM) and compare them to a Benchmark (SPY). These indicators evaluate an investment's returns against its associated risks.
The Sharpe ratio helps investors understand how much return they're getting for the level of risk taken. A higher Sharpe ratio indicates better risk-adjusted performance, meaning more reward for each unit of risk.
These values reflect how efficiently the investment has delivered returns relative to its volatility over different time periods. All figures are annualized and based on daily total returns.
The chart below shows the rolling Sharpe ratio of AFRM compared to the benchmark. This view highlights how the investment's risk-adjusted performance has changed over time.
The current Affirm Holdings, Inc. Class A Common Stock volatility is 3.44%, representing the standart deviation of percentage change in the investments's value, either up or down over the past month. The chart below shows the rolling one-month volatility.
The Drawdowns chart displays portfolio losses from any high point along the way. It shows the maximum percentage drop from a peak to a trough over a specified period, indicating the risk of significant losses.
Although chart shows positive values, it represents the percentage drop from the peak, so a value of 10% means the portfolio has dropped 10% from its highest point.
The income statement provides a summary of a company's revenues, expenses, and profits over a specific period. It shows how much money the company earned (revenues) and how much it spent (expenses), leading to the net income or profit. This statement is crucial for understanding a company's financial performance and profitability.
| 2025 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liabilities And Equity (USD) | 11.15B | 8.16B | 6.97B | 4.87B |
| Temporary Equity Attributable To Parent (USD) | - | - | - | - |
| Temporary Equity (USD) | - | - | - | - |
| Equity Attributable To Parent (USD) | 3.07B | 2.53B | 2.62B | 2.58B |
| Equity Attributable To Noncontrolling Interest (USD) | - | - | - | - |
| Equity (USD) | 3.07B | 2.53B | 2.62B | 2.58B |
| Long-term Debt (USD) | 7.61B | - | - | - |
| Noncurrent Liabilities (USD) | - | - | - | - |
| Current Liabilities (USD) | 8.09B | 5.62B | 4.36B | 2.29B |
| Liabilities (USD) | 8.09B | 5.62B | 4.36B | 2.29B |
| Intangible Assets (USD) | 12.94M | 34.43M | 78.94M | 67.93M |
| Fixed Assets (USD) | 572.64M | 290.14M | 171.48M | 62.50M |
| Noncurrent Assets (USD) | - | - | - | - |
| Current Assets (USD) | 11.15B | 8.16B | 6.97B | 4.87B |
| Assets (USD) | 11.15B | 8.16B | 6.97B | 4.87B |
Abdiel Capital Advisors sold 1,075,738 shares of Appian (worth $38.32 million) in Q4 2025, reducing its stake to 12.4% of assets. Appian shares have fallen 28.1% over the past year and underperformed the S&P 500 by 39.1 percentage points. Despite the reduction, Abdiel maintains a double-digit allocation, suggesting risk management rather than abandonment of the investment thesis.
U.S. stock futures advanced on Friday following Thursday's sharp sell-off, with major indices showing gains. Amazon dropped 8.39% after mixed Q4 results, while Reddit surged 11.22% on strong earnings and guidance. Roblox jumped 14.41% and Strategy Inc. rose 6.98% after beating estimates. The January jobs report was delayed to next Wednesday due to a government shutdown. Markets are pricing an 81.3% likelihood of the Fed keeping rates unchanged in March.
Upstart and Affirm, two fintech stocks that have declined significantly from their all-time highs, are positioned for recovery as macro headwinds ease and interest rates decline. Both companies are expected to achieve strong revenue and EBITDA growth through 2027-2028, and currently trade at attractive valuations relative to their growth potential.
The global BNPL market is projected to reach $509.2 billion in 2026 and grow to $1 trillion by 2031, with a CAGR of 14.7%. The market is shifting from pure-play fintechs to a multi-model landscape where banks, card networks, and payment platforms compete. Klarna and Affirm remain dominant, while new entrants like Splitit are expanding embedded BNPL services through financial institutions.
While insurance tech company Lemonade surged 94% in 2025, its high valuation and continued unprofitability make further gains unlikely in 2026. The article recommends Affirm, a buy-now-pay-later fintech, as a better opportunity for 2026 due to its recent profitability, strong revenue growth, and potential catalysts including a possible credit card interest rate cap and its application to become an industrial loan bank.
Tropic, an intelligent procurement platform, announced record 2025 results with $85 million in customer savings, $18 billion in spend under management, and 100,000 price benchmarks delivered. The company launched AI agents for procurement tasks while emphasizing human expertise remains central to execution. Standout savings included $1.62M on Workday, $571K on Affirm, and $404K on Datadog purchases.
PayPal is trading at attractive valuations with improved operational metrics under new CEO Alex Chriss. The company has strengthened margins, increased ROIC, and maintains strong free cash flow supporting aggressive buybacks. While core payments face commoditization pressures, higher-margin value-added services like BNPL and merchant cash advances are growing faster and provide defensibility. The stock trades at 12x forward earnings with projected upside to $80-$90 by 2029.
Affirm, a leading buy-now-pay-later provider, is positioned to capitalize on growing BNPL adoption among younger consumers shifting away from credit cards. The company has achieved profitability, grown gross merchandise volume to $36.7 billion, and established partnerships with major platforms like Amazon and Shopify. With projected 2026 GMV of $47.5 billion and 7.5% operating margins, Affirm represents an attractive investment opportunity in the expanding BNPL sector.
Buy Now, Pay Later services are projected to reach $20.2 billion in spending during the 2025 holiday season, an 11% increase year-over-year. However, the sector faces mounting concerns over consumer financial strain, with 41% of users missing payments, and growing regulatory scrutiny including a multistate inquiry into major BNPL providers and proposed federal legislation to extend credit-card-style protections.
The article recommends two financial stocks for 2026: Sezzle, a buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) provider with strong revenue growth (67% YoY) and best-in-class profit margins (22.8%), and Robinhood Markets, a fintech brokerage with explosive growth across crypto trading (300% YoY), stock/options trading, and net interest revenue (66% YoY). Both companies are positioned to capitalize on the growing fintech sector.