(Affirm)

Affirm shares sink as the buy now, pay later giant posts surprise profit but disappointing guidance

Revenue surged in the third quarter, but the future may not be so bright.

5/9/25 12:14PM

Affirm shares were down 13% Friday afternoon after the payment installment company posted a surprise Q3 profit but gave a chillier revenue outlook.

Adjusted earnings per share came in at $0.01, swinging to a profit from last year’s loss and beating expectations for a $0.03 loss. Revenue was in line with estimates at $783 million, while gross merchandise volume (an important metric that tracks total transactions) topped forecasts, jumping 36% to $8.6 billion.

Despite the beat, investors were spooked by a cautious revenue forecast for the current quarter, with the midpoint landing below Wall Street targets. The slowdown comes as the broader US economy feels the impact of new Trump-era tariffs and cooling consumer spending, with lower-income shoppers in particular pulling back.

On the flip side, Affirm’s Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV) growth has stayed resilient, fueled in part by the company’s 0% loan offers and new users joining through Apple and Amazon.

Affirm expects Q4 GMV to land between $9.4 billion and $9.7 billion, with the midpoint of $9.55 billion topping estimates.

Despite Friday’s sell-off, Affirm shares are still up nearly 35% year to date.

Tasha Matsumoto, Luke Kawa

10/3/25

S&P 500 just barely notches third consecutive all-time high in record day for call volumes

The S&P 500 just barely managed to pull off a three-peat, despite five of the Mag 7 stocks trading lower.

Chicago Bulls players Dennis Rodman (L), Scottie Pippen (C) and Michael Jordan (R) hold three of the team's four recent Larry O'Brien trophies 18 June at a rally for the team in Grant Park in Chicago.

Max Knoblauch

10/3/25

Automakers spike on report that Trump administration is considering tariff relief

The Trump administration is considering significant tariff relief for many major automakers, according to reporting by Reuters.

“The signal to the car companies around the world is, look, you have final assembly in the US, we’re going to reward you,” Ohio Republican Senator Bernie Moreno told Reuters. “For Ford, for Toyota, for Honda, for Tesla, for GM, those are the almost in order the top five domestic content vehicle producers — they’ll be immune to tariffs.”

The senator told Reuters that President Trump could potentially extend the higher levels of tariff offsets announced by the Commerce Department in June.

According to the White House, Moreno’s comments should be considered “speculative,” but shares of vehicle makers including Ford, GM, Toyota, Honda, and Stellantis all rose after the report came out.

Matt Phillips10/3/25

Palantir disputes report of flaws in Army product

Palantir says security vulnerabilities with a prototype battlefield communications product highlighted in a September 5 Army memorandum have already been addressed, according to a Bloomberg report.

The company said any conclusions that the product was seriously flawed, drawn from reports in Reuters and an online publication known as Breaking Defense, were “out of date and inaccurate.”

Separately, Army officials also told Breaking Defense that deficiencies with the battlefield communication product were “mitigated immediately.”

Going into the last hour of trading, Palantir shares were on track for their worst day since August in the wake of the reports.

Palantir Rebuts Claims of Security Flaws After Stock Falls

J. Edward Moreno10/3/25

Novo says it will offer weight-loss pill via telehealth, Bloomberg reports

Hims & Hers slipped after Novo Nordisk’s US head, David Moore, told Bloomberg that the company plans to sell its upcoming weight-loss pill through its current telehealth partners.

The company’s weight-loss pill recently reported encouraging results in a late-stage trial.

Novo currently has partnerships with Hims competitors like Ro and Weight Watchers. Hims had a deal with Novo earlier this year, which blew up epically in less than two months.

Novo Plans to Make Obesity Pill Available Online Once Approved

Nia Warfield10/3/25

Shopify soars after Rothschild Redburn hikes price target to $200

Shopify popped nearly 7% Friday afternoon after Rothschild Redburn reiterated its “buy” rating and raised its price target to $200 from $180, tying the highest on Wall Street and about 23% above current levels.

The firm pointed to Shopify’s new partnership with OpenAI’s ChatGPT as a key growth driver, saying it opens up a fresh sales channel that, for now, only Shopify and Etsy merchants can tap into.

Analysts also highlighted that unlike the Magnificent 7 tech names, Shopify can fold AI revenue into its model without heavy capital spending, meaning those contributions could offer a quick boost to free cash flow.

On that note, the firm also bumped its 2025 to 2027 earnings estimates by about 6% to 8%. Shopify shares have already more than doubled over the past year and are up roughly 50% year to date.