What happened

Shares of the Chinese online personal lender X Financial (XYF -0.26%) had surged nearly 27% as of 11 a.m. EDT on Friday for no apparent reason, and leads financial gainers so far today.

So what

Shares of X Financial have been surging all year, up more than 600% in the last six months, 168% in the last month, and more than 40% over the last five days. So today appears to be just another continuation of the bull run.

The company only recently reported its first-quarter earnings results, which showed promise. Net revenue for the quarter was the equivalent of more than $138 million, up 71% from a year ago. Net income totaled more than $29 million, up from a loss of more than $30 million in the first quarter of 2020.

Red line with arrow moving upward.

Image source: Getty Images.

CEO Justin Tang issued a statement saying:

Moving forward, market demand for our products and services continues to grow and we expect to maintain our current growth momentum throughout the year. China's consumer financing and micro- and small-businesses financing markets have great potential. We believe we are well positioned to capture opportunities ahead with our trusted brand, full regulatory compliance, and our deepening cooperation with financial institutions.

Now what

Credit quality looks a lot better than this time last year, as China continues to recover from the pandemic. X Financial's guidance for the second quarter also looks better than what it just reported in the first, with the company projecting net income to be no less than $34 million, so the company looks to be on the upswing.