What happened
Shares of the fintech company Dave (DAVE -0.91%) skyrocketed as much as 44% today before trading halted due to volatility. Trading has since resumed, with shares of Dave up nearly 28% as of 11:30 a.m. EST for no obvious reason.
So what
Last year, the blank-check company VPC Impact Acquisition Holdings III announced it would merge with and take the digital banking app Dave public at a $4 billion enterprise value. Last week, Dave began trading on the NASDAQ independently.
Image source: Getty Images.
Since that time, the stock has suffered, with shares falling some 42% until today when they popped. Dave completed its merger at a tough time for fintech stocks, which have struggled ever since the Federal Reserve's abrupt shift in monetary policy over the last few months. Even after the big pop today, Dave's market cap remains around $2.5 billion, well below the initial $4 billion enterprise value.
Now what
Dave has amassed an impressive 11-million-plus users since launching in 2017. It has four main products right now.
Its flagship ExtraCash product extends users up to $200 in advance cash at no interest so they can pay off amounts overdrawn in their bank accounts and avoid overdraft fees. Dave offers a personal finance feature to help users plan out monthly expenses and a feature called Side Hustle that helps users apply for part-time gigs through companies like Uber and DoorDash. Dave also offers a cash management product, which is basically a bank account, that has now converted 1.3 million of its users.
I don't love this model because these millions of users definitely are not sticky yet. Also, banks are significantly reducing their reliance on overdraft fees. A $4 billion enterprise value is too lofty, in my opinion. Management has said it wants to build out more banking and crypto products, but in this market, it's definitely a show-me situation. I am staying away.
