If you missed the boat on SoFi Technologies (SOFI 3.74%) shares when they began trading publicly last June, I've got good news. Right now, you can buy shares of the up-and-coming financial services provider for less than half what you would have paid when it merged with a special purpose acquisition company last June.
NASDAQ: SOFI
Key Data Points
The stock market might be all over the place when it comes to valuing SoFi stock, but the business' performance is clearly headed in a positive direction. The company's latest earnings report highlighted a myriad of reasons to be excited about this stock. Here are two of the clearest signs that predict years of rapid earnings growth ahead.
1. SoFi's winning with consumers
In its early days, SoFi pioneered student loan refinancing. Now, potential borrowers can apply for and manage all kinds of loans with the SoFi app, including mortgages. They can also open a checking account that pays 1% interest, trade stocks with tax-advantaged retirement accounts, and manage a SoFi credit card with one unified smartphone app.
SoFi's financial services productivity loop lowers customer acquisition costs and the convenience factor is resonating with customers. The company added a whopping 523,000 new members during the last three months of 2021, and that was before 112 million people watched the Los Angeles Rams win the Super Bowl at SoFi Stadium.
Data source: SoFi. Chart by author.
By design, a unified smartphone app is enticing existing users to add multiple products and fast. SoFi customers added 906,000 new products in the fourth quarter, a 51% increase over the third quarter.
2. SoFi's winning with other fintech businesses
In 2020, SoFi spent $1.2 billion to acquire Galileo Financial Technologies, the digital payment platform that enables its own checking and savings account functionality. Of course, SoFi wasn't the only fintech relying on Galileo's API to manage account setups, direct deposits, and a heap of related features that consumers have come to expect. Now, many of SoFi's competitors, such as Robinhood are also customers.
Data source: SoFi. Chart by author
You might think that SoFi's B2B clients would be eager to find a software partner that they aren't competing against, but that isn't happening. As you can see, fintech businesses are just as eager to sign up with SoFi's Galileo as were when it was independent. The company signed up 44 new fintech clients in 2021 and the number of accounts enabled by Galileo rose 67% year over year to approximately 100 million.
SoFi's still losing money on a GAAP basis but once adjusting for non-cash expenses like the value of outstanding stock warrants the company is more than breaking even. With consumers and businesses beating a path to its door, it's just a matter of time before SoFi has significant unadjusted earnings to report too.
