SoFi Technologies (SOFI 3.00%) has certainly taken a beating this year, but today was a good day for the fintech as it gained 6% and finished the day at $6.26 per share. SoFiʻs share price is still down about 60% year to date (YTD).
SoFi, a consumer finance company and banking-as-a-service provider, most likely jumped on favorable comments from an industry analyst.
So what
An analyst at Mizuho lowered SoFiʻs price target from $9 to $7 on Thursday, but the investment bank maintained its buy rating on the stock. The Mizuho analyst also said that SoFi is better positioned to handle a recession than its fintech peers. SoFiʻs diverse revenue streams and durable business model have been cited as its key advantages.
SoFiʻs business model indeed differentiates itself over most of its fintech peers in two important ways. One, it had a bank charter through its acquisition of Golden Pacific Bancorp in February. This allows the bank to take deposits and generate its own loans without having to partner with another bank and share revenue. Two, through its acquisition of Galileo Financial Technologies in 2020, SoFi has a banking-as-a-service platform that it can sell to other companies who want to offer their own banking services.
Now what
While this bullish take by an analyst moved the markets for a day, keep in mind that the analyst did, in fact, lower the price target.
SoFi does appear to be a company with excellent long-term prospects, given the aforementioned advantages, but investors should remain patient and cautious with the economic outlook so cloudy right now, especially for a fast-growing but still unprofitable business.
