What Happened
It was a wild day for Marqeta Inc. (MQ 1.89%) as its stock price sank like a stone after the opening bell on Thursday, dropping some 34% at 9:37 a.m. ET. At 9:41 a.m., trading momentarily halted for a limit-up, limit-down (LULD) pause due to excess volatility.
The stock began trading again at around 9:46 a.m. ET, according to The Fly, and rebounded quickly thereafter. It was down only 2.2% to $10.96 per share at the closing bell.
What caused the volatility for Marqeta?
So what
The sharp morning decline may have been related to the news delivered by Fidelity National Information Services (FIS -0.49%) that its payment network was selected by Block (SQ 0.51%) to power its Cash App Card, as Fidelity National President Stephanie Ferris said on the second-quarter earnings call Thursday morning.
The market reacted swiftly under the assumption that this win by Fidelity National would infringe upon Marqetaʻs relationship with Block. Marqeta provides the payment infrastructure for Blockʻs virtual debit card.
But then, KeyBanc analyst Josh Beck released a note later in the morning saying he does not see this Fidelity win infringing upon Marqetaʻs relationship with Block. A Truist (TFC 0.06%) analyst made a similar call, and Marqetaʻs stock quickly recovered.
Now what
Earlier this week, KeyBancʻs Beck raised the price target for Marqeta to $11, which is pretty much where it is now.
Marqeta reports Q2 earnings next Wednesday, Aug. 10, so there may be more news on the impact, if any, on the Block-Fidelity deal.
