What happened
Remember when fintech stocks were the darlings of the stock market?
Lately, that's felt like a distant memory, an impression compounded by the latest news coming from Marqeta (MQ 2.26%). S&P Global Market Intelligence data shows that the next-generation payments processing company's shares have lost more than 21% of their value week to date as of Thursday night.
So what
It was certainly an eventful week for Marqeta, to put it mildly. On Wednesday after market hours, the company announced its second-quarter figures, and the immediate investor reaction was delight -- Marqeta beat the collective analyst estimates for the the top- and bottom-line results.
That happiness didn't last long, however; in a tersely worded regulatory filing the next day, the company revealed that not one but two of its top executives were heading for the exit door. The man at the top of the ladder, CEO Jason Gardner, is stepping down and will take up the position of executive chairman of Marqeta's board once a successor is appointed. As if that weren't concerning enough, Gardner is the founder of the company.
But wait, there was more! In the same filing, the fintech stock wrote that Vidya Peters resigned as its COO on Tuesday; her move is effective on the end of the day on Saturday, Sept. 3.
Now what
While no executive lasts forever, even in the best of companies at the best of times, the departure of two almost simultaneously is quite worrying. It doesn't help that Marqeta is being tight-lipped about the pair of moves, providing no reasons for either departure. It isn't surprising, then, that the twin exits are significantly overshadowing the rather positive developments packed into those second-quarter results.
