Investors in the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC 1.65%) have had to deal with disappointment for much of 2022. Bear market pressures continued to weigh on the index Wednesday morning, with the Nasdaq opening lower by about 1%.

Growth stocks have been a thorn in the Nasdaq's side in terms of performance this year, with many seeing much more substantial declines than the overall index. That trend continued on Wednesday, with both Affirm Holdings (AFRM 3.13%) and CarGurus (CARG 3.47%) seeing dramatic losses after their most recent financial reports. Below, you can learn more about what these two companies said and why shareholders seem increasingly spooked about their longer-term prospects.

Affirm deals with macroeconomic pressures

Shares of Affirm Holdings were down 13% in premarket trading on Wednesday morning. The buy now, pay later specialist announced fiscal first-quarter results for the period ending Sept. 30, and shareholders showed their concern about the company's future prospects even though the numbers looked reasonably solid.

Affirm posted gross merchandise volume of $4.4 billion for the quarter, up sharply from the $2.7 billion it had in the year-earlier period. Total transactions nearly doubled to 13.3 million, and revenue was up 34% to $362 million. Affirm still lost money, but adjusted operating losses narrowed considerably from year-ago levels, and the number of active consumers jumped by 6 million over the past 12 months to 14.7 million. Indeed, Affirm's results would have been even better had it not been for the poor performance of major customer Peloton Interactive, whose influence cost the buy now, pay later company about 12 percentage points of revenue growth.

Affirm also made adjustments to some of its guidance to reflect changing macroeconomic conditions. With interest rates now expected to climb to a higher rate than previously projected, Affirm cut its guidance on revenue after subtracting transaction costs by $45 million, to a new range of $715 million to $765 million for fiscal 2023. Moreover, negative operating margin projections even on an adjusted basis show that Affirm could take a while to start making money consistently.

With the declines, Affirm has lost 80% of its value since the beginning of 2022. If an economic slowdown makes consumers less likely to spend and more likely to default on their obligations, it could spell even more trouble for the company going forward.

CarGurus hits the brakes

Meanwhile, shares of CarGurus were down even more sharply, falling over 25% at the market open. The online automotive platform provider's third-quarter financial results fell short of what investors had hoped to see.

At first glance, CarGurus' revenue growth of 91% year over year during the period seemed to be a huge boost to its business. However, nearly all of those gains came from product revenue related to its expanded digital offerings, and gains in the marketplace and wholesale segments were limited to just 3% and 4%, respectively. Moreover, CarGurus had a substantial drop in its adjusted net income, which declined 36% to $27.3 million and resulted in adjusted earnings of $0.21 per share.

Most of CarGurus' business metrics were relatively flat. Paying dealer counts rose 2% to 31,286, while average revenue per dealer rose 4% to $5,800. Declining consumer engagement and traffic metrics internationally offset some gains in the U.S. market.

Moreover, CarGurus now expects full-year 2022 revenue of $1.638 billion to $1.688 billion, resulting in adjusted earnings of $1.02 to $1.05 per share. With the $10 stock having traded above $40 per share as recently as April, value investors might be tempted to consider CarGurus, but it's unclear how sustainable the company's results will be in 2023 and beyond if automotive markets deteriorate from the pandemic-era highs.