What happened
Shares of the one-stop-shop financial services company and digital bank SoFi Technologies (SOFI -0.72%) traded more than 8% higher today as of 10:11 a.m. ET after a regulatory filing this morning showed that CEO Anthony Noto recently purchased $5 million worth of shares.
So what
It's always a positive indicator to the market when the CEO of a company purchases the stock because it shows they believe the company is undervalued and the CEO now has skin in the game. Noto purchased the stock for prices ranging from $4.29 to $4.58.
Like many fintech and tech stocks this year, SoFi's stock has been crushed in the face of rising interest rates and market volatility. The stock is down nearly 69% this year.
The business is still losing a lot of money, expenses are high, and the company has struggled with some regulatory-related issues including the student loan moratorium and now inquiries into its crypto activities.
Now what
I go back and forth on SoFi as an investment. I can certainly see the appeal of its financial super app, which allows customers to get a lot of their banking needs all in one place digitally.
But the execution really isn't there yet. Expenses continue to outpace revenue and although the company has grown members significantly it seems like it's spending too much money to get these members when you consider how much money its financial services division is losing.
The way the company is holding and accounting for loans could also become an issue if the economy takes a bad turn next year. SoFi may end up being a winner in the long term but I'm just not there yet.
