What happened
SoFi Technologies (SOFI 4.03%) saw its share price rise 2.2% this week, as of Friday at noon ET, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence. The stock had been up as much as 13.6% during the week. SoFi was trading at about $8.40 per share as of Friday at noon, up approximately 85% year to date.
It was a pretty good week for the markets overall, as the S&P 500 was up 2.1%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.8%, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 2% as of Friday at noon.
So what
It was a wild end to the week for SoFi as the U.S. Supreme Court voted 6-3 to strike down a proposal by President Joe Biden to forgive about $400 billion in federal student loan debt for roughly 43 million Americans.
This is big news for SoFi, as it started out as a student loan lender and student loan refinancing remains a huge part of its business. Obviously, with loans not forgiven, SoFi will generate income on the resumption of loan refinancings.
NASDAQ: SOFI
Key Data Points
The company has been hurt by the pause in student loan repayments that has been underway since the start of the pandemic in 2020. But earlier this month, the pause ended as part of the resolution in the debt ceiling debate, and students would again start to repay federal loans sometime after June 30, when the latest extension expires.
The stock immediately surged after the Supreme Court's decision and trading was halted at 10:35 a.m. ET as a circuit breaker was triggered. Trading resumed about five minutes later and it had its intended effect as things settled down. After trading at over $9 per share, it went back down to about $8.40 per share by noon ET.
Now what
The stock price settled back down as the Supreme Court's decision was likely baked in already. The end of the pause was already in place and the market was probably not surprised, given the 6-3 conservative edge on the court.
But it's excellent news for SoFi and its shareholders, as the company said it had lost some $300 million in revenue since the payment pause went into effect in March of 2020.
Biden was planning to address the nation on the decision Friday after, saying in a tweet, "this fight isn't over."
SoFi reports second-quarter earnings around Aug. 10 and should have more details on the broader impact of this then, if not sooner.
