Affirm (NASDAQ:AFRM) shares jumped more than 8% intra-day today after Mizuho Securities analysts raised their price target on the company to $20.00 from $17.00 and reiterated their Buy rating, citing the growing traction of Debit+.
The analysts noted that Google Trends search data for Affirm’s Debit+ (a hybrid pay now, buy now, pay later debit card) looks promising. The analysts compared the increase in Debit+ searches to the early buzz surrounding Square’s Cash Card in 2017.
Based on their bottom-up model, the analysts suggest that if Debit+ follows a similar trajectory as Square’s Cash Card, it could potentially boost the company’s medium-term volume compound annual growth rates (CAGRs) from the mid-20s to the mid-30s. While this may result in a dilution of revenue less transaction costs (RLTC) as a percentage of gross merchandise volume (GMV), the incremental volume and revenue growth are expected to be positive catalysts and help offset any potential sales challenges from upcoming student loan refinancing.