Affirm reported fiscal second-quarter earnings earlier than intended
Affirm Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:AFRM) is down 9.9% to trade at $52.90 at last check, extending yesterday's 21.4% dip, after it accidentally released its quarterly report earlier than expected. The buy-now-pay-later name was slated to release fiscal second-quarter earnings after yesterday's close, but its official Twitter account made a blunder when it released results in the middle of the session. For the quarter, Affirm reported losses of 57 cents per share, which were wider than Wall Street's forecasts, while revenue beat expectations.
Analysts were quick to respond, with no fewer than five brokerages slashing their price objectives. Jefferies chimed in with arguably the harshest bear note, downgrading AFRM to "underperform" while cutting its target price to $45. Coming into today, analysts were mixed on their stance toward Affirm stock, with five rating the security a "hold," versus seven that said "buy" or better.
Options traders are taking notice, too. So far, 90,000 calls and 87,000 puts have exchanged hands, which is four times the intraday average. Most popular by far is the weekly 2/11 50-strike put, followed by the February 50 put, with new positions being opened at both.
Before yesterday's gaffe, things were looking good for Affirm stock. The security surged above its 40-day moving average, which had pressured shares since November, but that late-session plunge cut this rally short. AFRM is now down 62.6% in the last 12 months.