Upstart remains weighed down by worries over delinquency rates despite growing numbers, because it relies solely on lending. A safer route is fintech companies that don't depend only on lending, where investors feel more confident. x.comÂ
Feroce Research
Thematic Research, Technical/Macro/Fundamental Analysis & Quantitative Positioning
Upstart has zero moat, and a lending platform supposedly so much more efficient than traditional methods should not be losing money. @mukund notes it is intentionally burning capital to blitz-scale into home and auto lending, and that at a 55x P/E, a 10-year yield above 4.4% is a brutal headwind. x.comÂ
Upstart has no AI underwriting moat; it is simply winning fewer personal-loan customers in a higher-rate environment while spending heavily. Originations rose 61% to $3.4 billion on auto (+300%) and home (+250%) with personal loans flat, but it returned to a GAAP net loss as contribution margin fell to 50% from 55% and operating expenses rose 45% to about $316 million. If the 10-year stays above 4.4%, a 55x P/E faces brutal valuation gravity, though hitting the $294M EBITDA guide would help. … Show more
Upstart should make a big comeback once interest rates come down, since high rates are what really hurt the stock. x.comÂ
Better Home & Finance is now the favorite lending tech company, even over Upstart, though riskier because it is still very early. Its HELOC with a credit card turns home equity into a revolving credit line, making borrowers long-term customers and generating fees, and a Coinbase partnership lets borrowers use bitcoin or USDC as loan collateral. It grows at 40% yet trades at half Upstart's valuation, with fair value estimated at $40-50. x.comÂ
Upstart is stuck near its 52-week low, and nothing will help it without rate cuts, which look unlikely anytime soon. x.comÂ
Upstart's earnings look very strong, so a continued selloff looks like a buying opportunity unless something serious was missed. Nearly all of the bottom-line miss came from heavy sales and marketing spending to drive adoption of its new home loans business, spending that serves long-term investors rather than impressing day traders. x.com x.comÂ
Pagaya, Upstart and Root are money-losing companies, not a rebound story. They pay no dividends, so their yield is zero, and any comparison with the 2021 SPAC-peak mania is not a long-term trend. This rebuts a post the author replies to, which argued these fintechs show steady quarter-over-quarter EPS growth on sustainable revenue, trade at 10-year lows with rising dividend yields, and could 2x or 3x. x.comÂ
SoFi's improving credit and fee mix support its long-term earnings case. Q3 originations hit $16.9B; estimated all-in annualized personal-loan charge-offs, excluding delinquent sales, fell 80 bps YoY to 3.4%. Fee revenue hit $571M, or 42% of total. Management says current capital and organic generation can fund 2027 growth without a raise. $100 a share is aggressive on 2027 earnings; a multi-year path needs 25-40% revenue growth, wider margins and credit discipline. x.com x.com x.com x.com x.com … Show more
A clearing of the gloomy environment will make lending stocks the next multibaggers. SoFi, Upstart and Klarna are down now, much as many cybersecurity stocks were before rising two- to fourfold in under six months. Better Home & Finance (-75% YTD), LendingTree (-55%) and Rocket (-47%) join them among lending names whose current prices will look dirt cheap in 2028-2029. x.com x.comÂ
Inter & Co's newer cohorts do not mature at the same rates as older ones despite higher starting ARPACs, putting it at risk of serious trouble in the next credit cycle. Its leverage is much higher than Nubank's, yet its risk-adjusted returns are 5-6% against Nubank's 10-12%. Inter's ROE is below the 16%+ cost of capital for Brazilian fintech banks, leaving it unclear whether it can earn above that hurdle over time. x.comÂ