BNPL Firm Affirm Boosts Outlook, Credits Partnerships Boosting GMV

Buy now pay later (BNPL) giant Affirm boosted its business performance outlook for the third quarter and full-year 2022 from its original guidance released on Feb. 10, according to a company press release on Monday (March 14).  

The company said its fiscal quarter-to-date financial performance “exceeded expectations,” with strong gross merchandise volume (GMV) growth driven by enterprise partnerships, anticipated to be a minimum of $3.71 billion for the quarter, up from $3.61 billion to $3.71 billion. 

“Excluding transaction costs, the company’s operating expenses have trended below expectations for the quarter, resulting in a better-than-expected adjusted operating loss as a percentage of revenue thus far,” according to the release. 

Affirm now forecasts fiscal third-quarter revenue of at least $335 million, up from the previous forecast of $325 million to $335 million.

Operation loss as a percentage of revenue is expected to be 15% or better, instead of the previously projected 19% to 21%.  

The Silicon Valley company also anticipates quarterly revenue less transaction costs of at least $148 million, up from $138 million to $143 million. The improved outlook is a reflection of “outperformance in both network revenue and transaction costs, including provision for credit losses.”

Affirm forecasts revenue of $1.31 billion for the full fiscal year over the previous $1.29 billion to $1.31 billion. Revenue less transaction costs is expected to be $600 million instead of $585 million to $595 million.

Adjusted operating loss as a percentage of revenue is anticipated to be 11% to 13% for the full fiscal year versus 12% to 14% in its prior guidance. Affirm is also forecasting a full fiscal year GMV of at least $14.78 billion instead of $14.58 billion to $14.78 billion.

Shares of Affirm were down 9.8% to $27.82 at 12:30 p.m. in New York. The stock dropped 71% over the past three months.

Ree more: Affirm Stock Slides After Early Release of Earnings Results

Shares in Affirm dropped as much as 21% on Feb. 10 after the company mistakenly tweeted a portion of its second-quarter results ahead of schedule. Once the partial information was released, the company posted the entire results during the regular trading session, rather than waiting until after the close of trading.