FinTech IPO Index Flat as Billtrust Surges on Go-Private Deal

Tech stocks have had a reckoning in the past several days — a rally proved short lived, a blip.

But the FinTech IPO Index managed to see at least some gains through the past five sessions. Slight gains, to be sure — the group was up less than 1%.

No matter how the overall markets act Friday (Sept. 30), the broader S&P 500 Stock Index is headed to its third straight quarter of losses. That’s a feat not seen in more than 10 years. The year-to-date performance of the FinTech IPO names has been, to put it mildly, similarly pressured. The index is down more than 44%.

And yet there still were some double-digit gains, as measured cumulatively over the past several days.

Chief among them: Billtrust. A rally of about 49% still had staying power through the week.

Billtrust has been sold to the investment organization EQT in an all-cash transaction that values Billtrust’s equity at approximately $1.7 billion. The go-private deal comes after the company went public last year through a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) deal.

Triterras was up more than 16%, although no company-specific news seemed to drive the uptrend.

Blend gained about 3%, on the heels of news that PNC Bank said it would be digitizing more of its mortgage application process through a strategic partnership with the FinTech. Customers will now be able to apply digitally for a mortgage and import bank or payroll information through providing the right credentials. The effect will be to cut down on the time it takes to locate documents.

Robinhood was up about 2%, having announced this week that Circle Internet Financial, the issuer of USD Coin (USDC) and Euro Coin (EUROC), has partnered with Robinhood to make it easier for customers to learn about and use USDC. With the partnership, customers on Robinhood Crypto and the new Robinhood Wallet can now buy, sell and receive USDC

In addition, the companies will develop in-app educational modules that cover the fundamentals of USDC and stablecoins. Customers who complete the free courses will be eligible to earn rewards paid in USDC.

These gains were tempered by losses in the likes of 9F, which slipped 14.6%, trailed by NerdWallet, off 13.6%.

Huize sank about 8% during the week. The company reported second-quarter earnings results that showed that gross written premiums were up 30.5%. Renewal premiums facilitated across the platform were up 59.9%.