Earnings season is officially here as the big banks weighed in this week.
Although the quarterly reports have yet to come through for the denizens of the FinTech IPO Index, there was a notable bit of earnings-related news that sent the stock of Katapult soaring, up more than 49%.
Katapult’s 4Q Update
The company said in a fourth-quarter update that its gross originations for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31 stood at about $75.2 million, up 11.3% year-over-year and above the 6-8% growth range the company provided as recently as November.
“This is expected to be the ninth consecutive quarter of year-over-year gross originations growth and the second highest level of gross originations volume in the company’s history,” Katapult said in the release. Total lease application volume grew approximately 50% year-over-year; this includes approximately 51% growth in new customer lease application volume and 50% growth in existing customer lease application volumes, per the release. Roughly 61.5% of gross originations in the fourth quarter of 2024 came from repeat customers. Kpay app-related gross originations grew approximately 52% year-over-year.
OppFi’s stock gathered 37%, and though there were no company-related headlines through the past week, recent economic data — particularly on inflation and the job markets — indicates that a new path of rate hikes from the Fed is less likely, which in turn means that loan demand would not suddenly face a new set of headwinds.
Robinhood Settles SEC Charges
Robinhood got a 12% share price boost. As reported by PYMNTS, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that two Robinhood broker-dealers have agreed to pay $45 million in combined civil penalties to settle charges that they failed to observe a “broad array” of regulatory requirements.
Robinhood Securities agreed to pay a $33.5 million penalty, while Robinhood Financial agreed to pay a $11.5 million penalty, the SEC said in its release. In addition, both companies admitted certain findings in the order, agreed to be censured and agreed to conduct an internal audit concerning off-channel communications compliance, according to the release.
Reached by PYMNTS, Robinhood provided an emailed statement saying the company is “pleased to resolve these matters.”
As reported by PYMNTS, artificial intelligence (AI) lending marketplace Upstart has introduced enhancements to its auto retail platform. The updates help car dealers streamline financing and close sales more quickly. The new enhancement includes a redesigned layout that places “critical profit information and key workflows upfront for easy access,” the company said. This lets sales managers adjust deal details such as payment and financing options into one view. There’s also a new credit dash that offers initial, complimentary FICO Auto Scores on soft pulls, downloadable credit report and fraud and compliance checks for each customer.
Upstart’s stock gained 8.9%.
Enfusion’s stock bumped higher as news came that Clearwater Analytics will acquire Enfusion for a total purchase price of approximately $1.5 billion.
“The acquisition of Enfusion accelerates Clearwater’s vision of building the first cloud-native front-to-back platform for the entire investment management industry,” the acquirer said.
Enfusion’s front-office capabilities — including IBOR, portfolio and order management — will be integrated with Clearwater’s middle- and back-office solutions and client reporting capabilities, per the announcement.
In addition, the announcement detailed that Enfusion management expects preliminary full year 2024 revenue of approximately $201 to 202 million, representing 15-16% year-on-year growth, and preliminary Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) as of Dec. 31, of approximately $210-211 million, representing 13 to 14% year on year growth.
Janover sank 50.1%, after a triple-digit leap in past weeks on a one-for-eight reverse stock split. In company-related news, the firm said it had regained compliance with NASDAQ minimum bid listing requirements.
Alkami shares gave up 1.9%. In an announcement on Friday (Jan. 10), the company said it was working in collaboration with NASA Federal Credit Union to modernize and optimize the latter’s digital banking experience for members by introducing push provisioning.
“The partnership has resulted in significant improvements in member satisfaction, digital engagement, streamlined technology integration, and comprehensive experiences across mobile and desktop,” according to the release. The new functionality lets NASA FCU members add their card to their digital wallet from within digital banking, eliminating manual entry.
