Sign with logo at the headquarters of mobile payment company Square in the South of Market (SoMa) ... [+]
Our Fintech Stocks Theme - which includes digital payments and lending players, card networks, and insurance technology players - remains down by about 1% year-to-date, compared to the broader S&P 500 which has gained 17% year-to-date. The underperformance comes as investors rotate out of technology and high-growth names into cyclical stocks to play the reopening following the Covid-19 lockdowns. However, the theme should come back into the spotlight following fintech major Square’s recent announcement that it would buy Afterpay, an Australian buy now, pay later company in a $29 billion, all-stock transaction. The deal is significant for Square
Within our Fintech Stocks Theme, Square has been the strongest performer, with its stock up by roughly 23% year-to-date. On the other side, Lemonade, an insurance technology player, has fared the worst, with its stock down by 30% this year.
[7/13/2021] Square, Lemonade, Fiserv: Fintech Stocks Are Underperforming. Time To Buy?
Our Fintech theme includes digital payments and lending players, card networks, and insurance technology players that could potentially disrupt the $1.5 trillion-plus U.S. insurance and financial services industry. These companies are likely to be big beneficiaries of the secular shift to digital payments from physical payments, increasing adoption of e-commerce, and the need for improving financial inclusion in the U.S. and overseas. For perspective, about 25% of U.S. households are either unbanked or underbanked per the FDIC, and technology could help to bridge the divide. The fintech business is also likely to be very lucrative. Unlike the traditional financial industry, which incurs high costs relating to branches, staffing, customer acquisition, and regulatory overhead, fintech players largely operate virtually, with asset-light models giving them more scope to improve margins. Despite the opportunities, the theme has underperformed considerably this year, returning just about 2% year-to-date, compared to the S&P 500 which remains up by almost 16% over the same period. Below is a bit more about some of the stocks in our theme and how they have been faring.
PayPal
Square, another major digital payments player, has seen its stock gain about 12% year-to-date, as its Square Cash app - which was best known for peer-to-peer payments, continues to push into banking and investing-related services. Much like PayPal, the company is also betting big on the crypto space.
Stock Price
SQ
Visa is the largest global electronic payment solutions company. The stock has underperformed this year, gaining just about 9% year-to-date, as the Covid-19 related travel slowdown resulted in lower cross-border-transaction volumes. However, with the economy reopening, the company is witnessing an uptick in consumer spending levels and this should bode well for the stock.
Fiserv is a company that provides financial technology solutions for banks, thrifts, credit unions, securities broker-dealers, leasing and finance companies, and retailers. The stock remains down by around 4.4% year-to-date.
Lemonade is an insurance technology player focused on renters and homeowners insurance, pet insurance, and term life insurance. The company, which went public last year, remains the worst performer within our theme, declining 21% year-to-date. The selloff is likely due to mixed quarterly results and the expiry of the post-IPO lockup period.
Think cryptocurrency could disrupt the banking industry? Looking for upside from Bitcoin adoption, without buying into the cryptocurrency itself? You can find more about our theme on Cryptocurrency Stocks
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