Affirm (AFRM)

Technology

Galliano's Financials Research

Victor Galliano sees the disparity in valuation between AFRM and Klarna as more of a downside risk for AFRM than an upside opportunity for KLAR; the intense competition in the BNPL marketplace is a potential “banana skin” for its premium growth expectations and he believes that AFRM should lose some of its “scarcity value” as a near pure play on BNPL in view of KLAR’s listing. With regards to Victor’s recommendations on payments companies in general, he maintains Buy ratings on PagSeguro, Nexi and PayPal for their value credentials primarily and upgrades KakaoPay from Sell to Neutral, following its marked de-rating.

- 19 September, 2025

Ranking the winners and losers in Global Payments

Technology

Galliano's Financials Research

Victor Galliano introduces a proprietary payments scorecard, ranking companies based on weighted metrics including valuation, margins, EBITDA growth and valuation-to-growth. PagSeguro and Nexi remain top picks due to deep value characteristics and strong scorecard rankings. PayPal is upgraded to Buy, replacing Visa, supported by improved margins, stabilising net take rate and attractive valuation. Affirm is upgraded to Neutral, while KakaoPay is newly rated Sell. The stock has surged on stablecoin speculation, but Victor warns of underestimated regulatory risks, especially following Bank of Korea’s recent caution on digital assets.

- 11 July, 2025

PayPal (PYPL)

Financials

Cerundolo Investment Research

The stock appears to be in the initial innings of forming a multi-year base with positive money flow.

- 04 October, 2024

PayPal (PYPL)

Financials

Paragon Intel

Enrique Lores replaces John Donahoe as Independent Board Chair. Lores has overseen more than 98% alpha destruction as a member of PYPL’s board since he joined in 2021 and has not created alpha as a CEO nor a board member in his career. In 2023 he received a "Bad Compliance Record" tag because of his "Level 3" Disclosure Controls and Internal Controls F.L.A.G. (Financial, Legal, Audit, Governance) Risks at HP Inc. Paragon also cautions about his incentive compensation - after only hitting 56% of his incentive targets from 2020-2022, Lores was able to convince the board to materially lower his 2023 incentive thresholds...and he was able to meet or beat all of those targets last year.

- 09 August, 2024

PayPal (PYPL)

Technology

Paragon Intel

Evidence suggests CEO Schulman is not the leader to put out the fire he started - has missed numerous opportunities to keep the company ahead of an ever-rising competitive intensity in the fintech space. Schulman is a chronic underperformer who has destroyed (72%) alpha during his CEO tenures at PYPL and Virgin Mobile USA. His ManagementTrack Rating is well-below average at 3.0 (vs. median rating of 4.9 across Paragon's platform) and he has 18 level "2" or "3" audit, financial, and governance red flags identified including material impairments, Benford's Law, Financial Restatements, and Internal Controls during both of his CEO tenures.

- 02 September, 2022

PayPal (PYPL)

Technology

Obex Capital Research

Guess it wasn’t just a pig through a python…but is this a compounder on sale? While eBay alone is not the reason PYPL’s stock crashed 25% this week, Aaron Gabin believes management kitchen sinked this quarter and its guidance. Once PYPL works its way through the tough comps, the narrative for 2H22 is a great one…reaccelerating growth, which will put it back in the hearts of GARP investors and compounding earnings 20%+. He thinks 2022 EPS comes in closer to $5 than the $4.70ish guidance and if PYPL returns to 20% EPS growth in 2023, we’re looking at $6 in earnings, putting it closer to a 22x P/E on today’s stock price, which is a very attractive entry point.

- 04 February, 2022

Ceridian (CDAY)

Technology

Veritas Investment Research

Underappreciated opportunity - CDAY’s Dayforce Wallet is the company’s first foray into a very different segment of the fintech ecosystem: digital wallets and earned wage access solutions. In this industry primer, Veritas assess the competitive landscape and compare CDAY's offering to products launched by Apple, Alphabet, PayPal, Square, Mastercard, Visa, Tencent and Alibaba. Veritas think the long-term gains of developing a fintech ecosystem are incredibly attractive and CDAY’s unique distribution advantage will help carve itself a piece of the market. Estimates that the module can generate ~US$220m of annual net earnings and be worth US$19 per share.

- 09 July, 2021