10:15 AM EDT, 05/22/2024 (MT Newswires) -- CFRA, an independent research provider, has provided MT Newswires with the following research alert. Analysts at CFRA have summarized their opinion as follows:

We initiate our target at $24, on an EV/sales multiple of 4.5x our FY 25 (Jun.) sales estimate of $2.7B. We set both our FY 24 and FY 25 loss per share at -$1.93 and FY 26's at -$1.26. As a major beneficiary of the pandemic-induced surge in e-commerce and flexible payment options, AFRM now faces slowing growth against heavyweight competitors. We expect AFRM to see a 43% revenue rise in FY 24, driven by a rebound in consumer demand and increased transaction volume (GMV: +60%) as AFRM rapidly expands its merchant network and consumer base. Yet, we expect this strong growth to be temporary, as intensifying competition and a normalization of demand causes AFRM's revenue growth to taper off to a more moderate 20% pace in both FY 25 and FY 26. AFRM's growth at all costs approach has resulted in severely unprofitable margins (CY 23 EBIT margin of -49% vs. the peer average of 5%), which we anticipate to remain a headwind, along with other macro challenges (higher interest rates persisting and increased regulation).