Affirm Shares Have Collapsed But CEO Says Company is ‘In Control’

Shares of buy now and pay later company Affirm have taken a fall in recent months, but CEO Michael Linford is still optimistic.

The stock saw a plunge of 80% from its pandemic high of nearly $170 amid “cyclical risks” and with the broader market pulling back.

And despite recently raising its forward guidance for the 2022 fiscal year, shares crashed over 10% on Monday following a report from Bloomberg that the company halted the sale of an asset-backed security that would have refinanced an existing revolving securitization.

Linford however has said that company performance “remains strong by virtually every measure” and leadership will continue to focus on shaping the trajectory of the firm.

“I think that we don’t measure ourselves against the stock price,” Linford told Yahoo Finance Live. “That doesn’t mean we don’t care, because we do. But it does mean that we’re trying to focus on the things that we can control, which is scaling our business.”

According to the CEO, Affirm will continue to generate strong cash flow with adjusted operating margins in the range of 20% to 30%. He is satisfied with the way the company’s scaling efforts are progressing and said that Affirm will continue to execute upon its core strategy.

“That being said, specifically with respect to the trends you’re seeing in credit, the most important thing for folks to know is that we’re in control,” he added.

“CEO] Max [Levchin] and I talk a lot about how we make lots of little decisions. Affirm’s underwriting model is tuned to specific transactions. We can approve any one transaction or decline the next. And that gives us the incredible control to pick the level of loss that we have in the business.”

Affirm recently increased its fiscal 2022 revenue guidance up to at least $1,310 million from a previous projected range of between $1,290 and $1,310 million. The CEO described the current state of Affirm’s unit economics as being “robust,” pointing to growth in both GMV and revenue.

Disclaimer: We have no position in any of the companies mentioned and have not been compensated for this article.