Quarterly earnings results are a good time to check in on a company’s progress, especially compared to its peers in the same sector. Today we are looking at Sallie Mae (NASDAQ:SLM) and the best and worst performers in the consumer finance industry.
Consumer finance companies provide loans and credit products to individuals. Growth drivers include increasing consumer spending, financial inclusion initiatives in developing markets, and digital lending platforms reducing distribution costs. Challenges include credit risk during economic downturns, regulatory scrutiny of lending practices, and intensifying competition from traditional banks and fintech firms offering innovative credit solutions.
The 19 consumer finance stocks we track reported a satisfactory Q4. As a group, revenues were in line with analysts’ consensus estimates while next quarter’s revenue guidance was 1% below.
Amidst this news, share prices of the companies have had a rough stretch. On average, they are down 11% since the latest earnings results.
Originally created as a government-sponsored enterprise before privatizing in 2004, Sallie Mae (NASDAQ:SLM) is a financial services company that provides private education loans, savings products, and educational resources to help students and families pay for college.
Sallie Mae reported revenues of $454.1 million, up 16.4% year on year. This print exceeded analysts’ expectations by 1%. Overall, it was a strong quarter for the company with a beat of analysts’ EPS and revenue estimates.
Sallie Mae Total Revenue
The stock is down 23.5% since reporting and currently trades at $20.43.
Using data analytics to serve the millions of Americans with less-than-perfect credit scores, Atlanticus Holdings (NASDAQ:ATLC) provides technology and services that help lenders offer credit products to consumers often overlooked by traditional financing providers.
Atlanticus Holdings reported revenues of $609.2 million, up 97.4% year on year, outperforming analysts’ expectations by 7.1%. The business had an exceptional quarter with a solid beat of analysts’ revenue and EPS estimates.
Atlanticus Holdings Total Revenue
Atlanticus Holdings pulled off the biggest analyst estimates beat and fastest revenue growth among its peers. The market seems content with the results as the stock is up 2.8% since reporting. It currently trades at $54.21.
Spun off from Sallie Mae in 2014 to handle the company’s loan servicing and collection operations, Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) provides education loan servicing and business processing solutions that help manage federal student loans, private education loans, and government services.
Navient reported revenues of $144 million, down 11.7% year on year, falling short of analysts’ expectations by 7.6%. It was a disappointing quarter as it posted a significant miss of analysts’ net interest income estimates and a significant miss of analysts’ revenue estimates.
Navient delivered the slowest revenue growth in the group. As expected, the stock is down 32.2% since the results and currently trades at $8.17.
Processing over 829 million transactions daily and connecting billions of cards to 150 million merchant locations worldwide, Visa (NYSE:V) operates one of the world’s largest electronic payments networks, facilitating secure money movement across more than 200 countries through its VisaNet processing platform.
Visa reported revenues of $10.9 billion, up 14.6% year on year. This print beat analysts’ expectations by 2%. It was a satisfactory quarter as it also logged a decent beat of analysts’ revenue estimates.
The stock is down 8.3% since reporting and currently trades at $304.42.
Born from the former GMAC (General Motors Acceptance Corporation) and rebranded in 2010, Ally Financial (NYSE:ALLY) operates a digital-first bank offering auto financing, insurance, mortgage lending, and investment services to consumers and commercial clients.
Ally Financial reported revenues of $2.17 billion, up 3.7% year on year. This number topped analysts’ expectations by 0.9%. It was a strong quarter as it also put up a beat of analysts’ EPS estimates and a narrow beat of analysts’ revenue estimates.
The stock is down 7% since reporting and currently trades at $39.47.
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