It’s no exaggeration to say that SoFi is a company in transition. Prior to 2022, SoFi was primarily known as a personal finance app that sought to compete with traditional payment and credit card companies.
Then, not long ago, SoFi signaled a fundamental shift in its business model by agreeing to buy out a tiny California-based community bank. 💰 This wasn’t a run-of-the-mill acquisition, as it marked the beginning of SoFi’s evolution from just another personal finance app (of which there are many in the 2020’s) to a bona fide neo-bank.
Soon after the community bank buyout, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the U.S. Federal Reserve approved SoFi’s application to operate a bank subsidiary, known as SoFi Bank. And so, SoFi had its banking charter and the company’s customers could (hopefully) look forward to more competitive lending interest rates as well as high-yielding interest in their checking and savings accounts.
That’s all fine and good, but in the world of stock trading, the bottom line is the bottom line. So, the billion-dollar question is: Has SoFi’s neo-bank ambitions translated to better financials?
The answer to that question came fast and furiously today when SoFi revealed its first-quarter 2022 fiscal results. CEO Anthony Noto proudly proclaimed that his company “delivered another quarter of great results, with record adjusted net revenue up 49% year-over-year” as well as “a seventh consecutive quarter of positive adjusted EBITDA.”
SoFi stock still lost today, unfortunately. $SOFI stumbled 12.06% at the close and another 2% after hours. 🤷