Buy Now, Gain Later?

Yesterday, we mentioned that strong Black Friday sales numbers boosted e-commerce-related stocks. And that trend is continuing today with Cyber Monday numbers rolling in. 📝

As a reminder, U.S. Black Friday spending rose 7.5% YoY to a record $9.8 billion as consumers took advantage of big deals. Today, Adobe Analytics’ report indicated that Cyber Monday sales also hit a new record, rising 9.6% YoY to $12.4 billion. Both numbers topped economists’ expectations.

Overall, online spending during the five days between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday was up 7.8% YoY to $38 million. Although consumers have been cautious about spending on goods, it’s clear that promotional activity can still spur demand. 🛒

E-commerce sales rose to 16% of U.S. retail sales, but over 200 million people shopped online and in-person during these five days. According to analysts, favorable weather conditions and the Thanksgiving holiday falling earlier this year were also a tailwind.

Despite the shopping spree, reports indicate holiday shoppers still have about half of their holiday shopping left between now and the end of the year. However, they’ll continue to wait for bargains before pulling the trigger on purchases. 🔻

Given the solid economic numbers, investors and traders are once again paying attention to e-commerce-related stocks, many of which have been battered over the last few years.

One of those is the buy-now-pay-later company Affirm, which can be seen below hitting 1.5-year highs. With roughly 15% of the stock’s float sold short, traders are betting they can buy now and make gains later in $AFRM shares. We’ll have to see if the rebound continues and if more analysts join Jeffries, who upgraded the stock this morning. 🤷

Additionally, shares of PDD Holdings (the parent of online retail platforms Pinduoduo and Temu) rose 18% after its earnings and revenues soared 35% and 94% YoY. It joins JD.com, Alibaba, and other retail giants who have reported stabilizing sales this quarter but have been overshadowed by the geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and China. 👍

The Stocktwits community is bulled up on $PDD shares as they hit 2.5-year highs, betting on a continued positive trajectory for the Chinese (and global) economy. 🌏