By Mackenzie Tatananni

Fintech stocks were getting lots of love from Wall Street on Tuesday, with both SoFi Technologies and Affirm Holdings notching upgrades and accolades.

J.P. Morgan upgraded SoFi to Overweight from Neutral on Tuesday and reiterated a $31 price target, suggesting more than 40% upside from current levels. Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley analysts upgraded Affirm to Overweight from Equal-Weight, calling it "arguably the best fintech asset" in its coverage universe.

SoFi stock has declined 10% since the company posted fourth-quarter earnings on Friday. Expectations were high heading into the print, and shares have been battered by recent uncertainty stemming from President Donald Trump's proposal of a one-year 10% cap on credit card interest rates. SoFi aims to become what CEO Anthony Noto calls a "one-stop-shop" spanning the areas of banking, loans, and investing.

The fintech's solid earnings and better-than-expected guidance for the full year didn't trigger a rise in shares, but they created "the type of entry point we had been waiting for," the analysts wrote.

Shares closed a touch under $22 on Tuesday. But SoFi's fundamentals are solid, in the firm's view.

"Momentum in the business is undeniable, as SoFi continues to add new members and deposits at a record pace, while other fintechs report deposit outflows or stagnant member growth," J.P. Morgan wrote Tuesday. (This growing divide was highlighted Tuesday by PayPal's latest earnings, which broadly missed estimates.)

J.P. Morgan believes SoFi's investments in marketing, increased scale, and its nearly $40 billion loan portfolio -- among other factors -- make the company "deserving of a premium valuation," analysts said. As of Monday, the stock traded traded at around 36 times forward earnings. This compares to 22 times for the benchmark S&P 500.

Similarly in the case of Affirm, Morgan Stanley analysts pointed to the recent weakness that has battered the broader fintech sector, resulting in a buying opportunity.The company is a "proven executor," analysts wrote, citing its differentiated product offering in merchant-funded 0% APR promotions.

The firm did lower its price target to $76 from $83 in a separate note Tuesday, implying it could rise more than 20% from current levels. Affirm stock declined 0.5% Tuesday.

Crucially, recent concerns about slowing growth in Affirm's buy-now, pay-later business have been unfounded, the analysts asserted. Their analysis of industry spending trends suggests that broader BNPL share gains will continue through expanded credit availability and broader distribution.

Morgan Stanley believes Affirm is a standout in a burgeoning market -- thanks to its ability to attract and retain spend from high-income customers, calling it a "key differentiating factor that will support its incremental share gains."

Moreover, recent announcements regarding Affirm's partnerships with Fiserv and FIS have the potential to drive meaningful change in Affirm's business over the next year or two, Morgan Stanley added.

In February 2025, FIS announced that it had partnered with Affirm to integrate BNPL capabilities directly into its debit card processing platform. Just last month, Fiserv said it was working with Affirm to bring pay-over-time capabilities to debit card programs for financial institutions.

If Affirm convinces just one big bank to switch from their old tech providers, the company could get more new users and spending than it currently has in its existing card business, the analysts said.

Write to Mackenzie Tatananni at mackenzie.tatananni@barrons.com

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February 03, 2026 16:08 ET (21:08 GMT)

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