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OppFi Soars 222% in a Year: Should Investors Buy, Hold, or Fold?

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Key Takeaways

  • OppFi uses a partner-bank model to serve underbanked borrowers with sub-650 credit scores.
  • AI and ML advancements raised OPFI's auto-approval rate to 79% in Q1 2025, improving efficiency.
  • OPFI shows strong liquidity with a Q1 current ratio of 1.73, above the industry average of 1.22.

OppFi Inc. (OPFI - Free Report) shares have surged 222.1% in a year. This exponential growth exceeds the 10.3% rise of its industry and the 11% rally in the Zacks S&P 500 Composite.

OPFI performed significantly better than its industry peers, Mastercard (MA - Free Report) and PayPal (PYPL - Free Report) . Mastercard and PayPal have gained 24% and 18.1% for the past year, respectively.

1-Year Price Performance

 

Zacks Investment ResearchImage Source: Zacks Investment Research

 

OppFi has demonstrated an outstanding performance during the six-month time frame as well. The stock has increased 44.5% outperforming Mastercard’s and PayPal’s 6.3% and 15.1% growth, respectively.

The exponential growth in OPFI’s stock over the past year is appealing to investors, making their next step extremely crucial. Let us delve deeper to determine which move would be most beneficial for investors.

OppFi’s Successful Customer-First Strategy

OPFI’s bank-partner model enables it to execute its customer-centric approach efficiently. In this model, the company targets the population that falls in the Fair Issac Corporation score range below the 650 mark, wherein traditional lending options are lacking. In doing so, the company’s reach across the U.S. expands, thereby allowing it to serve a higher number of underserved consumers who can access credit.

Over the years, OppFi’s technological advancements have enabled it to serve customers quickly. By incorporating AI and machine learning (ML) models, the company has seen an increase in its auto-approval rate to 79% in the first quarter of 2025 from 73% in the same quarter last year. This has helped the company reduce costs and benefit customers by providing faster decision-making and a smoother experience.

During the first quarter of 2025, OppLoans received a 4.7 out of 5-star rating on Trustpilot based on more than 4,900 reviews, which strongly reflects the company’s successful consumer-first strategy. Additionally, a Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 78 shows a highly loyal customer base willing to promote its brand. These tangible results are the outcome of the company’s partnership model and tech-driven growth.

OPFI: A Cheap Stock With Strong Liquidity

OppFi shares are undervalued and appealing to investors. The stock is priced at 9.27 times forward 12-month earnings per share, which is lower than the industry’s average of 21.68 times.

 

Zacks Investment ResearchImage Source: Zacks Investment Research

 

When looking at the trailing 12-month EV-to-EBITDA ratio, OPFI is trading at 6.29 times, below the industry’s average of 11.4 times.

 

Zacks Investment ResearchImage Source: Zacks Investment Research

 

OppFi’s robust liquidity position reassures investors of its financial strength. During the first quarter of 2025, the current ratio of 1.73 exceeded the industry average of 1.22, which improved from the preceding quarter’s 1.61 and the year-ago quarter’s 1.56. The enhancement in this metric, coupled with it exceeding 1, suggests that the company can easily pay off short-term obligations.

 

Zacks Investment ResearchImage Source: Zacks Investment Research

 

OPFI’s Promising Top & Bottom-Line Prospects

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for OppFi’s 2025 revenues is $578.4 million, indicating 10% year-over-year growth. For 2026, the top line is anticipated to rise 6.9%.

The consensus estimate for OPFI’s 2025 earnings per share stands at $1.23, implying a 29.5% year-over-year rise. For 2026, the anticipation is a 14.2% growth.

OppFi’s Risks

OPFI’s lending model, though successful, faces criticism due to the inherent risk of its customers’ credit profiles. Providing credit to subprime or non-prime borrowers increases the risk of non-repayment. While the company trusts its AI and ML models to evaluate customers’ creditworthiness, the chance of underperformance remains. If that happens, it could significantly impact profitability, including higher net charge-offs. 

Competition is another headwind that the company needs to navigate as well. The global neo-banking market was valued at $143.3 billion in 2024. In this massive market, OPFI is not the only player rather one of the many. Just like OppFi, other companies utilize AI and ML models heavily to refine credit models. With the exponential advancements in technology, OPFI will have to maintain a steady pace, which might come at the cost of hefty investment thereby, creating a disbalance in profitability and growth. 

Hold OppFi for Now

OPFi’s bank-partner model and tech advancements have enabled the company to build customer trust and improve their overall experience. In doing so, the company has created a loyal base of customers who vouch for it, evidenced by its NPS score. Furthermore, the stock is fundamentally strong, possesses a discounted valuation, and has a robust liquidity position.

Despite these positives, OppFi faces the inherent risk of providing credit to risky profiles, inviting the risk of non-repayment. Hence, a threat to its profitability prevails consistently. With that, the neo-bank market is fiercely competitive, restricting OPFI’s full potential by hindering its ability to grow while being profitable.

Considering all the above, we suggest long-term investors to hold onto their positions since chasing the stock at these levels could prove risky. A better entry point may emerge after a pullback and valuation reset.

OPFI flaunts a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.


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