Sezzle (SEZL) Stock Trades Up, Here Is Why

What Happened?

A number of stocks jumped in the afternoon session after investors grew more optimistic about a potential Federal Reserve interest rate cut in December. 

The positive sentiment was fueled by comments from New York Fed President John Williams, a voting member of the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee, who stated the central bank could cut rates "in the near term" without jeopardizing its inflation targets. Following his remarks, market expectations for a rate cut in December shifted significantly. According to the CME FedWatch Tool, the probability of a December rate reduction surged from a 37% chance earlier in the day to 70%. While lower rates can compress bank profit margins, investors often view them as a catalyst for broader economic activity, potentially boosting loan demand and reducing the risk of defaults.

The stock market overreacts to news, and big price drops can present good opportunities to buy high-quality stocks.

Among others, the following stocks were impacted:

• Personal Loan company Affirm jumped 3.7%. Is now the time to buy Affirm? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free for active Edge members.
• Personal Loan company Sezzle jumped 3.7%. Is now the time to buy Sezzle? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free for active Edge members.
• Diversified Financial Services company Euronet Worldwide jumped 3.8%. Is now the time to buy Euronet Worldwide? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free for active Edge members.
• Personal Loan company OneMain jumped 3.8%. Is now the time to buy OneMain? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free for active Edge members.

Zooming In On OneMain (OMF)

OneMain’s shares are not very volatile and have only had 8 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful, although it might not be something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.

The previous big move we wrote about was 21 days ago when the stock gained 5.3% on the news that the company reported favorable third-quarter 2025 results, highlighted by a significant earnings beat and solid revenue growth. The company posted an adjusted profit of $1.90 per share, which was 18.5% above Wall Street's consensus estimates. This strong bottom-line performance was supported by revenue that grew 7.1% year-over-year to $1.24 billion, meeting expectations. Additionally, OneMain's net interest income, a key performance metric for lenders, outperformed forecasts, coming in at $1.07 billion. The results were seen as a solid quarter with key areas of upside, signaling healthy business fundamentals and boosting investor confidence.

OneMain is up 15.9% since the beginning of the year, and at $60.10 per share, it is trading close to its 52-week high of $62.61 from September 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of OneMain’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $1,552.

What Happened?

Shares of buy-now-pay-later service Sezzle (NASDAQCM:SEZL) jumped 4.5% in the morning session after AI-darling Nvidia reported quarterly results that surpassed analysts' expectations, signaling continued robust demand in the artificial intelligence space. 

The tech giant delivered another blockbuster earnings report, with sales, profits, and guidance exceeding Wall Street expectations. CEO Jensen Huang let the data do the talking as he acknowledged the growing sentiment about an AI bubble, while affirming that sales for Nvidia's current-generation GPU, called Blackwell (mostly used for AI applications), are "off the charts." A stronger-than-expected September jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics reinforced this bullish sentiment. Nonfarm payrolls rose by 119,000, easily surpassing the consensus estimates of 50,000. While the unemployment rate ticked up to 4.4% and wage growth slowed slightly, the data suggest the U.S. economy remains on a firm footing.While this resilience made some investors unsure of the Fed's December rate decision, the market welcomed the news, rallying on the strength of a solid economy and a booming tech sector.

After the initial pop the shares cooled down to $53.04, up 1.7% from previous close.

Is now the time to buy Sezzle? Access our full analysis report here.

What Is The Market Telling Us

Sezzle’s shares are extremely volatile and have had 78 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful but not something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.

The previous big move we wrote about was 9 days ago when the stock dropped 3% on the news that news of increased competition in the 'Buy Now, Pay Later' (BNPL) market emerged from major payment players. Global digital payments platform PayPal launched its interest-free "Pay in 4" BNPL solution in Canada, a key market, right before the busy holiday shopping season. This move introduced a significant new competitor for Sezzle. Adding to the pressure, payments platform PPRO also announced a new solution to help merchants access the booming, but increasingly fragmented, European BNPL market. This development highlighted a broader trend of more companies entering the space. The competitive news followed a period of volatility for Sezzle's stock, which had seen a drop after its recent third-quarter results.

Sezzle is up 16.7% since the beginning of the year, but at $53.04 per share, it is still trading 70.9% below its 52-week high of $182.16 from July 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Sezzle’s shares at the IPO in August 2023 would now be looking at an investment worth $3,925.

As the Q3 earnings season comes to a close, it’s time to take stock of this quarter’s best and worst performers in the consumer finance industry, including Nelnet and its peers.

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 20 consumer finance stocks we track reported a very strong Q3. As a group, revenues beat analysts’ consensus estimates by 4.8%.

While some consumer finance stocks have fared somewhat better than others, they have collectively declined. On average, share prices are down 4.5% since the latest earnings results.

Nelnet

Starting as a student loan servicer in the 1970s and evolving through the changing landscape of education finance, Nelnet provides student loan servicing, education technology, payment processing, and banking services while managing a portfolio of education loans.

Nelnet reported revenues of $427.4 million, up 47.5% year on year. This print exceeded analysts’ expectations by 14.9%. Overall, it was an incredible quarter for the company with a beat of analysts’ EPS and revenue estimates.

"Strong results this quarter were driven by ongoing strength across our core businesses in loan servicing, consumer lending, payments, and technology along with some one-time transactions that had a positive impact," said Jeff Noordhoek, chief executive officer of Nelnet.

Unsurprisingly, the stock is down 3.9% since reporting and currently trades at $124.77.

We think Nelnet is a good business, but is it a buy today? Read our full report here, it’s free for active Edge members.

Dave

Named after the biblical David fighting financial Goliaths, Dave is a digital financial services platform that helps Americans living paycheck to paycheck with cash advances, banking services, and tools to improve their financial health.

Dave reported revenues of $150.7 million, up 63% year on year, outperforming analysts’ expectations by 12.9%. The business had an incredible quarter with a beat of analysts’ EPS and revenue estimates.

Dave pulled off the highest full-year guidance raise among its peers. Although it had a fine quarter compared its peers, the market seems unhappy with the results as the stock is down 20% since reporting. It currently trades at $192.01.

Is now the time to buy Dave? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it’s free for active Edge members.

Weakest Q3: Navient

Spun off from Sallie Mae in 2014 to handle the company's loan servicing and collection operations, Navient provides education loan servicing and business processing solutions that help manage federal student loans, private education loans, and government services.

Navient reported revenues of $169 million, down 62.6% year on year, exceeding analysts’ expectations by 3.8%. Still, it was a slower quarter as it posted a significant miss of analysts’ EPS estimates and a slight miss of analysts’ net interest income estimates.

Navient delivered the slowest revenue growth in the group. As expected, the stock is down 11.5% since the results and currently trades at $11.45.

Read our full analysis of Navient’s results here.

Sezzle

Founded in 2016 as an alternative to traditional credit cards for younger shoppers, Sezzle provides a payment platform that allows consumers to split purchases into four interest-free installments over six weeks at participating retailers.

Sezzle reported revenues of $116.8 million, up 67% year on year. This result topped analysts’ expectations by 11.5%. Overall, it was a stunning quarter as it also recorded an impressive beat of analysts’ revenue estimates and a beat of analysts’ EPS estimates.

Sezzle achieved the fastest revenue growth among its peers. The stock is down 21.8% since reporting and currently trades at $51.82.

Read our full, actionable report on Sezzle here, it’s free for active Edge members.

Ally Financial

Born from the former GMAC (General Motors Acceptance Corporation) and rebranded in 2010, Ally Financial 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 1.5% year on year. This number surpassed analysts’ expectations by 2.6%. It was a very strong quarter as it also produced a beat of analysts’ EPS estimates and a decent beat of analysts’ revenue estimates.

The stock is down 1.7% since reporting and currently trades at $37.80.

Read our full, actionable report on Ally Financial here, it’s free for active Edge members.