affirm CEO Max Levchin said Friday that while the buy now, pay later company has not seen any credit stress among federally employed borrowers due to the government shutdown, there are signs of a change in shopping habits.
“We’re seeing a very subtle loss of interest in shopping just for that group, down several basis points,” Levchin told CNBC’s “Squawk on the Streets.”
The Bipartisan Policy Center announced this week that at least 670,000 federal employees have been furloughed due to the government shutdown, and about 730,000 are working without pay.
Levchin said he was closely monitoring employment data for signs of major disruption, but said the company “has the ability” to adjust credit standards if necessary.
“Things are going well so far,” he said. “I don’t see any major disruptions at all.”
The expiration of federal funds, which began Oct. 1 and is the longest in U.S. history, has halted operations across government agencies and is affecting more than just civil servants. The SNAP food benefits program, which serves 42 million Americans, was also discontinued.
Levchin’s comments followed the company’s first-quarter earnings report, which far exceeded Wall Street expectations. Affirm posted earnings of 23 cents per share on revenue of $933 million. Analysts polled by LSEG had expected sales of $883 million and earnings of 11 cents a share.
Revenues increased 34% year over year, and gross merchandise value increased 42% to $10.8 billion from $7.6 billion in the same period last year. This exceeded Wall Street’s forecast of $10.38 billion.
The fintech company, which went public in 2021, also raised its full-year outlook, saying it now expects total circulation to reach $47.5 billion, compared to its previous outlook of $46 billion.
Affirm also announced that it has renewed its partnership with Amazon The company also has agreements with the following companies: Shopify and apple In a highly competitive e-commerce environment.
long time partner walmart I recently ditched Affirm for Made in Sweden Buy now, pay later Klarnawent public in September after delaying its initial public offering due to market uncertainty caused by President Donald Trump’s tariff plans. Concerns about reduced discretionary spending due to tariffs have sparked anxiety across the fintech industry.
Levchin said consumer shopping remained strong, with increased interest in categories such as ticketing and travel. Active consumers increased to 24.1 million from 19.5 million a year ago.
“We preach every day that buy now, pay later is the better way to buy, and consumers are clearly responding,” he said.
