For historical non-GAAP financial measures, reconciliations to the most directly comparable GAAP measures can be found in our earnings supplement slide deck, which is available on our investor relations website. Max, could you talk a little bit about the dynamics of your growth, namely the top five merchants growing 23% and blending down as a concentration? I mostly look at the growth of the business through the lens of things like transactions per user, active consumers, active merchant numbers are really important to us. Generally speaking, of course, we want to have less concentration, more diversity, but we also are frequently driven or drafting behind the growth and promotional initiatives of our partners, big and small.

Obviously, the growth numbers are out there in the sprint, so we are not seeing... So it's a little bit selective, but we feel pretty good about both the demand and the ability and willingness to repay. This one might be for Rob, but I was just hoping we could unpack sort of puts and takes in the RLTC margin, just looking back over the last year or so. It seems like, you know, if we look at the guidance in the remainder of the year, it seems like you're kind of still expecting to be hovering around 4%.

I think that's true in both Q3 and Q4 in the guidance that we've provided. You know, we typically don't guide to specific transaction cost line items or even revenue line items. The last deal we just priced was done with a spread of under 100 basis points. And so we're operating and executing in the capital markets really the best we've seen post the rate movement part of the world.

What went well
  • GMV grew 36% even while comping the transition of a large retail partner off the Affirm integration
  • Affirm Card scaled sharply: GMV up just under 160% YoY, active cardholders up 121%, and 0% deals on the card up 190% YoY
  • Latest ABS deal priced at a spread under 100 bps (best since 2021) with a weighted average yield below 4.6%
  • Active merchant growth accelerated to 42% (up from the low 20s), driven by wallet partnerships
  • Signing up for more FY2026 adjusted operating margin expansion than in the guide 90 days ago, on continued operating leverage
  • Consumer is healthy and funding demand is very constructive, with forward-flow/private-credit partners wanting more allocation than Affirm can give
What went wrong
  • A large retail partner transitioning off the Affirm integration weighed on the top-five merchant metric and is a growth comp headwind
  • Guidance implies GMV growth decelerating to 30% in Q3 and 25% in Q4
  • Revenue take rates are softening on a year-over-year basis, driven by the heavier 0% mix
  • Loss provisions ticked up a few basis points and the stock was down a couple dollars in after-hours
  • Adjusted operating margin expansion is set to be lower in the second half (e.g., Q4) than in Q2

Guidance Changes

MetricPeriodCurrent guidance
GMV growthQ3 FY202630%
GMV growthQ4 FY202625%
RLTC take rateQ3 and Q4 FY2026slightly above 4%
Adjusted operating margin expansionFY2026more margin expansion than 90 days ago

Performance Breakdown

MetricYoYNote
GMV +36% broad-based diversification and new merchant adds despite the large retail partner transition
Affirm Card GMV just under +160% card now material to the business and creating more high-engagement users
Active cardholders +121% continued rapid card adoption
0% deals on the card +190% growth in 0% promotional mix on the card
Active merchants +42% wallet partnerships adding active merchants to the count
Top five merchants +23% a different subset of five merchants vs. prior year plus the large partner transition weighing on the metric

Earnings Call Themes & Trends

TopicPrevious mentionCurrent periodTrend
0% / no-interest promotions as a moatSimple, asterisk-free 0% offers drive conversion and are unaffected by competitors' aggressive cashback promotions; GMV uplift rises with basket size
Affirm Cardpositioned as top-of-wallet everyday cardusage is bifurcating: a minority use it top-of-wallet while the majority use it for considered purchases; still the biggest growth engine
International expansionUK scaling with new deals (Wayfair beta, VMO2, Shopify still below peak run rate); growing consistently, though still smaller than the card
Bank charter (ILC application)Applied primarily for regulatory certainty; timeline is years, not modelable, and not tied to funding costs or new categories
Funding / ABS / forward flowCapital markets the best since the rate move; spreads under 100 bps and yields below 4.6%; private-credit demand strong and selective vertical-slice allocation unchanged
Credit healthConsumer healthy, NCO curves tightly managed; modest uptick in loss provisions with room to optimize for RLTC
New verticals and platformsChosen by consumer pull (auto parts, medical, home improvement); small rent time-shift test, Intuit/QuickBooks B2B2C, Fiserv/FIS bank distribution
Agentic commerceStill very early but bullish; structurally benefits from no deferred interest/late fees; expects an Affirm button across all forms of commerce over time
Boost AI / AdaptAIBoost AI is new and lightly adopted, enabling automated A/B testing and merchant-funded promo dollars in an advertising-like model; not broken out in the guide

Q&A Summary

Top-five merchants grew only 23% and blended down as a concentration; is the business truly widening out?
Management pointed to transactions per user, active consumers, and active merchants as the real lenses, noted the top five is a different set of merchants than the prior year, and said a large partner transitioning off weighed on the metric, so it shouldn't be over-read; diversification is healthy.
What are you seeing in consumer, credit, and economic health, including quarter-to-date?
The consumer looks quite healthy, able and willing to repay, and Affirm remains selective on approvals; no meaningful deviation seen so far in the current quarter.
How should we think about the RLTC margin trajectory given funding tailwinds and rising 0% mix?
RLTC take rates are guided slightly above 4% in Q3 and Q4, with dynamics similar to Q2: revenue take rates softening YoY on 0% mix but offset by lower transaction costs, especially falling ABS funding costs.
Are competitors' aggressive cashback promotions affecting Affirm's merchant pricing or take rates?
No effect seen; Affirm's simple, no-asterisk 0% offering is its moat and competitors' complex promos don't dent what Affirm sells.
Why apply for a bank charter now and what does it unlock?
The primary motive is regulatory certainty rather than new products; the timeline is years with de novo restrictions, so it shouldn't be built into models, and it is a long-term investment in regulatory stability.
How is ABS execution trending, and how much AI boost is in the guide?
The latest ABS deal priced at a spread under 100 bps with yield below 4.6%, the best since 2021; management won't quantify AI (Boost AI/AdaptAI) contribution in the GMV guide, and Boost AI is still early with few merchants adopted.
Please update us on Affirm Card and international expansion.
Card GMV rose just under 160% YoY, cardholders 121%, and 0% card deals 190%, making it a major and material growth engine; international (UK) is scaling via Wayfair, VMO2, and Shopify with more countries to come, though still smaller than the card.
Guidance points to GMV decelerating to 30% then 25%; any specific call-outs?
No specific drivers beyond comping the large retail partner transition; Affirm still grew 36% this quarter against that headwind.
Do consumers who enter via 0% behave differently, and do they resist later interest-bearing offers?
There's no meaningful self-selection penalty: 0%-first consumers readily take interest-bearing loans too and cross-pollinate across products, increasing transactions per user and total Affirm spend over time.
What drove the spike in active merchant growth to 42%?
The inflection is driven by wallet partnerships, whose active merchants are included in the count; only merchants actively transacting are counted.

More on Affirm Holdings, Inc.

Reported 2026-02-05 · figures from the Affirm Holdings, Inc. Q2 2026 earnings call.

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