SoFi Technologies (NASDAQ: SOFI) has dominated retail trading feeds all year, driven by a 30% revenue growth guide, a stablecoin launch, and a CEO who keeps buying his own stock.
Despite that momentum, SOFI is down 39.0% year to date through May 26, trading at $15.98 against an analyst mean price target of $21.00 that has been steadily reduced.
Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, and Keefe Bruyette and Woods all trimmed their targets, while Muddy Waters issued a short report alleging improper financial reporting.
Block and Leviton separately opened a securities fraud investigation into the company, adding another layer of legal and reputational uncertainty.
The Q1 numbers revealed further stress points, with Technology Platform revenue falling 27% year over year following a large client departure and personal loan charge-offs rising to 3.03% from 2.80% sequentially.
Net interest margin also narrowed year over year to 5.94%, and SoFi pays no dividend, runs no buyback program, and is pivoting deeper into capital-intensive lending and crypto.
For investors seeking steadier compounding profiles backed by dividends, buybacks, and operating leverage, three alternative names stand out.
Visa (NYSE: V) reported Q1 FY26 revenue growth of 15.1% year over year, with processed transactions reaching 69.4 billion, up 9%, and cross-border volume excluding intra-Europe rising 11%.
The payments giant carries an operating margin of 67.3%, a 0.784 beta, a $2.68 annual dividend, and $21.1 billion remaining on its buyback authorization, with shares down just 6.9% year to date.
Mastercard (NYSE: MA) posted Q1 FY26 revenue of $8.40 billion, up 15.8% year over year, with adjusted operating margin expanding to 60.8% and cross-border volume climbing 13%.
The company returned $4.0 billion through buybacks and $777 million in dividends in a single quarter, with $11.7 billion remaining on its repurchase authorization.
Mastercard’s Agent Pay initiative and its planned BVNK acquisition position the network at the center of stablecoin settlement, the same trend SoFi is pursuing from a weaker competitive footing.
Mastercard shares are down 13.6% year to date to $493.01, offering a relative entry point compared to recent trading history.
PayPal (NASDAQ: PYPL) trades at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 8 and generated $5.56 billion in free cash flow in FY25, making it the value proposition hiding in plain sight.
Management retired $6.0 billion in stock over the trailing 12 months and recently initiated the company’s first dividend at $0.14 per quarter, signaling a sharper focus on capital returns.
A new CEO and a recent increase in stake by Michael Burry add further interest to a company with a $39 billion market cap returning roughly $6 billion annually to shareholders.
