Fintech Stock Downgraded on Increased Competition

Group 1 - Affirm Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:AFRM) shares are down 1% to $64.06 following a downgrade from BTIG Research to "neutral" from "buy" due to increased competition from traditional lenders like Capital One Financial and Synchrony Financial [1] - The stock is experiencing its third consecutive daily drop after a rally that reached four-month highs earlier this month, with the 40-day moving average providing support at the $60 level [2] - Year-to-date, the equity has increased by 5% [2] Group 2 - In the options market, call volume remains high with 11,000 calls exchanged, while put volume has surged to 8,293, which is three times the typical volume [3] - The most popular options are the March 70 call and the July 63 put, with new positions being sold to open at the latter [3] - Short interest has decreased but still represents 5.3% of the stock's available float, requiring over two days to cover at the average trading pace [3]