AFRM vs. GPN: Affirm vs. Global Payments Stock Comparison

Company Profile

Affirm (AFRM) and Global Payments (GPN) are both classified in the Transaction & Payment Processing Services sub-industry within the broader Financial Services industry, placing them in the closest GICS peer bucket.

Global Payments (GPN) has more than two decades of public-market history since January 16, 2001, whereas Affirm (AFRM) listed on January 13, 2021 and has a much shorter record to draw on.

Price Performance

Cumulative Growth

Trailing Returns

Calendar-Year Returns

Performance Metrics

Risk Profile

Drawdown History

Return Distribution

Risk Metrics

Affirm (AFRM) carries a highly aggressive beta of 3.70, indicating much higher sensitivity to broad-market moves, whereas Global Payments (GPN) is closer to market-like at 0.80 — a noticeable difference in market-sensitivity profile.

Risk-Adjusted Performance

Risk-Return Positioning

Risk-Adjusted Metrics

Profitability

Affirm (AFRM) at 44.49% sits in the top ROE quartile, while Global Payments (GPN) at 0.84% is in the bottom quartile, showing a clear gap in returns on equity.

Global Payments (GPN) reports a negative net margin of -11.21%, usually indicating a net loss over the period. Meanwhile Affirm (AFRM) reports 43.86%, ranking against industry peers normally.

Both Affirm (AFRM) at 14.82% and Global Payments (GPN) at 15.73% run core operations about as efficiently as their industries’ norm — neither stands out on operating profitability.

Profitability Metrics

Growth

Affirm (AFRM) at 32.15% sits in the top revenue growth quartile, while Global Payments (GPN) at -0.39% is in the bottom quartile, showing a clear gap in revenue momentum.

Affirm (AFRM) at 3,586.67% clears its industry range for EPS growth, a much stronger earnings trajectory than Global Payments (GPN) at -6.17%, which is closer to a typical peer reading.

Growth Metrics

Financial Strength

current ratio doesn’t apply on either side: Affirm (AFRM) in Financial Services and Global Payments (GPN) in Financial Services both report balance sheets without a current/non-current split, so their short-term liquidity is better judged through regulatory and funding measures.

debt-to-equity ratio is set aside for both: Affirm (AFRM) in Financial Services and Global Payments (GPN) in Financial Services run businesses where balance-sheet leverage is part of the model, so capital-adequacy and funding measures are the better gauges of balance-sheet risk.

Financial Strength Metrics

Dividends

Affirm (AFRM) pays no dividend (yield 0.00%) — it may be reinvesting, using buybacks, or simply not returning cash through dividends. Meanwhile Global Payments (GPN) reports a yield of 1.05%, ranking against industry peers normally.

Global Payments (GPN) reports payout ratio above 100% at 178.57%, meaning dividends exceeded current-period earnings; Affirm (AFRM) pays no dividend (payout 0.00%).

Dividend Metrics

Valuation

Affirm (AFRM) at 11.80 is near its industry’s usual P/E ratio, while Global Payments (GPN) at 173.93 sits above its peer range — an unusually expensive price for GPN’s trailing earnings.

Global Payments (GPN) at 2.24 is priced about in line with its industry on P/S ratio, while Affirm (AFRM) at 5.03 sits in the pricier quartile — AFRM costs more per dollar of sales.

Global Payments (GPN) at 1.11 is valued about in line with its industry on P/B ratio, while Affirm (AFRM) at 4.01 carries an above-peer premium to book — AFRM is pricier on assets.

Valuation Metrics