Hello, Thanks for signing up for MarketBeat Daily Ratings—we’re excited to have you on board. Every weekday, you’ll get a curated summary of new “Buy” and “Sell” ratings from Wall Street’s top-rated analysts, the latest stock news, and bonus investing content—all delivered straight to your inbox. You’re just two quick steps away from completing your sign-up: 1. Make sure our emails go to your inboxGmail users:
Mobile: Tap the three dots (…) in the top right and select Move to Inbox or Move to Primary
Desktop: Click the folder icon at the top and select Move to Inbox or Primary Apple Mail users:
Tap our email address at the top (next to From: on mobile), then select Add to VIP Other providers:
Reply to this message and add newsletters@analystratings.net to your contacts 2. Confirm your subscriptionClick this link to confirm your subscription. This verifies your account and ensures you receive your newsletters without interruption instead of getting stuck in your spam filter. Confirm your subscription here. After you confirm, feel free to download our popular free report, "7 Stocks to Buy and Hold Forever" with this link. Thanks again for subscribing—we look forward to being part of your investing journey. 
Matthew Paulson
Founder and CEO, MarketBeat. P.S. If you didn’t mean to subscribe, no problem—you can unsubscribe here.
Friday's Exclusive News
This AI Lender Has Big Upside Potential—And Big RisksBy Peter Frank. First Published: 4/19/2026. 
Key Points
- Pagaya connects lenders and investors using AI to expand credit access without holding loans on its balance sheet.
- The company reached profitability in 2025, marking a major shift after years of losses.
- Analysts see around 133% upside, but the stock remains highly volatile and sensitive to credit markets.
- Special Report: The Biggest IPO Ever: Claim Your Stake Today
Take a company that blends fintech, artificial intelligence (AI), consumer lending, and asset-backed securities (ABS), and investors can expect some volatility. Pagaya Technologies (NASDAQ: PGY) has proven just that. Last year, the company—which has dual headquarters in New York and Tel Aviv—posted its first annual profit since going public in June 2022. Revenue grew 26%, which has analysts pointing to more than 100% upside potential from current prices. Yet the stock has fallen by roughly two-thirds since September and about 30% this year.
When the SpaceX IPO launches, most retail investors will be locked out. The banks, funds, and insiders get in early - while everyone else waits on the sidelines.
But one small infrastructure supplier - a critical piece Musk can't scale the Colossus network without - is still trading well under institutional radar. A new briefing reveals the name and ticker at no cost. Get the SpaceX infrastructure stock name and ticker here
However, the plunge in share price doesn’t signal a broken business. Rather, it’s almost to be expected for a high-risk, high-reward fintech caught in an unsure market. For investors willing to ride along, the gap between where the stock trades today and where analysts expect it to be in a year is hard to ignore. How Pagaya’s AI-Driven Model WorksPagaya is not a bank or a lender in the traditional sense. It operates an AI-powered network that sits between lenders and the institutional investors who buy consumer loan packages in the form of ABS. When a borrower applies for a personal loan, auto financing, or point-of-sale loan through one of Pagaya’s partners and isn't approved by a lender, Pagaya’s AI steps in. It evaluates the application and, if accepted, routes the loan into a securitization, which it then structures and sells to investors. Rather than sitting on the credit risk, Pagaya earns a fee on each loan it moves along. Overall, the platform has evaluated over $3.5 trillion in loan applications since its founding and sold more than $34 billion in personal loan ABS. Financial Performance Shows a Turning PointSince its founding in 2016, Pagaya has pursued a growth story with a profitability challenge. That changed last year. The company swung from a $401 million loss in 2024 to an $81 million profit in 2025. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (Adjusted EBITDA) rose 76% to $371 million. Revenue increased 26% to $1.3 billion, and network volume—the total of loans flowing through the platform—grew 9% to $10.5 billion. Both results were helped by the company’s expansion of originations in auto and point-of-sale loans beyond its previous focus on personal loans. Q4 2025 was particularly strong. Fourth-quarter revenue and other income rose 20% year-over-year to $335 million. Generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) net income of $34 million was a quarterly record and at the high end of Pagaya’s guidance. Earnings per share came in at $0.80, solidly above analysts' forecasts of $0.75 per share. For 2026, management said it expects network volume to jump from $11.25 billion to $13 billion. Revenue is slated to be between $1.4 billion and $1.575 billion, suggesting another year of solid growth. GAAP net income is projected to be $100 million to $150 million. Pagaya's Stock Volatility Tells a Fintech StoryIn many ways, the company’s stock path mirrors that of other fintechs. After soaring at its IPO in 2022, Pagaya saw its shares plunge, eventually leading to a 1-for-12 reverse stock split in 2024 to boost its listed share price. In 2025, shares rebounded, rising roughly fourfold through September, when PGY hit its 52-week high of nearly $45. This year, however, the stock has lost roughly one-third since the start of the year and more than 45% since a recent high in January. Despite the ups and downs, most analysts remain bullish. Of the 12 analysts issuing ratings, 10 assign the stock a Buy while two rate it a Hold. Overall, the consensus is a Moderate Buy with an average target of $33.11, implying roughly 130% upside from current prices. Risks Center on Credit Markets and CompetitionSkepticism is understandable. Pagaya’s business model depends on institutional investors' appetite to keep buying its ABS, and lending partners need to continue routing loan applications through its network. A credit-market disruption or a spike in consumer loan defaults could significantly reduce both channels. So far this year, though, the capital markets side of the story has stayed healthy. In April, Pagaya closed an $800 million consumer loan ABS sale and completed its first auto ABS of the year. The consumer loan offering was increased by 33% due to strong institutional demand, the company said. With substantial equity-based compensation, SEC filings show insider selling following the 2025 run-up. Pagaya doesn't pay a dividend, so for investors the bet is primarily on growth. Competition from banks building in-house AI credit models—as well as rival platforms—can quickly pressure Pagaya’s results. A High-Risk Bet With Meaningful Upside PotentialPagaya, like others in its industry, is not a stock for conservative investors. The volatility could continue. The business model is complex, and a down credit cycle combined with the financial sector pulling back could seriously dampen results. But for investors with a higher risk tolerance who believe AI-driven consumer lending is an enduring growth story, Pagaya’s first-year profitability, strong 2026 guidance, active ABS issuance, and a stock trading at less than half the average analyst target make it worth serious consideration. The company seems to have turned a corner. Whether the stock follows remains to be seen. |
