San Francisco, CA – Affirm Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: AFRM) announced robust financial results for its third fiscal quarter ended March 31, 2026, highlighted by a significant 125 basis point year-over-year reduction in funding costs. During the Q3 FY 2026 earnings call, CEO Max Levchin signaled ambitious plans for expansion, stating, > “We have aspirations in just about everything that you can possibly imagine in consumer financial services. More to come.” This strategic outlook follows a quarter marked by stable credit performance and accelerated growth across key product areas.
The buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) provider reported that its active merchant count surged by 44%, driven by major platform partnerships with companies like Shopify and a new program with Intuit. Affirm's Chief Operating Officer, Michael Linford, characterized the funding environment as "exceptionally constructive," noting sustained investor demand and significant oversubscription in asset-backed securitization (ABS) deals. This favorable market condition has been crucial in lowering the company's funding expenses.
Affirm Card emerged as the company's fastest-growing and most profitable product, reaching 4.4 million cardholders. Levchin emphasized that this growth is organic, stemming from existing Affirm users rather than external marketing, and highlighted the card's role in driving deeper consumer engagement within the Affirm app. The company also saw its "Pay in X" segment become the fastest-growing, boosted by a large program transitioning to an evergreen 0% "Pay in 4" offer.
The company continues to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance efficiency and accelerate product development, with Levchin confirming that AI-related costs are in the "very low single-digit millions per quarter" and are "unequivocally accretive to the bottom line." He also explicitly stated, "We are not planning AI-related layoffs, full stop," attributing Affirm's operational efficiency to long-standing discipline. Looking ahead, Affirm plans to provide more details on its international expansion strategy and product roadmap at its upcoming Investor Forum.
